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Indy’s White River Trail aka Wapahani Trail

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The White River runs from northeast to southwest as it winds through Indianapolis. Adjacent to a little over 10 miles of the river in the central portion of the city is a delightful asphalt paved trail. The trail is suitable for walking, jogging, biking and rollerblading. Canoeing and kayaking is popular on the river adjacent to the trail.

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Indy skyline , the trail visible at bottom of picture

The White River Wapahani Trail is a work in progress. (Wapahani is the Delaware Tribe’s name for the river.) The north trail head can be found near the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the famous Crown Hill Cemetery. The trail runs south and currently ends on Raymond Street, south of I-70.

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Beautiful winding path of the trail

Many interesting places are located on or very near to the trail. Among them are the White River State Park, Indianapolis Zoo, White River Gardens with a large greenhouse, the Indiana State Museum, the Eiteljorg Museum of Native American History, and the IMAX theater. Of course downtown Indy offers the Circle Center Mall, Indiana Repertory Theater and tons of restaurants and bars.

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Geese are among the many species of wildlife that make the White River environment home

Currently the trail connects to the Canal Walk downtown and the Fall Creek Trail. Access to the Monon Trail and the cross town St. Claire street walkway add to the diversity of the Wapahani. In addition, plans are in place to connect to the Eagle Creek and Pleasant Run Trails.

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That is Lucas Oil Stadium, left on the horizon, home of the Indianapolis Colts

The trail is home to many species of birds. Ducks and geese are commonly seen. Great Blue herons are also regular residents of the river. Careful observations may reveal osprey, many types of hawks and golden eagles. Deer, coyotes and red fox are also inhabitants of the river environment.

Check out further information on the White River Greenway official website.

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A Dino Christmas at the Children’s Museum

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The dinosaurs at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum are decked out in their Christmas regalia this year. Stop by and wish them a Merry Christmas!

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Even the dinosaurs are celebrating the holidays at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum is not only the world’s largest but it presents the finest Christmas celebration with a marvelous series of holiday activities sure to please the child in everyone.

Make sure that you visit the Children’s Museum website for all of the details including times open and a list of the activities. There are ticket plans available that will save your family a lot of cash.

 

Devils Tower: the first U.S. National Monument

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Northeast Wyoming is home to one of the most remarkable landscape features in the United States. The towering mass of volcanic rock known as Devils Tower has long been the destination of curious travelers and is the source of several Native American legends describing the origin of the rock formation. We made a short detour on our way from Indiana to Seattle to see this striking and beautiful gift from Earth.

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Seen from a distance, this “tower” is one of the most striking features in Wyoming

One of the legends of the origin of the tower tells the story of girls who were pursued by a huge bear. The girls prayers were answered when the Great Spirit caused the rock to raise from the ground with the girls safely on top. The bear attempted to climb the smooth sides of the rock, and his claws made the distinctive shapes we see today.

Geologists tell us that the tower was made when volcanic intrusions of lava pushed up into thick layers of sandstone, now eroded away after millions of years. The rock, an igneous basalt type, took on the shapes of columns when it cooled. Called a columnar formation, this shape is not uncommon and can be found in rocks all over the world.

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Close up shot of the columnar structure. Each “column” is about 8 feet across!

The Devils Tower was the first designated US National Monument, so declared by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. The first Caucasians saw the tower in the 1850’s. It was the site of the famous finish of the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

We could visit Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone

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IMG_3915After being disappointed with the town of Tombstone (see article here) I decided to see if we could park at the lot next to the Boothill Graveyard. Boothill is now on the National Register of Historic places. According to a plaque the graveyard was restored by Tombstone residents in the 1920’s.

The final resting place of some of Tombstone’s most colorful people is well maintained now. All of the graves look pretty much the same: a pile of rocks and simple wood markers. A few graves have fencing. The entrance to the graveyard is through a souvenir shop. They request a $3 “donation” for a flyer with the grave locations marked.

This was an interesting attraction. The graveyard is portrayed as being authentic, however you have to wonder about the spacing of the graves. The spacing is almost too perfect. The sayings on some of the graves are pretty humorous.

We were able to park in the lot, however any rig over 25′ will not be able to park here. I was able to find a spot and back in ok.IMG_3928

           

2015 is here

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Our new FourWinds 22e

Our new FourWinds 22e

2015 is now officially here. I know because I saw the ball drop. As Sher and I look forward to the new year we are excited about our new RV, a Four Winds 22e motorhome. We have had it a couple of weeks and are still getting things organized the way we want them. Changing from a truck pulling a travel trailer to a self-contained Class C has been a change as you can imagine. The coach will fit into our travel life a lot better than the trailer.

We are planning on heading south from Indiana, maybe towards Florida or maybe towards New Orleans. That is the fun of the RV lifestyle: you can go where ever you want.