Author: Roadtirementvintage

South Dakota flashback

/ Roadtirementvintage / 17 Comments
We were traveling in South Dakota in October of 2018. Here is a look back…

Traveling on I-90 through South Dakota provides some remarkable scenery. In addition to the natural wonders of the state, one man-made marvel really stands out. Near Chamberlain at Exit 294 you’ll see the signs for a rest area with a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. As you exit the interstate and drive up a decent slope you see a very large stainless steel sculpture with a geometric pattern. Then you soon realize that it is a star quilt being held by a beautiful Native American woman.

The star pattern

Note the person on the left for scale

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the statue titled “Dignity of Earth and Sky”. The creation of South Dakota Artist Laureate Dale Claude Lamphere is a magnificent example of very large scale public art. The statue represents the courage and wisdom of the Lakota and Dakota people who come from the area. The star quilt pattern is traditionally used to honor people or peoples.

A whale of a sight

/ Roadtirementvintage / 28 Comments

This life size statue of an Orca killer whale is in the entrance way to the Tulalip Casino off of I-5 north of Seattle.  We have been patrons of the casino several times when we traveled to the Seattle area to visit family.  When we were last there you could park your motorhome for 3 days in the designated RV lot. No services, but a patrolled and safe place to stay.

It seems that there is a brand new, additional casino on the same property. There was a Grand Opening  February 3rd. It is listed as being twice as large as the first casino. We will definitely check it out the next time we travel to the Pacific Northwest.

 

Unexpected and surprising good news

/ Roadtirementvintage / 58 Comments

In case you missed our last post, our COVID vaccine appointments were canceled due to the snow storm that basically buried the country.  OK, so yesterday our son and I went to Walmart to pick up one of my prescriptions. We almost didn’t go because I really didn’t need it til next week, and it was snowing at a pretty good clip.

My son went in to get the Rx. When he came out he told me the pharmacy tech had asked him if his parents had gotten their COVID vaccine yet. He told them no, their appointments were cancelled. She said for us to come in, they had extra vaccine today, no appointment needed!

I called Sher, told her the news, and to get ready. We drove back to the house and I changed into a shirt for easy baring of the arm. We were back at the Walmart soon, and within about 40 minutes we were vaccinated, held the safety 15 minutes after the jab, and had our follow up appointments made 30 days out.  What a great surprise on a snowy day.

 

Bad news and pretty good news

/ Roadtirementvintage / 41 Comments

Completely unrelated but kind of cute photo

Which do you want first?  Ok, the bad news: We had appointments for our first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine scheduled for 3 PM this afternoon. Last night the State Department of Health sent us text messages stating that due to the impending snow storm our appointments were cancelled. Rats!

This large storm is all over the news. It is touted as one that affects millions and millions of people. (When did they start tallying how many are affected by snow, rain, hurricanes, etc.) We had about an inch of snow overnight. The big storm is supposed to hit here about 3 PM dumping up to 9 inches they say.

Oh yea, the good news. This morning we called the information number for vaccine scheduling. First we found out that after our appointments today were cancelled that we went to the back of the line. We were able, however, to get scheduled for next week on the 23rd. We will have to go to an adjoining county’s hospital, about a 20 mile drive. (The  soonest we could get in our county was March 15th.)

So we’re losing 8 days, and don’t yet know which vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna, so we don’t know about timing the second dose. We had made reservations at an RV park in Florida based on our first appointment date, but may have to change them. Time will tell.

It’ll be nice again… sometime

/ Roadtirementvintage / 16 Comments

We’re expecting sub-zero wind-chill and 8+ inches of snow over the next 36 hours

Signs of hot summertime

As always, February seems like such a dragging winter month with the cold and snow and ice and other icky weather stuff.  But, spring always does come, and it appears that the vaccinations are beginning to roll out more and more. There is some glimmer of hope that the country is making some progress on beating this pandemic. Guess it’s better to be optimistic.

What’s in that rock?

/ Roadtirementvintage / 22 Comments

As we normally do, Sher and I were outside on the stone pad sitting and enjoying the end of the day in an RV park in central Ohio. My undergraduate major was in geology, and I always look at rocks, be it outcrops along side a highway, distant mountain ranges, or in this case, the rocks on which our RV was parked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love finding fossils, and low and behold there on the ground at my feet I spotted some nice fossil crinoid stems in the 2 to 4 inch sized rocks.  OK, you say, what in the heck are crinoids? Reader’s digest version: Crinoids first showed up about 500 million years ago and some 600 species are still around today. The drawing show how one looked living in shallow seas.  The fossils in the rock are pieces of the stalk.

Can you say icicle?

/ Roadtirementvintage / 25 Comments

Driving around today we spotted these quite impressive icicles.


Hope the people who live there are careful. Those icicles are very heavy, and will probably fall before they melt. There is heavy snow predicted starting Monday morning. We hope it does not mess up our vaccine appointments set for Monday afternoon.