BRYANT CREEK STATE PARK EXPEDITION!

In 2024, I went with friends from "Women Hiking the Ozarks" abbreviated "WHO" to do a hike at a place that had never been on our schedule before.  It was Bryant Creek State Park (www.mostateparks.com), which was added to the Missouri system in 2022.  As always, our group "circled up" at the beginning, to go over the instructions from our volunteer trail coordinators, tell our names, and number off.  (The goal being to have the same number at the end of the hike, as at the beginning!)  The concrete pad where we are gathered also serves as the handicap parking spot, for the two pit toilets, which are handicapped accessible.  The covered kiosk on the left, had helpful information posted behind the glass, plus a container that had paper maps, a hiker could take with them while exploring.

Our large group divided into those who wanted the longer, more difficult hike and those who wanted the shorter, less difficult hike.  I was in the group who wanted the shorter distance, and I took the photo below of my group, when we started our journey:

The long trail group hikers are TOUGH!

At one point far from our starting point, the two groups crossed paths.  I was in the group with their backs facing the camera, while the longer mileage hikers are facing the camera. 

The photo below shows 3 ladies conferring with their map, while the lady at the left of the photo worked on the ambitious goal of getting a very wide angle photo that would show the entire group. 

What the map readers were trying to figure out, is where we were in terms of the waterfall that is listed on the map.  Eventually, we came across the (barely flowing) waterfall, and it is pictured behind me.  We were visiting the area during deer hunting season, which accounts for my bright orange attire. 

  The bluffs that occur throughout the park add to its biodiversity, with a bioinventory indicating 940 kinds of plants, shrubs, wildflowers, and trees.  The photo below shows one of our hikers beside an outcrop of sandstone. 

The park brochure says ledges of Roubidoux sandstone, stacked two or three layers tall, follow the ins and outs of the area hills and hollows.  Sometimes our trail was on top of the sandstone, sometimes beside it, and sometimes between it, as shown in photo below:

The Ozarks is famous for its "hills and hollers", which means there may be a bit of water flowing through the hollers at the bottom of the hills.  As a trail patrol volunteer with the Arkansas Master Naturalists (www.arkansasmasternaturalists.org), I can appreciate the labor that is required to create a trail through a heavily wooded area.  The trails here were built with the assistance of team Fire 1 of AmeriCorps NCCC, a full-time service program (www.americorps.gov) allowing young adults ages 18-26 to serve in communities across the country to learn leadership skills. 

When I was at the park last November, I read the information at the kiosk, that said a track chair was available, by advance reservation, for visitors to the parks.  When I contacted the park to arrange a demonstration in December, the ranger explained that it generally is not available during December, January, February, and March because of weather-related issues, so I was delighted when the park ranger, Nick, followed up with me again in April, indicating that a demonstration of the track chair could now be scheduled.  Friends of mine from church (R and C) were also interested in learning about the track chair, and we are shown below:

After the park ranger explained how it worked,  the liability release form had been signed, and identity verified by R showing a photo ID driver's license, we were ready to start rolling!  C is shown below, using the track chair as it was set up, upon our arrival.  C has limited use of her right hand, so she was having to reach across her body, to operate the "joy stick" that controls the chair, with her still-functional left hand.  This was not an "ergo-efficient" movement, and proved to be very tiring for her left hand. 

Thankfully, there was a solution, as the ranger explained that the controls could be moved to the opposite side of the chair, with advance notice, but he did not have the necessary tools with him, to make the change at that time.  That is when R pulled out a fully-equipped tool bag out of his van, and the two guys started the process of switching the sides of the chair that the joy stick was located.  It did not require a change in the electronics cord, just a matter of unscrewing the control boxes for the electronics, and transferring them behind the chair, to be relocated to the opposite side. The chair runs on battery power, with the amount of battery charge remaining, displayed on the arm controls.  Because of the limited battery power, it is generally recommended that the chair can only be used for a two hour time period, before needing to be recharged at an electrical source. 

It was inspiring to see these two work together on a common goal! 

The chair was much easier for C to maneuver with the controls on the left:

C has an electric wheel chair at home that uses a "joy stick", so once she had the controls on the left side, she was ready to go "full throttle" on the trail!  (The speed is adjustable incrementally, from 1 (slowest) to 5 (fastest).    The photo below shows she was several feet ahead of me, as I was a walker; and, the photo also shows the golden "track chair" blaze on the pine tree, as well as illustrating there are park benches along the trail used by the track chair. 

This tree shows the blazes (hiking trail markers) used for all the trails at Bryant Creek State Park.  The red rectangle designates the  4.5 mile Pike Hollow Trail, the yellow rectangle designates the Pinewoods Trail, and the blaze below it with the symbol for the track chair, means this section is where the track chair is permitted.  The liability release form that a participant signs, indicates the chair is equipped with a GPS locator, so the possibility of a person in the chair getting lost in the woods is minimal.  Also, the liability release form one signs, indicates that park personnel are not allowed to assist the user into or out of the chair, so most users will need to have a helper with them for that maneuver.  The form also states that their photo/video may be used by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, while they are using the action track chair.  However, before I published their photos, I asked C and R, if it was okay for me to do so, which they said was okay.  By the way, the blazes in this photo (which do not harm the trees) are on trees that are partly responsible for the development of Bryant Creek State Park.  That is because the park acreage has a nice stand of Missouri's only native Shortleaf Pine. 

One reason I became interested in accessibility to the outdoors is that decades ago, my nephew was teaching hang-gliding at a location in Southern California.  A gust of wind caught his hang-glider, slamming him against a cliff.  The injury resulted in him having lower body paralysis, causing him to be confined to a wheelchair from then on.  Another learning experience was the week I spent at a Road Scholar (www.RoadScholar.org) program at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, in Hyde Park, New York.  Learning about the difficulties FDR had when he was confined to a wheel chair after a bout with polio, I was impressed by his determination.  I remember in particular a quote from President Franklin D. Roosevelt saying to the effect, that he had just signed into existence, a new USA National Park, that he would never be able to enjoy, as a person confined to a wheel chair.  Fortunately, since that time, progress has been made to correct that situation.  One group that I follow on social media that has the goal of taking mobility-impaired folks to places they could never go otherwise, is called Luke5Adventures (www.Luke5Adventures.org).  Using a "chair cycle" (similar to what is used in mountain rescues) they take people on some, otherwise unattainable for the paralyzed person, trails.  The name comes from the passage in Luke 5:17-26, that tells about the men who carried a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing, gaining access to Jesus, by lowering the man down through a hole in the roof of the room where Jesus was teaching.  They were demonstrating faith and friendship in action! 

Seeing the faith and perseverance my nephew, my friends C and R, and other wheel-chair folks at my church demonstrate, despite their challenges, is an uplifting testimony.  It is in stark contrast I had many years ago, when making patient rounds at the hospital I worked.  I entered a paralyzed patient's room, to find out his food preferences, and he started cursing at me and throwing objects at me, such that I had to leave the room.  His anger was completely understandable, which makes a good attitude in the same situation, so amazing to me.  

 Hopefully, enabling folks to get out into God's Great Outdoors, will point them to a new-found strength, through accessibility advances, like a track chair.  My experiences at Bryant Creek State Park, both hiking and observing the track chair, gave me "MILES OF SMILES"!!  Tricia




 

BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM EXPEDITION!

The Boyce Thompson Arboretum (www.btarboretum.org) has been fostering conservation efforts for over 100 years, which they proudly display with the sculpture at their entrance.

 I had the blessing of exploring the arboretum, with my two grandsons (T and R) shown below, on a visit to Arizona in February. 

Along with their parents (K and D), we traveled the approximately 50 miles from their home in Mesa, to the arboretum location, near Superior, Arizona. 

One of the first plants I photographed upon entering, was the Ice Plant, because it brought back fun memories of time spent with the grandfather of T and R, on the coast in California.  We stopped to photograph a hillside over the Pacific, that was ablaze with brightly colored flowers.  Neither of us was familiar with the ice plant, but I was later to learn it has some similarities to a plant we are familiar with in the South---kudzu.  I found this out because I was invited to participate in an ice plant removal project on the Channel Islands (see blog titled Santa Cruz Expedition, dated September 10, 2016,  for my photos of the cliffs of the Channel Islands).  Both the ice plant and kudzu were introduced into the USA for erosion control.  However, since the introduction of ice plant in the early 1900's, ice plant has spread aggressively (as has kudzu), forming dense mats that displace native plants and alter the soil.  One theory says that although ice plant was initially intended for erosion control, ice plant's shallow roots and heavy leaves can actually destabilize coastal soils, increasing the risk of landslides and erosion. 

When one pays the $25/person entry fee, they will give you a map of the almost 400 acres there, but thankfully, there are also placards throughout the property that show the "YOU ARE HERE", to help one navigate through the expansive gardens.

Most of the walkways are dirt, but there are a few walkways that are paved, such as shown below:

Another area we saw also brought back motorcycle travel memories with the boys' grandfather, which was the sign that showed the plant called Mormon Tea.  Years ago, we motorcycled extensively in Utah, and read about a doctrine followed by some of the Mormon faith that called for avoiding coffee and tea, presumably because of their caffeine content, a known stimulant.  Then we read on a display in a national park in Utah about the plant called Mormon Tea (it had that name because early Mormon settlers in the southwestern United States used the plant, Ephedra nevadensis, to make a tea as a substitute for coffee.)  Now we know that ephedra is a known stimulant, and highly regulated in the USA pharmaceutical market.  So what the early settlers were actually doing was substituting one stimulant-containing plant (coffee) for another, more potent stimulant-containing plant (Ephedra)!

There was an entire section of the arboretum devoted to Ephedra!

Mormon Tea had additional uses besides just a beverage, as it was also used for medicinal purposes.  In fact, one of the placards in the arboretum went into detail (giving living plant examples) of plants used for medicinal purposes.  I found this interesting because the first "Science Project" I did in Junior High School, was to go into an Ozark Forest with my mom, and her great Uncle Olney, so he could show us the herbs that his family had used for generations as medicinal remedies for various ailments.  In fact such folklore medicine is one reason the arboretum was originally started---to study folk medicine, isolate chemically active compounds, and study them to make medicines that can be mass marketed.  You have to look no further than aspirin, isolated from willow plants, to see an example of this theory.  The placard at the Curandero Trail photo below, explains that Curandero is a word, in the Mexican culture, for a healer.   Therefore, along the trail, visitors can see plants that served as herbal remedies for various ailments.  In the broadest definition, R and T's grandfather, who was a medical doctor, would fall under the classification of a Curandero. 

One area of the arboretum had plants linked to the stories we read in the Holy Bible.  For example, the plant Frankincense was a gift brought by the Wise Men from the East, when they came looking for the child Jesus. 

A crown of thorns was put on Jesus at the time of his crucifixion, so it was interesting to see the plant shown in photo below, commonly called Crucifixion thorn. 

This part of Arizona is known to have wild horses, so it was appropriate that a full-size horse sculpture has been incorporated into the landscape.  It is so life-like, one might think it was the real thing!  The first I heard of the wild horses was when my husband and I went on a guided trail-ride through the desert in this area, on a sunny January day, after a medical meeting at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale.  Our guide asked where we were from, and when we indicated the Ozarks, he told us Branson, Missouri, was where he took his horses in the summer, to offer trail rides to the tourists there.  So, of course, we looked him up the next July, and he was busy as could be, taking young and old, on paths through the hills and hollers surrounding that famous destination!

As the mother of a grown son, I know how much I appreciate seeing a photo of my son and I together, so I tried to get such a photo for K, with each of her sons, with this one being K and T.

This one is K and R:

I didn't want to press my luck by asking the grandsons to pose for several more photos, so the next few photos are taken surreptitiously: 

R with arms up

Rattlesnake warning!

R is a professional in the film industry in Los Angeles, so I was curious what he found of interest to photograph in the greenhouse at the arboretum:

He was photographing the plant called "dinosaur back cactus", or more precisely Myrtillocactus geometrizans.  I found it to be a divinely-inspired piece of sculpture!  The name references its unique crested growth pattern, which makes some people think of flowing water, or a candelabra. 

The arboretum was started by  businessman and philanthropist Colonel Boyce Thompson,  who made his fortune in the mining business, and built a house high on a mountain, overlooking the present-day arboretum, through Queen Creek Valley, which was named after the Silver Queen Mine.  Colonel Thompson called his residence the Picket Post House. 

There is a hiking trail that goes up the mountain, which the boys decided to take so they could get a closer look at the house, while K and I stayed in the lower area.  This photo shows a hiker starting up the mountain trail:

This photo shows me pretending to be a hiker on the trail:

I was glad to get a photo of R, showing he had a water bottle with him, to keep hydrated on the mountain

Getting to the higher elevations of the arboretum, requires crossing Queen Creek, and the property includes several bridges across the stream.  This photo shows K and I on the swinging bridge that lets one feel the undulating movement of the structure, as they walk across it:

Another  bridge photo below

This photo shows Queen Creek, and one of the bluffs that overlooks it:

Four days earlier, my son and his friend had been sport climbing in the Superior, Arizona area, in a section maintained by the Queen Creek Climbing Coalition.  My son sent me the photo below of the crag they ascended, with their technical climbing gear:  (Google "Queen Creek Arizona rock climbing photos" to see the limitless possibilities of routes to the summit of these crags)

This saguaro (pronounced "sah-wah-roh") cactus reminds me of a person waving.  A saguaro cactus takes ten years to get just one inch tall!  A saguaro cactus that is 6.5 feet tall is probably about 70 years old.  The tallest ever recorded was 78 feet in height.  Some of them have "arms" and some do not.  Since the cactus can be heavy when it is full of water it has stored, one theory is that an arm forms a counter balance of the plant.  

When I read that the saguaro cactus has the scientific name, Carnegiea gigantea, I learned that it was named after philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, because his Carnegie Institution for Science established the Desert Botanical Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, in 1903.    That made me curious if any plants had been named after Colonel Boyce Thompson, who also financed early research into desert plants.  As it turns out, in 1926, a botanist named the newly discovered hedgehog cactus, Echinocereus boyce thompsonii, after the Arboretum where the botanist first identified and collected it in.   

              The creosote plant is common in this area, and research into its chemical makeup, enabled the development of a product that can prevent rot in wooden railroad ties.   Colonel Boyce Thompson also founded the Institute for Plant Research in New York to improve agricultural practices.  The idea of plant research reminded me that I got to participate in a six-week long plant research project, at a science institute I attended at the University of Arkansas, between my junior and senior year in high school, to study fusarium fungus in tomatoes.  Our work did not produce any commercial applications that I am aware of, but it did serve as a delightful orientation of sorts, to what it would be like to be a student at the University of Arkansas and living in a dormitory.  My roommate for those six weeks at Futrall Hall on the U of A campus was Miss Jeffrey Lynn Taylor, and we ended up also being roommates our freshman year at the University of Arkansas.  The U of A Science Institute was actually not my first choice that summer.  Since I was very interested in underwater studies at the time, I applied for a Summer Science Institute at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, but was not accepted.  Forty years later, I learned that during that time, they already had one person with the name "Keeling" in their research department, and another Keeling would have been confusing (or, so I told my self in consolation).  That Keeling person went on to a prestigious career at Scripps, and his data was the basis of the famous "Keeling Curve".  The Keeling Curve is the world's longest unbroken record of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, providing valuable insights into long-term trends in carbon dioxide levels.  It was not at a family reunion where I learned of my Keeling connection, rather at a commemorative plaque I saw decades later, when I was touring the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego. 

The structure built into the rock bluff shown in photo below is called the Clevenger House, and was built by an early pioneer that lived on this acreage.  (There is a remote resort near where I live, that also has all its rental cabins built into, around, and over giant boulders and bluffs.  You can see photos of the unique cabins,  in my blog archives, entitled Longbow Resort Expedition, dated April 20, 2015).

A big section of the arboretum is devoted to Eucalyptus trees, and the largest of those trees is called "Mr. Big".  It stands 117 feet tall, with a circumference of 22 feet, and is about one hundred years old.   Notice how tiny K looks, standing beside the trunk of Mr. Big.   A pleasant memory I have of eucalyptus trees is when my husband and I were driving a two lane highway between Sacramento and Yosemite National park.  The highway was lined with these trees, and at the time, I had no idea what they were, but I was intrigued by their beauty and unusual bark.  Years later, when visiting my cousin whose back yard abuts the original Highway 66, He said he had cut down the eucalyptus tree in his back yard because of that very same bark.  Saying its constant shedding made his otherwise pristine yard look very messy, which he did not like.  If you read the history of Route 66, it will tell you that eucalyptus trees were planted along sections of Route 66 in Southern California, for ornamental reasons.  However, when Highway 66 was decommissioned, these trees ended up being on private property, instead of public right of way, and were not always appreciated.  

As I was writing this blog, it surprised me that so many of my memories are linked to plants!  And the Bible comments on what we can learn from plants, talking about how the seed has to die and be buried, so that it can rise again to life---a life that can give abundant fruits and new seeds.  Even "Mr. Big" was once a tiny seed, and could be thought of in the parable Jesus told in Matthew 13:31-32 that says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field, which indeed is smaller than all seeds.  But when it is grown, it is greater that the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."

Learning about the plants I saw at this arboretum, and getting to have this experience with loved ones, gave me "Miles of Smiles"!  Tricia

HEADWATERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER EXPEDITION!

In order to reach Dubuque, Iowa, for a tourism event there, before registration closed, I had to leave my home in northern Arkansas several hours before daylight.  A few hours earlier, the highway I needed to use to make this northern route, had been closed due to flooding.  The app on my phone was confusing, making it unclear if the highway was closed, or merely water-covered.  So it was with my mind full of prayers to God for His will regarding passage, I started out on the highway.  By the grace of God, the portion of the highway in question was covered with mud and gravel, but it was OPEN, and I could proceed the next 530 miles, as hoped.  As the sun came up over the Ozark mountains, my mind remembered that another intrepid explorer (Henry Schoolcraft) had also traveled through these Ozarks, in his expedition to chart unknown areas of the new frontier, including the Upper Mississippi River, which was also, my ultimate goal.  The miles ticked away like clicks on a wagon wheel, and I finally made it to Dubuque at the right time, following my GPS to the convention center, where the meeting started.  I joined a line of several cars, stopped at a railroad crossing, that was blocked by a freight train, which had come to a complete standstill.  I waited in the traffic line for fifteen minutes, and reluctantly joined the string of cars that were backing out, making a u-turn, and giving up, on the train ever moving.  It was very frustrating to realize I had made every effort to arrive on time, but then was denied entrance, just one block from the convention center!  I tried following what my GPS gave as a detour route, but it had me going through private property and over numerous railroad tracks and down unpaved alleyways, that looked very unsightly to a stranger in the area.  So I decided to give up on getting to the convention center, and go check into my hotel on the other side of town.  At my hotel, I phoned the convention center and the meeting sponsor to tell them about my predicament, but it was a Sunday, and all I got was an answering machine, to whom I explained how the entrance was blocked.  Finally, with new resolve, and entering the city from a different direction, my GPS took me, via a lovely bridge that went OVER the railroad tracks, and delivered  me to the convention center parking lot.  (If only, it would have done that earlier!!)  Another clue I was finally in the right location was seeing this gigantic paddle wheel setting beside the bridge over the railroad tracks!

Once I parked near the convention center, I got out to walk and explore the riverfront.  I came across a lovely piece of outdoor sculpture, and had to get a photo of me rejoicing on the banks of the river:

The Great River Road Interpretive Center, along with the Mississippi River Museum, is located in this same area.    This same sign design is used for Great River Road (GRR) Interpretive Centers all the way from Canada to the Gulf.  When you see the familiar Captain's Wheel on a highway sign, the state you are in will be shown at the bottom.  Since this sign is actually on the river, it references the entire length of the Great River Road, not just the state.  I gave a detailed account of a different Interpretive Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in a blog available in the archives, published September 28, 2014.  It is entitled "Lower Mississippi River Museum".

It was kayaking on the Mississippi River at Floatzilla (see blog in archives, dated September 2, 2024, called "Floatzilla Expedition",  for info on that experience) that planted the seed for this particular expedition.  And now, I was at the kayak launch spot farther north on the river, in Dubuque! Hurrah!  At Floatzilla, I saw this waterfront monument that indicated Quad Cities area was at River Mile #490, so my mind began to want to see River Mile #0, which I assumed would be the beginning of America's Longest River.   My uneducated mind also assumed that Dubuque would have a smaller river mile number than Quad Cities.   However, when Google said  the Dubuque location put me at River Mile #583, I was confused.!  Here is what I later learned:  Mile markers on the Mississippi River are determined using a scheme where river miles are measured from a specific point, usually the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established these markers in the 1930s, and they are based on the channel centerline at that time.  River miles on the Upper Mississippi River (URM) begin at URM 1,342 at Lake Itasca, the river's source in Minnesota, and decrease to URM 0 at the confluence with the Ohio River in Cairo, Illinois.  At Cairo, the river switches to Lower River Miles (LRM) which start at LRM 954 and decrease to LRM 0 at Head of Passes, near Venice, Louisiana.   So now you know "the rest of the story"!

A map inside the museum showed my plan---to reach the beginning of that squiggly blue line in northern Minnesota.  Having already traveled the Great River Road south of Mark Twain's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, I was now on a quest for the upper Mississippi River.  The night-time tourism event at the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, (in addition to having a delicious supper meal and a live band), was also a time to explore and learn about the various wildlife one encounters along the river.  as there are massive aquariums and a large turtle habitat.

  The Dubuque convention center has outstanding architecture which included this v-shaped protrusion, out over the sidewalk, pointing to the waters beyond it.

On the inside of the room, one could imagine being on the bow of a steamboat, chugging down the river, that happens to be the longest river in North America!

From Dubuque, I proceeded up the Great River Road (GRR), and through lush, green farmland, with both rolling hills and towering buffs,  The familiar sign of the GRR  navigation ships wheel, with the state indicated at the bottom, shows I am in Wisconsin, for this photo.   

 I called my always-calm companion for this trip, "Missy", since we were traveling along the Mississippi River.  Missy was concerned I might be giving her germs, so she wore her face mask the entire trip, and didn't let out a peep, no matter how many wrong turns I took.   A more verbal passenger would have told me that I was supposed to have a Vehicle Permit tag to use this Wyalusing Recreation Area, but instead, I drove in unaware, and had to offer apologies for my error!

After Dubuque, I spent my first night on the northward leg of the trip in Red Wing, Minnesota.  At the tourism conference I had just attended, the Red Wing representative explained a "must-see" in that city was the "World's Largest Boot".   When I checked into my hotel, the desk clerk told me the boot  was inside the Red Wing Shoe Company flagship store, which was currently closed, and did not open until nine am the next day.  So, the next day, I spent the early morning hours in Red Wing, admiring the renovated downtown main street, which was funded by the shoe company, and whose windows now serve as very distinctive "display windows" for their products. 

The Red Wing Shoe Company also renovated, and own, the town's historic hotel.  It not only has lodging for guests, its second floor has been converted into a wonderful museum, containing the artifacts of USA Olympic ski jumping, which had a significant early history/beginning near Red Wing.

 

When the actual retail store opened, I walked in and saw a selfie machine mounted on the wall, so that the hundreds of visitors they have, could get the mandatory photo, and not have to be constantly "bothering" the sales staff, asking for their photo to be taken.  So I stood very close to the camera, the flash went off, and then I filled out my email address on the screen keyboard, and voila!,  the postcard below appeared in my inbox.  Actually, this was the second or third photo, because on the first one, I was standing so close to the camera, the boot was not even visible. 

There were no other customers in the store at that time, so one of their staff members could see that "the elderly lady up by the big boot, does not know how to use a selfie machine", so he offered to take a photo of me beside the boot, using my iPhone camera.  He told me to stand in the white square beside the boot, with two footprints on it, (which I had completely overlooked), when I was trying to use their selfie machine!  Talk about embarrassing!

 

At some of their store displays, I was fascinated to read about the history of the Red Wing Shoe Company, especially the part that said a man whose last name was "FOOT" played a part in that history! Also, it was amusing to see the labels they were giving away, that you could put inside your shoe, indicating who you would leave them to, when you die!  

 

Besides the World's Largest Boot on display, there was another boot "sculpture" on the second floor, with a mural painted on the side.  (see left side of collage below).  I have been in other cities, where a prominent icon of that city is "adopted" by various artists/businesses,  and painted, then placed at strategic locations around the city.  For example, In Wichita, Kansas, it was airplanes,  In Louisville, Kentucky, it was horses.  In Grants Pass, Oregon, it was bears.  In Klamath Falls, Oregon, it was pelicans.  Of course in Red Wing it is a big boot!  (Right side of collage shows a painted boot sculpture beside a mailbox, on a downtown street).

Before leaving the town of Red Wing, I stopped at the pottery museum, which I had also heard about at the tourism conference.  This area was famous for its distinctive pottery, that was in heavy use, especially before the advent of plastic containers.  My parents used to be in the school supply business, and one item they used to sell to schools was a ceramic water cooler.  I currently have one of those coolers at my house, and use it to store table games.  I also currently have a butter churn from my paternal grandmother's farm, similar to the one shown in the photo collage below.  She made delicious (what we called "cow butter"), and would give us a fresh dish of it, every Sunday, on our weekly drive to Locust, Arkansas, after church, to have lunch with them.  Those Sunday visits were also when I saw how she nonchalantly twisted the neck off one of her chickens, plucked off the feathers, cut it up, and fried it, to feed us delicious Southern fried chicken.  I remember as a little girl, standing beside her at the cook stove, and asking her how she knew when the lard was hot enough to put the chicken in.  She (jokingly, I was told later), that she spit in it, and if the spit sizzled, the lard was hot enough.  So immediately, before she could stop me, I had spit into the frying pan with the lard in it, and sure enough---it sizzled!  I was later disciplined for this unsanitary gesture.  Telling this story reminded me of another disciplinary measure after a visit to their farm.  On the drive home, I was making fun of the way my grandma talked, with sayings such as "them thar 'maters", or "you ins".  My father stopped the car, pulled me out of the back seat, spanked my bottom, and told me to never-ever make fun of the way my grandparents talked.  Decades later, when I was at a Road Scholar study course on Appalachian culture (see September 29, 2015 blog in archives), being taught by a college English professor, he said he was a stickler for his Appalachian students WRITING English correctly and used his red "corrections" pen extensively for that.  But, he said he never-ever corrected the way the Appalachian students SPOKE!  It took me many decades, but I could finally see the wisdom of my father's disciplinary measure!

Proceeding northward from Red Wing, there are various pullouts along the GRR,  where significant features or historical aspects can be seen, and explained.  One of these talked about the way river rafts fulls of timber logs, floated down the Mississippi River, to markets worldwide.  

There are various federal facilities along the GRR, with interpretive and educational exhibits, like the one shown in this photo.  By the time, I arrived, it was closed, but some of the materials they provided were available in their porch area.

 

At one point along the way, at what they call a recreation area, I was able to actually drive my car to the very edge of the river, and get the tires slightly wet in the waters of the Missisippi River.   Since my little Ford car is called an Escape, I was glad that it could also lead me to to "escape" the flooded highways in the Arkansas area where my trip originated, which is also part of the Mississippi River Watershed drainage basin!

Finally, I made it to the Itaska State Park entrance, while it was still daylight.  And thankfully, most of the snow had melted, and presented no problem driving the roads within the state park. 

 

Even though there were not many minutes till dark, I felt like I should proceed the five miles from the entrance sign to the headwaters immediately, because there was still enough light for some photos, and there was no guarantee that the weather the following day would cooperate.  However, I stopped long enough before I got to the headwaters, to snap this photo, through the windshield, of the sign that indicates THE BEGINNING of the GRR!   HALLELUJAH!!

 

I arrived at the giant parking lot for the headwaters visitor center, and it was empty except for one car.  Remembering that a football field is three hundred feet long, I quickly calculated that the walk to the headwaters (even though not visible from the visitor center) was only about the length of three football fields, so it should be a quick walk.  I don't make a practice of walking into the wilderness by myself, but sometimes the circumstances make it worth the risk!

 

I quickly got out, and started following the muddy trail that supposedly led to the headwaters (Snow still remained on each side of the trail, which is why it was muddy).  As I was entering, a young woman by herself, was leaving the area, so I asked her if she would take my photo, assuming there were no other visitors down at the headwaters, since there were no cars in the parking lot, but hers.

  As she finished snapping the photo, she alerted me to the fact there is a live web cam focused on the area, that people anywhere can watch.  So I phoned my son in California, and asked him to google it, to see if he could spot me on the live cam.  He did, and even got a screen shot of me, with arms up rejoicing!  I was SO THANKFUL the young woman had told me about the live cam, because I never would have seen it otherwise, as it was very high up, and well camouflaged by foliage. 

In researching for this trip, I had seen several photos on the Internet, showing this very sign, but this is one I took myself!!  One thing that makes it different from the rest, is that in the distant lake, there are several white swans, peacefully echoing the "honking" sound they are famous for!

 There was not another person in the vicinity, so I carefully sat my iPhone on a rock beside the stream, put it on video, and had it take a three minute video of me crossing (very carefully) from rock to rock, to the OTHER side of the Mississippi River!  Hallelujah!  And I managed to return to my starting point without falling in!  I will spare you the boredom of replaying the balancing act of a 77 year old, vertigo-challenged person trying to keep her balance on slippery rocks, but please trust me when I tell you, that I actually did it and have a video to prove it!  I sent the video to my First Place for Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) teacher, because she had been leading our class in balance exercises for the last several months, and I wanted her to know her efforts were not in vain!  Below is a single frame from that video, when I had reached the far shore, and uplifted my arms in thanksgiving.  My phone lanyard had fallen in front of the lens as I crossed, causing a black diagonal line across the upper right corner.  Hence, I covered it with a smiley face, because I was definitely smiling to achieve this milestone!

 

After crossing the headwaters, I took the time to read some of the interpretive placards at the site.  I was especially intrigued by the part that connected Henry Schoolcraft to the headwaters.  In fact, it was Schoolcraft, who coined the word "Itasca". It is a combination of the Latin phrase veritas caput ("true head", that is, of the Mississippi River).  It is the last four letters of veritas, and the first two letters of caput---forming "itasca".  

 

 I doubt the writings about my expeditions will ever be as impactful as those of Mr. Schoolcraft, because the USA government was needing Mr. Schoolcraft  to find the headwaters, in order to establish a boundary line for the Northwest Territory.  I only explore and write, to try to expand my brain boundaries!

 This trip served as a "boundary" of sorts for a verse of Scripture from Isaiah 58:11 that I would like to use to define the experience:  "The LORD will guide you always; He will satisfy our needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."   It resonates with this trip because traveling a long distance, especially through unfamiliar territory and potential challenges, requires a sense of trust and guidance.  The verse speaks to my reliance on the Lord for direction and safety, knowing that He will provide and give me the strength I need for the demanding journey.  Even when things are difficult, I have an assurance of sustenance and inner fortitude to keep going.  Reaching the headwaters of the Mississippi, the source of a great river, symbolizes finding a place of origin and renewal.  That part of the verse connects to the idea that the Lord is a constant, life-giving source.  This journey to the headwaters was a personal quest to connect with a source of inspiration,, and the vastness of creation.  It encapsulates the underlying themes of faith, perseverance, and the rewarding feeling of achieving a goal, mirroring the spirit of the Mississippi River.  I had taken a wooden paddle from home, along with me on the trip, so I could capture the photo below of me "paddling the headwaters of the Mississippi River"!  These were very rewarding "MILES OF SMILES!"   Tricia