This and That

 Just what you always wanted to know

As we journey across these wonderful United States I make notes about the interesting, funny, weird, or just downright cool. Some end up in a blog, but some are just sitting in my Notes on my phone. Time to look back at some of these crazy items.

1. As we crossed the midwest, we were definitely in Lutheran country. Most towns had a half dozen or so Lutheran churches. Bigfork Montana's First Baptist Church was the first Baptist church we had seen in a long time.
2. Today we were traveling on a road named for somebody-or-other, and then the name Relief Route. I asked Dave, "What's up with the name Relief Route?" He pointed to a truck entering the highway, and said, "That's what's up." See photo below.
3. "Nana's Bakery" was in a bowling alley. I wonder if they have spare pastries.
4. A roadsign: "Jolly Dump Town."  What is jolly? The dump or the town? Neither?
5. On a church marquee: "Jesus is like Olive Garden. Bread sticks. Unlimited."
6. At our Black Hills campground I met a lady who was out for her morning run. I had Trooper with me, and she stopped and remarked how she had just "put down" her last Golden. She said she had to downsize now that she RVs full time. She replaced that last Golden with 4 chihuahuas. Ugh! She soon returned to the spot where we chatted, saying there was a moose in the road, and she couldn't get by. Ha! Serves her right for ditching the Golden and getting those 4 chihuahuas. 
7. Did you know Wall Drug seats 530 people? "We Welcome Buses!" No kidding. But they still give free ice water and $.05 coffee. 
8. We passed through Sturgis, SD and didn't see a single motorcycle on the road.
9. Dave remarked that driving twisty-turny Highway 49 in Montana is "bushwacking with the camper."
10. Seen in Idaho: an irrigated field against the backdrop of non-irrigated land. Wet Lives Matter.
11. We have seen, and even visited, a number of museums. Here's one we missed: Laramie, Wyoming's Prison Museum. Apparently it held Butch Cassidy in the late 1800s.
12. On the way to Durango a deer crossed the road in front of us and jumped a 6-foot privacy fence like it wasn't there.
13. On the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad we discovered that train whistles actually mean more than, "Comin' through!" The various patterns actually communicate messages, similar to the balloon crew's whistles at Balloon Fiesta. "Long, Long, Short, Long" means the train is approaching a crossing. Next time you're stopped by an oncoming train, listen to the whistle pattern.
14. A solar farm in Navajo's Monument Valley is the first tribal built, owned, and operated solar facility.  
15. Remember the Grand Canyon North Rim, where fallen trees melted the asphalt? The fire melted guardrails along the road.
16. We have stayed in 3 deserts on this trip: Great Basin (in AZ); Sonoran (also in AZ); and Chihuahuan (NM and TX). Oh, no! Not more Chihuahuas!
17. We discovered that Sedona, AZ has a building code regarding colors of buildings, homes, and signs. The idea is to make the structures blend into the surroundings. It was quite effective. I call it "Apply before applying" (you have to apply to use any paint color, and it must be approved by the "color police" before you apply the paint). No yellow is allowed. (Sorry, Davey, I know it's your favorite color.) So... the McDonald's restaurant chose to use a turquoise color for the Golden Arches. 

Here are photos for some of the above items.

Number 2 😉

Number 9

Number 10

Number 17

Speaking of Micky D's, here is some food for thought. It seems everywhere we travel there are gravity-induced waterways down mountains, across valleys, and under roadways. We noticed there are a variety of words to describe them. Here are a few we have collected along the way.

• River
• Creek
• Draw
• Wash
• Canyon
• Ravine
• Valley
• Gully
• Gulch
• Coulior
• Coulee
• Dip
• Bed
• Channel

Do you know the difference between each of these? Are they merely regional terms for the same thing? Or are these accurate geographic terms with distinct meanings? Many of these are accompanied by a warning sign, "Do not cross if water is present." Have fun figuring out which is what, and know that on today's hike we crossed no less than four of these suckers. 

 (There will be a quiz.)