Do you notice that I have not had a say in this blog for quite a long time? I finally pitched a fit here in Point Reyes and I have gotten a say.

I want to tell you that I have not settled down, I still pant excessively even on Peggy’s lap. Well I actually give up after awhile and sleep. BUT, don’t have me go through one of those damn tunnels. They totally freak me out. What is a tunnel anyway. Why on earth do we have to go underground?

If I wanted to go underground it would be to chase gophers. I never knew there were such animals but I am very interested in finding them. I managed to dig up Janie’s lawn twice going after them. It was recommended that I not do that, but who can resist.

I was so excited to arrive at Janie’s house. I was the first one in the door, I sniffed everything, and promptly made myself at home on the couch. I got kicked off immediately which I do not understand. I chose the couch that was not white so what is the big deal? After that I got them to put my blankets on and I settled down for the MOST comfortable nap since this nightmare of a trip began.

I don’t know if I can take much more, where are we going and why can’t we just go home. Seriously what is wrong with Vermont. Ok, I agree the beaches are cool, and there are some pretty amazing smells BUT I don’t get to go off the leash and run around like I do at home. I tried to get them to leave me with my cousin Janie, after all she had a familiar smell as Peggy, but once again the dreaded leash was put on and I had no choice but to follow.

Yesterday in the Golden Gate park I was almost assaulted by a goose. I’ve got to tell you that goose was bigger than me. Not only that but there was a whole gang of them. I know they have gangs in San Francisco but Goose Gangs. They don’t need guns, they have those pointed beaks that look like they could kill you with one bite. I learned to stay clear of them.

Oh Maggie, why have you forsaken me? You said Henry was lonely without me. The least you could do is come get me. We are going to Oregon tomorrow. Do you realize this is as far as I can get from home in the U.S. Are these parents crazy or what?

We visited the International Museum of Folk Art in Santa Fe. I was in love from the moment I stepped foot in the door. Since so many of my sculptures are characters with stories that I create while making them, this museum was made for me. I took so many pictures while there, but none of them did the figures justice.

We spent three days wandering around Santa Fe where I became more aware of the influence of folk- art. When we left, we drove the Turquoise Trail and all along the way there was evidence of art assembled out of found materials. Bicycles on poles, painted bright colors, fish swimming in trees, giant birds and horses looking like origami but made of steel. Rusted pieces welded together to make all kinds of figures and shapes.

We pulled into Cerrillos, where Young Guns was filmed in the 1988. The town was hardly a town but in the center was a Catholic church, in the mission architectural style. Outside the church was a figure of Christ made out of a tree trunk, and inside the courtyard were the most beautiful statues of Mary, and an angel, also made from tree trunks.

The simplicity of folk art is what speaks to me. Look at the lines of the faces, and the hands, or the clothes, the suggestion of the smile, the eyes. The carved figure are crude but at the same time elegant and complete. Many times, we continue to embellish, when one simple line says it all.

It has been years since I have been in Santa Fe. It has grown considerably, but the old historic section of town is still there and as charming as ever. The forest fires are around Bandolier State Park, Taos and Las Vegas, NM. You can see the plumes of smoke in the not too far distance. The wind is blowing over 15 knots where we are and no plans to stop for the next couple of days. It is a bit un-nerving. We had planned to go to Taos, and Bandolier State park, it looks like we will be heading away from there, and over to Chaco Canyon.

We have stayed in some out of the way places with no Wi-Fi, hence no blog. Harvest Host brought us to a place in Amarillo called Mariposa. The pictures showed a beautiful glamping tent, a purple and yellow house as a community center and four RV sites. The philosophy was that of Biosphere I and II, an environmental experiment and artist in residence. Tailor made for me.

Except we drove down a gravel road dotted with rather unfinished houses, to the purple and yellow community center we were instructed to look for and arrived to a place that looked abandon. Our campsite was fashioned on a platform of dirt, stones, and scrub. It was 101 degrees, no shade whatsoever but a small breeze made it bearable. Clearly nothing grows here, and my dream of a place filled with green plants, and artists painting was far from reality. Not to be judgmental we stayed. We opened every window, the back of the van door, the side door,  put up the sun shades, put the chairs on the shady side of the van and began our night.

Shortly after that, the new EKKO Winebago pulls in with a couple from Oklahoma. Same reaction as us, but they also decided to stay. I got to tour their camper which is the same size as ours with better layout and fabulous storage underneath. However, I love my Winnebago Solis “TA DA” and have no plans to trade it in. They were very friendly and it was nice to have them there in this desolate place.

Hours later, the stars came out, the desert became quiet, the breeze blew gently through the van and I slept one of the best sleeps I have ever had. So, we should remember, sometimes it’s not about the first impressions, sometimes it is worth staying with the situation. Would most people have turned around? Yes. Will it look better in the summer, maybe? Would I recommend it, probably not, but I was glad to be there.

Olive’s Blog:

Hi Folks, Guess what? I won! I am now in the front seat of the car, with my cozy dog bed sitting on my mom’s lap, stopped my panting and sleep soundly listening to Audiobooks. I am not so sure she is comfortable, but I heard her tell my dad it’s better than all my panting. HA, I knew that would drive them crazy. I have peed in places so fancy like the Philbrook Museum, downtown Santa Fe, and the International Folk-Art museum. I really do not understand why those places will not let me in. I’d like to be educated too. Oh and I forgot to tell you, I ate in this cool restaurant on the second floor so I could look over the balcony and check out the handsome dogs on the green below. No short-term romance for me however. I still would rather be home but I am getting used to this vagabond life. NOT!

Images from the International Fold Art Museum. I did not work on these and some are a bit hard to see due to the lighting. The sculptor of the Indian women is one of my favorite, Alan Houser. I am a big FAN.

Why Tulsa? Our friend Chris Curtis, who is a well renowned sculptor from Stowe, was delivering his sculpture to a client here in Tulsa. Chris conceived of this sculpture, then built it with a 3-D printer and had it fabricated in Vermont. It is entirely made with stainless steel. His idea was to tour with the sculpture, stopping along the way to erect it at various museums. His truck is outfitted with a hoist and he has it all fitted very carefully to the back of his truck and the trailer. He has called this sculpture “That Place in the Stars,“

We met Chris at the Philbrook museum around 3:30 pm, as the raising of the sculpture was to happen at 4:00. I expected more people to be there, but the only other person was Chris’s daughter who flew in from San Francisco. It took Chris about 45 minutes and it was finished. It will stay at the Philbrook for a week and then it will be installed in his client’s garden just around the corner from the museum. Meanwhile, the public gets to enjoy this spectacular sculpture reaching its arms to the clouds, pointing to whatever star you wish upon.

We drove in from Bentonville, AK where we spent three VERY rainy days. It poured almost the entire time, I thought our camper would float away. I never thought I would say this, but I could move to this town. It is really amazing with all of the trails, parks, dog parks, and museums. The Crystal Bridge Museum of Art is not to be missed. Nor the walk through the botanical gardens to get there. Sculptures everywhere, and creeks overflowing with water from the rains. Before you even get into the museum your breath is taken away by the architecture. Curves, and arches with interior walkways stretching out from the center lobby. Every turn there is a new form created either by shadows, or reflections or glass or wooden curved ceilings. I cannot even begin to describe it.

Once you are in the museum you start from a central circle with soaring ceilings. The museum is free. There was a special exhibit called the “Dirty South” which should not be missed if you are in the area. I believe it is a traveling exhibit, if it comes near you do go. The South is recorded in the art through various mediums, which emphases a culture steeped in tradition. Having gone to West Africa, a lot of the art resonated with me. I could trace the similarities in the dances, effigies and costumes worn in the Ivory Coast.  As I go to these various exhibits of Black culture I leave with a sense of despair for my ignorance. As a child of the 60’s and a child who grew up with integrated schools, friends that were black, I thought I was enlighten, but the more I read, the more exhibits I go to, I realize more and more the privileges I have been awarded by being white and how flawed is my thinking.

If you find yourself in the South, make it a point to go to Bentonville. I will never move there because of Arkansas politics but I would love to have the museums and parks planned out in such a spectacular way in Stowe. It could be done but we do not have the Walton’s to pay for the amount of money it takes to create such a place. This could be bad or not. We will never know.

One thing about going to National Parks is the camping is great except for no Wi-Fi. We are now in Bentonville AK and our campground has Wi-Fi.

Olive has something to say and I warn you, I do not think it is going to be ladylike.

“Whose idea was it for me to come along? I promise I will never hide from the dog sitter again. We have long hours in the car, anything over 5 minutes is long as far as I am concerned. You would think after 1600 miles of panting in the back seat they would get the hint and turn around and go home. I really find them impossible. As if having to ride in the back, strapped to a seat belt isn’t bad enough, they stop at the most disgusting rest stops, expecting me to pee by the garbage. When I finally get to sleep in “our bed”, I take as much room as I can out of revenge. Just as I am settling down, feeling pretty smug, the thunder and lightning storms start up and there I am panting away clinging to them. It is absolutely embarrassing, but I am so scared. Maybe Maggie will read this and come get me. “

Enough from Olive. When the storm came in, I was reminded of the storms in Pennsylvania as a child. It has been awhile since I have heard the thunder rolling continually while the lightning cracks away. Those storms always seemed to go on for hours. This one certainly did and seemed even longer with Olive panting in my ear. In Vermont they seem to pass quickly, are not as dramatic and the thunder and lightning don’t seem to happen simultaneously.  

We have had only one hot day, the rest of the time it has been like home, 50-60 degrees. What surprises me is the lack of foliage in most of the areas. Spring does not seem to be any farther along in Tennessee and Arkansas than in Vermont.

The Smoky mountains, it says, is the most visited Park in the world. I find that hard to believe. But the windy roads through miles of rock, trees and rhododendron and the vistas offered are beautiful. There was much fog, but it floated around allowing glimpses of the valley below. This area seems very much like Vermont, also areas of Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina. When I think of the South I think more of the coastal areas and warmer weather.

Below are pictures taken along the way. How about that turtle? He was at the Indian Mounds where we road over gravel roads to this amazing out of the way site to view the mounds. Nothing in site but the turtle and the birds. A great place to have lunch and learn about Indian mounds.

We have made it to Bentonville, home of the Walmart fortune. At dinner tonight, I made the mistake of mentioning how Arkansas is one of the states against abortion. The waiter did not take kindly to this remark. I will have to learn to keep my politics to myself, but I am so distraught over this I find it hard. I am old enough to remember back of the house abortions and friends risking their lives. I am sick that our country is going backwards.  

Happy Birthday to Shap !

We are in Waynesville, NC, about to embark on a ride over the Smokey’s and then on to Dollyland. Yep, who can resist an opportunity to see Dollyland. Shap and I are always up for places like Elvis’s home, Memphis, Nashville and all the Historical sites.

This is the first time I have had internet since we left Gettysburg which is why I am sending so many blogs. We have spent the last couple days at Grayson State Park where there are wild ponies roaming and fabulous views of the Blue Ridge Mts. We were at 5800 feet within a beautiful primitive campground. We hiked up the Appalachian Trail to the height of the land through meadows and around huge rocks. We watched as they began a controlled burn to bring the soils back providing nutrients for the horses and the health of the land.

Yesterday was a leisure day traveling to Waynesville. Olive is trying to get her two cents in here.

“It’s about time, I get a say in this trip. First of all, let me make it very clear I wish I could talk. I would have told them I was perfectly happy at home. Now I have to sit in this ridiculous car seat and pant, I am so scared. Then we get out and just as I relax we are back in the van. What’s more they took me to see where I was born. I thought they were going to leave me there.

Actually, it wasn’t that bad. There were some pretty good looking Welsh Terrier’s there, mind you they had the correct cut and I looked like some country bumpkin. But seriously this place was not overly impressive until I met Annie, the breeder. She was so nice, even if I wouldn’t get near her. I saw her Bernie sticker and I knew right away she was my kind of gal. I might have met my Mom but not sure, I did see a rather studly guy who I could have cozy up to, but he was in a pen with some other female hoping to get her pregnant. I will have none of that.

We left too soon, back in that damn van. Will this trip never end? “

I never understood friends who visited me in Gettysburg and exclaimed how beautiful the area was until now when I return home. Gettysburg will always be home to me as much as Stowe is. Whenever I go back I am filled with many wonderful childhood memories of growing up. How fortunate I was to be able to roam the battlefield, and make good friends. I always felt a sense of security within the community. Maybe because you could never do anything without it getting back to your parents. But all the same, that feeling of home and security are always with me when I return.

So today I add pictures of places I used to go from barns to creeks where we had skating parties in the winter. I never learned to skate backwards because we would skate way up the creek, turn around and come back. Enjoy this amazing place, here is my nursery school buddy Chet and his wife Sally on the covered bridge where we skated. One grew up surrounded by history, but our focus was family and friends and day to day life. Some people tell me the battlefield scares them, gives them feelings of unrest but when you grow up with it as your backyard you only know the life you lived there,

Day Four of Our Road Trip

“Let’s bring Olive,” I suggested one evening. “She is so miserable when we leave her, she’ll get used to the van, it will be fine.” The response was less than enthusiastic, with a list of logical reasons why we shouldn’t. However, when the day finally arrived, I loaded up the dog bed, the dog treats, the dog leashes, and the dog’s seat belt into the van. Guess who won the argument? Logical reasoning has never worked on me.

As I attached Olive to the seat belt with the carabiner supplied ( it broke immediately, wait for that review on Amazon), I clipped the small leash that fit into the seat belt, adjusted her dog bed with several bungee cords so she would be nice and cozy, patted her head and received a look from her that could only be interpreted as “WTF!” First 5 minutes, she tried to hang herself by jumping off the seat, then she tried twisting and turning to try to break the leash and finally she opted for heavy panting, for five hours. We, the responsible party for her misery, behaved like any parent… ignoring the whole situation except preventing her from hanging herself. And like any parent we graciously stopped every two hours for all of us to pee. It took about a quart of water to quench her thirst from all the panting.

Stopping to spend the night at my friend in Connecticut, I know she has told me she has a cat  tolerant of dogs. “We shall see how it goes.” was her last comment on the phone. She failed to remind me that her cat is a Maine Coon cat and weighs in at 22 pounds, three pounds under Olive. We arrive at her doorstep, (Olive is on a short leash), open the door and find the CAT at the door greeting us. It is hard to imagine a long- haired cat who could make its hair stand straight up in a Mohawk. Nose to nose they met with a fair amount of hissing. Olive had the good sense to back away and that was that until we left.

Ready to take on the next leg of the trip to Gettysburg to visit my nursery school buddy and his wife, I informed Olive this was my friend who was my first love and first kiss, so she should show some respect and behave. (I forgot to mention that she left a small present on the floor of my CT. friend who I hope is still speaking to me.)

Chet has had, and still has, a large very male boxer. He decided Barney should visit the kennel during Olive’s visit. What? Olive won’t get her first kiss from Barney, like I did from Chet! Yet, once I got a good look at Barney, who by the way could try out for the Chip n Dale dogs, I was thankful my Olive would remain pure.

Aren’t we the perfect house guests, we bring our dog, kick out their dog, and then have our dog sit on their sofa like she has lived there all her life. Yep, that was Olive. Fortunately, she does not shed, and Barney does so their house was not perfect.

Chet and Sally live near the Peace Light, so I thought I would take Olive and introduce her to some history of the Battle of Gettysburg. We walked up the road to the Peace Light and I told her stories about how this was a favorite “parking” spot for first dates or second dates where an innocent kiss could be given. Olive wanted nothing to do with this information. I then walked her down Doubleday Avenue and explained to her how I lost control of my bike on the little road below the tower and ended up on the railroad tracks with a busted bike and many scrapes. Again, this did not seem to interest her. Instead of staying on the road I cut across the field where the Confederates lost 900 men to the Union troops on the first day battle. Olive was not interested in that history lesson either, but instead ran ahead of me right into a lovely fresh pile of manure they had spread on the fields. Back to Chet’s where me, lovely house guest that I am, take over the sink to wash my stinking dog. I can hear Chet muttering under his breath,

”Thank God, I never got married to her.”

Day Four, Chet, Sally and Barney are waving good-bye to us with huge smiles and that look of relief we are gone. Olive is now strapped into her seat with two carabiners (bought at the gun shop with a “Don’t Blame Me I Voted for Trump sign”) and no short leash to strangle herself. This seems much better, but the panting continues. We have arrived at Greyson State Park in an amazing camp site where Olive is happily sniffing the new smells and looking for a day of hiking and seeing the wild ponies.

We can only say, we have the best friends in the world and we love them. They can bring their pets anytime and Olive can go visit the kennel. No way am I having that gorgeous Chip n’ Dale stud dog loving up to my Olive.

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.”