Post Falls-Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Sunset over the Coeur d'Alene River as seen from our hosts' balcomy

Wednesday, October 6th-Our drive from Billings, Montana to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho today took us through vast plains and canyons to this magnificent country, close to the Washington border. We are staying with a couple who, like us, are members of the Evergreen Travel Club. On the way, we completed the audio rendition of the four volumes of Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Colorado To Idaho

At the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Montana

Tuesday, October 5th-We left Longmont, Colorado, well before dawn to drive 530 miles to Billings, Montana, where we are staying this night with some Evergreen Travel Club folks, retired teachers.  Despite the distance, we stopped for a full breakfast in Wyoming in a cafe near the South Fork of the Powder River. Nearing Billings, MT, we visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Estes Park

We had a short hike but found the altitude to be too much for us.


- Posted from my iPad

Location:Estes Park, Colorado

Going Up To Estes Park

Sat. October 2nd-Yesterday, having heard a thump on the drive into Boulder, we decided to have a Saab mechanic take a quick look - good thing that we did, for the "serpentine belt" was not correctly seated, a condition that could have lead to serious problems in the middle of nowhere. This was another beautiful day in the West, and we biked and dined with our friends. Today, we joined several thousand visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park in viewing the mating elk season. We hiked a couple of miles but found the altitude too challenging for a real hike.

Trout Dinner

When I came here with my parents in 1948, my father ordered trout, which was his favorite meal, only to be asked by the waiter, "well, where's the fish you want us to cook?" We didn't have this problem, just a tasty meal of trout from a local stream. The mountains here in Rocky Mountain National Park are obscured by smoke from a fire that is apparently being allowed to burn without intervention. The haze is apparent in the photo of the bugling elk we posted below.

Custer SD to Longmont, CO

Spearfish Canyon

We reached Spearfish, SD, via Spearfish Canyon, which was pretty in it's fall colors. At Spearfish, we found an art gallery (photos by Jim Brown). The route down through Wyoming gave us long distance views, ranches widely separated and miles and miles of coal trains. On the radio, we learned that the round-up of some 4000 wild horses had begun. In Longmont, CO, with Alan and Carol, we enjoyed one of our best experiences in an Indian restaurant at Flavor of India.

 A forest fire came within yards of consuming houses in this Black Hills village.

One of Carol's roses from her garden.

We biked some in Longmont with Alan:

Continuing On Down To Edgemont SD-Tuesday, September 28

We biked over a former RR trestle that became so weak that the engineers of the Burlington Northern would leap off the train as it slowly traversed the trestle, then they jumped back on as the locomotive gained solid ground once again. Our 109 mile bike trek ended in Edgemont, where trains filled with high quality coal pass on their way to the East. T. Roosevelt came here in 1906, and instead of dining with the area's dignitaries, he chose to share bacon and beans with local cowboys. As for us, we found an inviting cafe where the lemonade glasses were filled until we were fully satisfied. This was a fabulous three days.

Down To The Prairie On Bikes

Tuesday, September 28th, Custer SD to Edgemont SD: On the third day of clear blue skies and low humidity, we biked 44 miles, mostly downhill, which was a good thing, since there was little shade for the last twenty miles and a temperature around 90 degrees. We passed prancing deer, wild turkeys, loads of grasshoppers, but no cyclists, along the path. Off the Mickelson Bike Path, at a bar in Pringle, pop. 113, the bartender cheerfully filled our water bottles. (To be continued)

Up And Over

 (Please click pictures for a larger view)

September 26-27, 2010 - Our bike ride from Deadwood to Mystic was a challenging one. We are not accustomed to this altitude nor to biking uphill almost two thousand feet for fifteen miles without an inch of downhill. Despite Janet's chain coming off the gears in a remote location above 6,000 feet, we managed to get to the summit, where we were thrilled to ride fifteen miles downhill. The George S. Mickelson bike trail, on the the former right-of-way of the Burlington North RR, is one stupendous experience, especially with blue skies, 80 degrees, low humidity weather. That was day one of the 109 mile journey.

Today, we used low gears again to climb another mountain, and then, it was: "bonzai" down to Hill City and Custer.

The Bigger Than Life Sculptures In The Badlands

I last visited this area with my parents in 1948. It was that year when Korczak Ziolkowski, born in Boston, self-taught, began the monumental sculpture of Chief Crazy Horse at the invitation of Chief Henry Standing Bear. The work continues.... In '48, at the age of 8 years, I marveled at the sight of the Presidents on Mt. Rushmore. I am particularly happy that T. Roosevelt is there. After viewing these monuments, we enjoyed driving along the "Needles" highway and Custer State Park, which is hosting the annual Buffalo Roundup. We found lodgings in the village of Custer.

On The Road Again-Minnesota to Rapid City, South Dakota

It's a good thing we didn't know the weather report for southern Minnesota or we would have been reluctant to leave Rockford, IL, yesterday; we drove all day through a storm that was described on the radio as a "once in fifty years" storm. Sadly, many families had to vacate their homes due to flooding and the threat of flooding.

When we finally made Sioux Falls after a harrowing eight hours on the road, we stopped at a Starbucks for a few minutes to decompress. Then, we headed to the home of a family which participates, as we do, in the Evergreen Travel Club. After dinner, our hosts drove us around the older parts of the City (at pop. 150,000, it is the largest city in South Dakota).


                                          Sioux River Falls, Sioux Falls, SD

                         
After a delicious breakfast of oatmeal brûlée, we took to the road across the state to Rapid City, SD. We had a close call as we are getting less gas mileage than usual, due to the bikes and our increased speed. We suddenly realized that we were down to a half gallon with no exit from the interstate far as we could see; yet within five miles, we rounded a bend and came to a lone service station on the prairie.
                                          South Dakota Prairie Scenes

We arrived in Rapid City. Under a blazing sun, we set out with our bikes along Rapid Creek and around Canyon Lake Park for an hour and a half.

                                          Couple fishing at Canyon Lake                   

                                           Janet at Canyon Lake, Rapid City, SD, 9/24/10

Then off to the Firehouse Brewing Company in the restored historic part of the city we went for a comfort meal and some locally brewed ale.

Anderson Japanese Garden

Coming into Rockford, Illinois from I-90 along a strip of motels and big box stores, one would not imagines that a few miles further one will come to a magic spot near the Rock River - a Japanese garden said to be the finest in North America. We sipped sake at the Garden's Seasons restaurant as we watched a fierce but brief thunder storm. We also enjoyed an excellent dinner as the sun set.

In daylight, we shall take a meditative walk in the Garden. Will it please us as does the Japanese garden in Portland Oregon? The answer is that our memories are failing us and we cannot make the comparison. They were both designed by Hoichi Kurisu. This Japanese Garden is beautiful and induces one to enter a meditative state of mind. We recommend it to all who travel through this part of the country. We also got some exercise riding our Marin bikes along the Rock River bike path.

Tonight, September 22, we ate at Brio, a small plate restaurant in an antique 1879 building in downtown Rockford. Highlights of the dinner were Roast Elk and Tempura Asparagus. All six plates were delicious.

A heron along the Ohio and Erie Canal


- Posted from my iPad

Cleveland to Rockford, il

September 20
Pictured are: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, which was designed by I. M. Pei, the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath, now a bike path along the Cuyahoga Rive, and a lock on the canal.












Posted from my iPad

New York to Ohio

September 18, 2010

We drove through Massachusetts to arrive at downtown Chatham, NY, where we visited with Ben Clark, were entertained by Luna (bright eyes, see below) and enjoyed some Mexican food at a local restaurant.







September 19, Sunday

On our way through western NY, we passed through land of the Seneca Nation, with many billboards along the intrastate, featuring Native Americans. There are vineyards on both sides of the road that would be fun to bike through (maybe on the way back). The Seneca people are fighting with the State of New York over tax revenues from tobacco sales. (Lake Erie in background) And arrived in Cleveland's western suburb, Lakeside, where we visited Ann and Darrell.




We dined at a restaurant, Touche, at the edge of this canal after viewing the rose garden nearby.

The last time I made a long loop trip across the country I rode in a sky-blue '36 Ford convertible with a rumble seat. Sometimes we travelled at 60 miles an hour, but then, we had to deal with two lane roads, road hogs and flocks of sheep crossing the road. In this picture, you see my parents and me and "Mitsi."



- Posted from my iPad

Getting ready to bike rails to trails

Our bikes are ready for the trails - are we?
We begin our journey Saturday afternoon, Sept. 18.


- Posted from my iPad

Location:Cambridge, MA

LE CHEMIN DE L'INTEGRATION

Interesting and Amusing:

Islam in Senegal

The article in the NY Times:

The Muslims in the Middle, by WILLIAM DALRYMPLE, Published: August 16, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/opinion/17dalrymple.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

is interesting and useful; there needs to be so much more positive material about Islam to offset the extreme negative attitudes of many here and elsewhere here and in Europe. I was surprised to find Youssuf Ndour singing about Baye Faal (I assume you saw that posting). Until recently, I didn't realize that the Baye Faal and the Mourides are so influenced by the Sufi philosophy. I always wondered why the Senegalese are so tolerant of the religion and ideas of other people. When I was working on an asylum case for a Somali person last year, I learned about Sufi influence in the Sahel and listened to many dikri ceremonies (singing, chanting, playing drums or other musical instruments) in the remembrance of God, ceremonies that are anathema to the fundamentalists. Indeed, one day, as our taxi drove through the streets of a Dakar suburb, I saw a group of men and women engaged in a dikri.

Check out Y. Ndour singing about the Baye Fall (sufi) in Senegal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCZKxWbjfEM

traduction :

"le baye fall qui se levait à l'aube
que tu voyais vêtu de haillons
et les cheveux en bataille sur la tête
qui pilon à la main chantait des zikr
sans se soucier de la faim et de la soif
et qui peut-être même s'est battu à Badr
ne verra jamais son nom éteint
si vous en doutez posez la question aux saint-louisiens
----
le baay fall a éblouis les st louisiens" NB: "traduire c'est trahir", les paroles sont très fortes en wolof mais en français elles perdent de leur intensité.

zikr [or dikri]: ce sont les chants religieux ésothériques

Badr : c'est le nom d'une des guerres sainte menées par le prophète Mahomet

l'allusion à Saint Louis fait peut être un lien avec le passage de Cheikh Ibrahima Fall (premier Baye Fall) dans cette ville.

Baobabs in Senegal

ID-2010 Crossing Cultures Senegal.mov

Senegal 2010

The 20th program of Intercultural Dimensions begins June 28 in Dakar; we'll have a few days to relax as we arrive on the 25th.