Arrived in Stowe last night around 7 pm, what a beautiful sight. The church steeple illuminated, the streets alive with people, and our home ablaze waiting for us, with two very loud and very happy dogs greeting us, Olive and Henry. Henry, my granddog was visiting us for the week-end, actually he pretty much lives here, and Olive could not believe it was us. I think she had given up on us ever coming home. In turn, we were just as excited to see them. Amazing how dogs manage to worm their way into your hearts, no matter their issues or not. That was the hardest part of the trip, not seeing the grandkids and the dogs. The adult kids are busy with their lives and basically, I talked to them pretty much off and on every day. Although, leaving the Smith tribe behind in Washington is always pretty difficult. Not being part of their lives every day like the rest of the Smith clan is hard. Yet, how can I  complain, as the rest of the family could have been scattered here and there, yet here they all are.

We did get to see the Upper Peninsula in Michigan and experience the magnitude of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Going over the bridge back to the States there was no horizon. The lake could have been the ocean, for no land was in sight on either side of the van. I am sure sailing these waters is just as challenging as sailing in the ocean.  

It has been a trip that I have dreamed of for years. People have asked many times why I wanted to go to the Dakotas, and I had no answer other than I was curious. Now I know. They are beautiful. North Dakota has a lot of diversity in the landscape and the Theodore Roosevelt Park was amazing. But each state offered so much.

One thing that struck me about many of the towns we went through along Route 2 and 6, was how they have remained frozen in time. The buildings felt like facades built for a Western cowboy scene with flat faced storefronts, abandoned and boarded up. A few restaurants and stores with windows that look like they have never been cleaned but have more likely suffered the winds and dust of the prairie.

As we got closer to the Upper Peninsula the towns took on a more prosperous look. I loved all of the street art, with murals painted on the sides of buildings, large humorous sculptures, especially Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox. It gave the towns so much personality. Not the stodgy old New England look.

My overall impression was the vastness of the landscape, land and sky for miles on end. What a privilege to live in such a diverse country. I just wish we could come together and work together to make this country what it truly could be, diverse culturally and politically yet keeping in mind we are all neighbors, we should hold each of us with respect and celebrate the diversity in each person. Then our country would really stand “For liberty and justice for all.”

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