National Parks, Monuments, Memorials, or Battlefields, but National Rivers???  We were blessed with the opportunity of exploring the New River Gorge National River WV and explored many of the scenic drives and walks, it was very awesome !  One of the highlights was driving across and under the New River Gorge Bridge that you see above.  Rafters floated under us on their way to adrenaline pumping rapids, eagles soared above, Nature provides us so much 🙂

One evening I was sitting on the Beauty Mountain wall edge above the New River awaiting a sunset predicted to be mediocre, but being an optimist, David Sibray walked down the trail with his camera in hand.  David is a local journalist and we spent a nice evening as the sun slowly set, talking about the region and ourselves.  He was nice enough to take my picture below, an image I will cherish for a long time 🙂  Thank you David !

Please head over to http://compositionbyjohn.com for more images of this wonderful National River !

Well our first leg went more or less as planned, traveling rapidly across great portions of America to be in sync with our original travel plans.  Recall our 2 month delay for medical issues changed up our original plans.  Only small changes were made to the first leg plans such as not doing a Walmart overnight, opting for an RV campground where we could have amenities and the ability to dump our grey and black waters.  However for the second leg we really went into a stop to stop mode and did not plan out an entire 2 or three weeks, so here is a summary of what has transpired.

You can tell by the fewer number of states on the map that we slowed down and started paying attention to our key stops.

• Leaving the Chicago area on August 17th, we drove to Grandpa’s Farm RV Park in Richmond IN for a one night layover.
• We found Roni’s daughter Mallory could spend some time with us so we headed to Rifrafters Campground in Fayetteville WV for a six night stay (August 18 – August 23).  Besides all the great time we spent with Mallory and her daughter Jaedyn, we managed to explore large areas of the New River Gorge National River WV, of the capitol campus in Charleston WV, and of the National Coal Heritage area of Beckley WV.  We managed a day off also 🙂
• Next we drove to Elkhorn Campground, Frankfort KY for a two night stay (August 24-25).  We visited Roni’s friend Carolyn in Cincinnati OH along with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
• We find ourselves now camped for a three night stay in the Clarksville RV Park TN (August 26 – 28).  We plan a day off tomorrow and we did explore today the Fort Donelson National Battlefield, a great Civil War engagement.
• A drive to Elizabethtown Crossroads Campground KY for a two night stay (August 29-30) to explore the Mammoth Cave National Park.

After that we plan more stops in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan before starting in on Pennsylvania and New York State.  We will keep you posted on all our activities, as always 🙂  Our goal is to visit every state (lower 48), to visit every National Park and as many other National monuments/historic sites as possible, and to explore some of the other state notable areas.

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We have been learning a lot about coal and coal mining in West Virginia.  Visiting the Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley WV was awesome.  We rode a coal mine train down into the mine, 200 feet below the surface.  Water dripping from the ceiling, cold air as you head deeper into the mine,  learning about the coal seams often being only 28 inches above the floor, looking at the ceiling and wondering if it would fall, we were thrilled 🙂

Then realizing the tunnel was a lot roomier than an actual mine, men working on their hands and knees to excavate the coal seam on the floor, wow.  The Exhibition takes you through the history of coal mining, how the tools changed over time, why so many mines went out of business as imported steel hit our shores, how hard the life of a miner was.

So this was all fascinating to see but our real treat was talking to Randy who owns our Rifrafters Campground in Fayetteville, WV.  Him and his father worked the mines for many years.  Both suffered physically to earn a living, with his father coming near death from a 1966 mine explosion.  The only reason his father survived is he was too tired to work a straight third shift at the mine and choose to go home and sleep, waking up the next morning he heard of the methane explosion that killed 7.

Randy’s bucket list is full like ours, but his idea of driving Route 66 from Chicago to the Santa Monica Pier in an RV towing his 32 Ford that he exercises every campground he hits, driving the open road, sounds like a good one to us 🙂  I hope you can do it Randy !

Chicago has amazed me every time I have visited this grand city.  We only had a brief visit this time due to the weather but it was remarkable.  First the impressions as we drove in, Chicago is not pickup truck friendly 🙂  From the expressways prohibiting pickup trucks to the parking garages severely limited in handling larger vehicles and charging a premium for them, the experience was not the best.  However, it never dampened our spirits, nor the thrill we felt as we walked downtown!

We hopped on Chicago’s Original Architecture Tour boat and were in heaven.  It seems we are drawn to boats to see the scenery at the Grand Tetons, Lake Union of Seattle, Everglades pontoon and hover boat excursions, and so you see a trend with us 🙂  Chicago has three branches of the Chicago River to see the varied architecture.  The cruise is leisurely and the narration informative.

We can’t begin to describe everything we saw, but head over to http://compositionbyjohn.com to enjoy the images.  If you are a Facebook leaning soul, try http://www.facebook.com/compositionbyjohn for smaller images to enjoy.

We toured Lincoln’s Springfield IL home which he owned just prior to moving into the Whitehouse.  80 % of the furniture is original and it is like peering into the past as you walk through it.  I documented with pictures most of the interior and you can find the images at http://compositionbyjohn.com .  Can you imagine life in the mid 1800s, Lincoln living in his home, no one aware he was to become the 16th president of the United States (not united very long after he took office).  Strolling the streets of Springfield on a warm and muggy Springfield summer day, the views down the Capitol road:

As you walked down the road, you would see neighbors and smile and wave:

Springfield, Illinois, and the Federal government have done a wonderful job in protecting this historic area, Roni and I loved visiting the historic site.

Now I need to read one of the books I have on Lincoln to learn more about this man and the times that he lived.

I love to visit cemeteries and have visited several over the years.  Per Google this one is one of the top 10 haunted graveyards in America so I had to go to this one.  This land was used as a sacred burial grounds by Native Americans hundred of years ago and in the early 1800’s settlers continued burying their dead here.  In 1857  the cemetery was incorporated as Greenwood Cemetery.  Also there are many confederate soldiers who were buried here and some say alive.  After floods in the graveyard many remains were washed away and they say Confederate Soldiers still look for their remains to this day…ohhhhh Spooky!  I have never been spooked by or scared of a cemetery/graveyard.  I believe a solid testament can overcome any shenanigans :-).  Having said that I can tell you I never left the truck.  My skin kind of crawled here.  John took the pics below……..

Of course we have the distraught bride here. In the background here there is a tall upside down shaped U gravestone. The woman was buried in her wedding gown. Waiting for her groom to show up to the elopement she soon found he had been murdered and jumped into the Sangamon River to die.   It is reported that a young woman roams the cemetery weeping in her wedding gown!

Theses stairs lead up to 4 gravestones for the Barrackman familly. Near sunset many have reported seeing a woman standing at the top of the steps with her head bowed.  Not sure who she is or why!

The chair made out of a tree stump is called the Devil’s chair but in actuality it is a Mourning chair that has been taken out of most graveyards due to vandalism.  It is just for people to sit and be comfortable while visiting their loved ones.  Never seen one before but this cemetery decided to leave them and I’m happy they did.

Hopefully this will be one of many cemeteries I get to visit on this preciousventure.

We bumped our way over the worst roads so far this trip, as we traversed Iowa to the end of our three day burst to catch up to our original precious venture goals.  We are now ready to be in a more restful exploration of the midwest states 🙂  Five days of wandering Illinois now 🙂

On the way we stopped at the Herbert Hoover birthplace to learn some about this president that was a humanitarian during the World War 1, helping to found UNICEF, president during the Great Depression, and a Boys and Girls Club supporter.  Raised in a Quaker community, his parents passed at a young age and the children split up.  His mother a teacher and emphasized education and community to her children.  His small town West Branch, Iowa life is captured in http://www.compositionbyjohn.com/Herbert-Hoover-National

His father worked hard as a blacksmith and store owner.  Herbert Hoover went on to become a geologist at Stanford University.

It was a peaceful walk through the National Park Service land and wonderfully serene with the imagined sounds of children playing as they grew up here.

You’ve seen all of the pictures of the many wonderful places we have been but you haven’t seen us!  Well here you go!

Also in addition to these exciting places there has been exciting weather!  Last night the camper shook so hard from the rain we thought the possibility of it coming off the stabilizers in Larchwood IA was a possibility due to the wind.   Just like waking up to trains I love going to sleep to a torrential downpour and the whipping sound the wind makes when it is lashing about in the dark night.  Tonight in Marion, IA (just outside of Cedar Rapids) there are flash flood warnings.  The lightning is cracking and the thunder is rolling and the rain is once again coming down hard.  I took this time to run outside in my pajamas and giggle and throw my hands in the air and act like I was 10 years old again.  John was nice and did not take a picture 🙂 I am thoroughly enjoying myself and very happy to be blessed and especially to be sharing this “preciousventure” with John!   Tomorrow we are in Illinois….stay tuned!

This event has stirred my imagination for decades, but we finally made it to Sturgis to see for ourselves.  90 degree hot sun bore down on us and forced many retreats to cool bars for cold drinks over the 5 hour experience.  I dragged Roni straight to the Harley Davidson tents to demo ride a Harley, a dream of mine for years.  30 minutes later I was shaking with adrenaline and excitement.  I got lost twice, turning around with great difficulty, then as I returned to the demo tent, three slow moving pedestrians caused me to lose my focus, the bike and I fell over after making a complete stop.  I was uninjured except for the bruised ego.  Damn that was fun 🙂 no harm to the bike either.

After many shops for T shirts and such, we settled in the Iron Horse Saloon for lunch of chili, sandwich, and salad.  As the motorcycles became thicker on a different street, I pulled out my camera and spent several glorious hours photographing people being themselves.  Everyone was having a great time 🙂

The heat and adrenaline wore on us, unreal how tired we were when we returned to the trailer.  Some macaroni and cheese comfort food was all we needed to feel better.

As always, a more complete set of photos is available on compositionbyjohn.com and on www.facebook.com/compositionbyjohn

sunsetwx.com had originally shown a nice sunset forecast for the Badlands, but it turned sour as the time past, yielding a modest sunset that still permitted some nice images to be captured 🙂

I started with recommendations from an NPS publication, Seeking the Magic Hour, Photographing Badlands National Park, to identify the best places to capture my images.  I also talked to the park Ranger staff who had additional suggestions.  I post a few of the pictures here, more can be found on http://compositionbyjohn.com and http://facebook/compositionbyjohn.com

What is it that causes you to catch your breath as you drive hours on hours across the flat plains only to come upon the Badlands with such lovely rock formations and colors?  You feel the power of Nature and forget yourself for some small amount of time, immune to the pull of civilization.  Every passing moment changes what you see as clouds roll over, as the sun rises and lowers and changes the pallet of colors, especially during the magic hours of sunrise and sunset.

We are getting our National Park Passports stamped at every facility (national park, monument, memorial, historic site, etc).  We know we will need more pages before this trip is over 🙂