Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 16

bad god's tower – Dakota Vacation blog post #8

 Without wise leadership, a nation is introuble; but with good counselors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14, LivingBible)

I usually try to write an inspirationalpost on Sundays, but today I only have the verse above. We read it in my Fridaymorning Bible Study, and we could only shake our heads. God sure knows what He’stalking about.

Anyway, I wanted to keep sharing with you about our vacation to the Dakotas. Not much I can say about Devil’s Tower.

Except that we had to wait in line in ourcar for 45 minutes to get into the parking lot.

And you wouldn’t find me ever climbing upthe side of it.  

Also, the name that the area NativeAmerican’s gave it was Bear Lodge. One of the early white explorers claimedthat they called it bad god’s tower. It’s unsure if they had just gotten thewrong translation or they just wanted to call it something else. But from badgod’s tower, the white man came up with Devil’s Tower. 

I’m just glad that I serve the good God –the only God.  

Unexpected Adventures in Driving - Dakota Vacation blog post #7

 Day 3 on the road, and in the middle ofnowhere, we had the most fun.

First thing in the morning, after leavingour motel in Bowman, North Dakota, we ran into road construction.

The flagman who stopped us with his bigsign was hanging out, listening to his own tunes. Finally, a car with lights oncame through the construction, leading all the vehicles that had been waitingon the other side.

The woman driving stopped her car by theflagman, waved the other vehicles on, and ran to the port-a-potty.

When she came out, the first flagmangrabbed his roll of toilet paper and ran into the outhouse while the womanstood with his "stop" sign. When the guy came out, he struggled toput his yellow vest on over this coat. He might have been Native American andwas wearing some kind of skirt over his jeans and shirt, and he couldn't getthe vest over it all.

         Leaving him to struggle, the woman jumped in her lead car. When she had turnedher car around, we read the sign on the back of her car. "Pilot Car.Follow me." The guy turned his sign around telling us to go "SLOW." And so we finally took off after the pilot car.

I can't describe how hysterical the wholething was. You had to be there.

Ournext stop was the tiny town of Buffalo, South Dakota, to stretch and go potty (theroad crew had inspired us). We stopped at the Conoco at the far end of thevillage, as it was the only promising business.

          Well, it was obviously the place to be, as not only did it offer gas andsnacks, but there was also a shower in both the men's and women's restrooms anda small room with "CASINO" in neon lights above the door. Inside, itlooked like there were maybe four slot machines, along with storage for theconvenience store.

         We had already seen a pheasant and a mule deer in the fields along the road.Next, we saw some buffalo in a pasture with some beef cattle, and later a fewdifferent mule deer, that mule deer fawn I shared previously, and lots of pronghornantelope.

          Our goal, however, was Devil's Tower, and I wanted to cross into Montana, notonly to say we were there, but also because it was the shortest route. Right,Chris, how did that work for you?

         Google Maps took us from Buffalo to Camp Crook. Just past that, the road turnedsouth and followed the Montana border to the town of Capital, supposedly.

          When the road turned to gravel justoutside the one-horse town of Camp Crook (what a perfect name for it), thereseemed to be a lot of nothing.

         That dirt road turned south after a little bit, but it just seemed so desolate.Of course, by then, I had no cell coverage to check the route, and I could onlysee what the satellite was sending me for a map.

         After crossing a cattle guard, it felt like we were driving down somemillionaire rancher's private drive, so we turned around, backtracked to CampCrook, and took the road south from there, hoping to stumble on Capital,Montana.

          We did, but the road continued to be gravel until we got to Albion, Montana.According to Google Maps, that would cover 35 miles and take us 47 minutes. I'mnot sure how long it took, and even though it felt like forever, the scenerywas beautiful. We crossed at least a half dozen cattle guards, passed herds ofcattle, drove through a herd of cattle that didn't want to get off the road,and saw lots of wildlife. And Hubby and I had long and deep conversations. 

          We had traversed the Enchanted Highway earlier in the trip, but this route hadbeen the true enchanted highway for me. 

Probably not so enchanting for our poor vehicle though. 

Teddy’s Park – Dakota Vacation blog post #6

I'dlove to go down a long rabbit hole on this post, but I'll leave it to you topursue further information on the 26th president of the United States. 

TheodoreRoosevelt was elected vice president under William McKinley in 1900. This wouldbe McKinley's second term, but his first vice president had passed away theyear before. After six months as vice president, Roosevelt became the 26thpresident in September of 1901 after President McKinley was assassinated.

Duringhis two terms in office, Roosevelt established the United States ForestService, five National Parks, 18 new U.S. National Monuments, 51 bird reserves,four game preserves, and 150 National Forests.

Beforegoing into politics, though, Teddy owned a ranch in the Dakotas. As a child, hehad been in ill health, suffering from uncontrollable asthma, but he made upfor it by working to be as fit as he could. When he was in his twenties, heheaded to the area around Medora, North Dakota, to hunt buffalo. He fell inlove with the land and invested in a ranch there. 

In1935, sixteen years after his death, the area near his ranch was designated theRoosevelt Recreation Demonstration Area. In 1978, many more acres were added,and the area became known as Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

It'sas beautiful a place as I have ever visited. I hope to return one day toexplore it further.

God has got this. Keep the Faith

Lord, have mercy on us.We have put our hope in you. Protect us day by day and save us in times oftrouble. When you fight for us, nations run away from the noise of battle. (Isaiah33:2-3, Good News Translation)

A couple things on my mind this week. We celebratedthe Fourth of July – Independence Day. I listen to the news and wonder if everyoneknows what that means anymore.

Seek good and not evil – andlive! You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, being your best friend. Well,live like it, and maybe it will happen. Hate evil and love good, then work it out inthe public square. Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will notice yourremnant and be gracious. (Amos 5:14-15, The Message)

When we were in South Dakota the first part of June, Hubbyand I walked the streets of Rapid City, where there was a president on eachstreet corner.

Finally, all of youshould be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothersand sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil forevil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay themback with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grantyou his blessing. For the Scriptures say:

“If you want to enjoylife and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lipsfrom telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and workto maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and hisears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those whodo evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12, New Living Translation)

And what are we to do with all the nonsensesurrounding who might be elected president in four months? As a friend told meearlier this week, God has already got it figured out. We have to trust Him. 

And now, dear brothersand sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable,and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that areexcellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8, New Living Translation)

Keep the faith. 

 

All God's Creatures - Dakota Vacation blog post #5

I’dbeen blogging about our vacation to the Dakotas in chronological order, but Ithought I needed to veer off the tracks for this one. We saw such a long listof wildlife on this trip that I couldn’t wait any longer to share them all.

Atour first stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the group of people next tous at this overlook kept talking about the lone buffalo they saw. I took apicture of the area where they described him as standing, but I never did seehim.

Untillater, when I cropped the picture on my laptop. We saw lots more buffalo overthe next couple of days, so I’ll bore you with more pictures of them later. 

Thefirst wildlife we saw, though, was actually earlier in the day. We were soexcited to see pronghorn antelope out in a field. Little did we know we wouldsee dozens more.

Samewith prairie dogs.

We saw a fair number of mule deer too.

At first I thought this was a white-tailed deer because her coloring was like the ones we have back home and the mule deer we’d seen were so grey. But look at those ears.

Here is the white-tailed deer we saw. Don’t know why I couldn’t get her in focus. Probably coz my camera didn’t care because I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of these deer in my own backyard.

A rabbit. We have a half-tame rabbit in my yard at home too. 

A stupid turkey. Again, like, I never see them at home. But I’m counting everyone here.

Canadian geese. About the last place I’d expect to see a pair of them. 

Fish in a stream. I’m thinking brook trout.

A turtle. Again, not that I was looking for one.

And here are my most prized finds. Fourth most exciting sighting – feral horses in Theodore Roosevelt Park.

In third place, a somewhat mangy (and radio-collared) bighorn sheep along the side of the road.

Sweet number two is this tiny mule deer fawn. We’d just seen a doe running away from the road and didn’t think too much of it. Then we drove past something brown in the ditch. I told Hubby to slowly back up and there was the precious little baby. 

Number one best find. Driving on a dirt road in Custer State Park, a vehicle was stopped ahead of us, definitely looking at something. So, just like the first picture of the buffalo, I started snapping pictures of I didn’t know what. I did capture them, but it was too blurry when zoomed in.

We finally asked the people what they were looking at. And once they told us what we were looking for and where, I was able to zoom in my camera and capture the beauties.

 Never thought we’d see any elk. We also saw a muskrat the first day and a pheasant on another day. Oh, and Hubby reminded me that we saw vultures circling one day. But I'm not going to count the robins and other common birds we saw. 

That makes – what? – 16 different species? Not bad, not bad at all. 

Another Prayer Walk

Asyou go on your way, may God go with you. May He go before you to show you theway; May He go behind you to encourage you; Beside you to be your friend; Aboveyou to watch over you; And within you to give you peace. In the name of the Father,the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

 Anotherprayer walk at the Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City, SD. 

 

Some Enchanted Highway – Dakota Vacation blog post #4

 Drivingwest on I-94, a little over an hour past Bismarck, North Dakota, you’ll seethis a group of geese flying over the grassland. These aren’t any geese,however, they set the Guinness World Record for largest scrap metal sculpture.  And they are only the beginning, if you take exit 74 south, through Gladstone and all the way to Regent, this is what you’ll discover. 

Deer Crossing 

Tin Family 

Teddy Roosevelt Rides Again 

Pheasants on the Prairie 

Sir Albert slaying the dragon, just outside the doors of the Enchanted Castle 

Fisherman's Dream 
One of my favorites on the highway, but very busy 

Grasshoppers
This one was my favorite. Easy to touch and interact with and full of photo oppurtunities

Fromthe Enchanted Highway website: Local artist Gary Greff conceived of theproject and began building it in 1989, and continues to maintain thesculptures. He took inspiration from local wildlife and historical figures,including Theodore Roosevelt. Greff’s intention was to revive his hometown ofRegent, after decades of population and economy decline.

Two Roadside Behemoths – Dakota Vacation Blog post #3

          The second day of our road trip to the Dakotas, we wanted to get an early start. We had four hundred miles to cover that day and a whole long list of things I wanted to see.

          But stopping at 7:30 in the morning tosee the World’s Largest Buffalo Monument, means you’re gonna have the rising sunin the way. 

           Though he was built in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1959, he only received his name – Dakota Thunder – in 2010.  

        And what huge bison would be standing out in the middle of nowhere without having a museum within sight.   

Which was of course closed due to the early morning.   
       And the frontier village. There was one of these in probably 75% of the towns we drove past on the freeway. 
Down Interstate 94 from Jamestown some 130 miles is New Salem.   And Salem Sue, the largest statue of a Holstein cow in the world.
The brochure we picked up told the story of how she came to be.
          But the thing that bugged this Dairy State native is that I didn’t see a single Holstein in the entire state of North Dakota. All I saw were herds of beef cattle.
  

         So, as amazing as Salem Sue was, Ileft her hillside shaking my head in confusion. 

          Here’s the facts about these twobehemoths.  

 

DakotaThunder – 60 tons         Salem Sue – 6 tons

                    26feet tall                       38 feet tall

                    Builtin 1959                   Built in 1974

                    Madeof concrete             Made of fiberglass

God hears our prayers

 
And just as it looks like this bunny hears your voice . . .  . . . God hears your voice raised in prayer.  These pictures (even the bunny!) were all taken along the prayer walk at the Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City, South Dakota, where we went to the Saturday night service two weeks ago. 
God is good. He hears our every prayer. 

Blowing Along the Freeway - Dakota Vacation Blog Post 2

        Maybe everyone has this goal on vacation – to take a picture of each “Welcometo our state” sign as they pass into the next state. I was shooting for that,except that we were on a two-lane state highway when we passed into Minnesota.So, all I got was the “Welcome to Taylor Falls” sign.

        Shortly after that, we had our first live wildlife sighting. We had lost count of how many lifeless white-tail deer we had seen on the side of the road. It was pretty remarkable, and not to jump forward, but we didn’t see any road kill after we got through Wisconsin and Minnesota.

        Anyway, we did see a muskrat trucking along the side of the road, but he was moving fast, and I didn’t get a picture. You’ll have to believe me. Besides keeping track of those “Welcome” signs, we kept track of all the wildlife we saw.  

        But back on the road that first day of vacation.  

        We were impressed by the unexpected beauty along the freeway in North Dakota. We had anticipated it to be flat, brown, and barren, like South Dakota, but it was a pleasant surprise. Those pictures will be coming to my blog another day.   

        As we crossed through the state, the truly remarkable thing was the relentless wind. It started blowing mid-afternoon, and at times, it kicked up mini dust storms.  

        Then suddenly, we’d have twenty or so drops of rain, like the wind was blowing precipitation right out of non-rain clouds.

        The only scary incident was when a gust of wind caught a semi we were passing. It blew momentarily into our lane, but Hubby was able to avoid a collision.

        When we arrived at our hotel in Jamestown, we realized just how bad the wind was as we made our way from the car to the lobby door. Had either of us been wearing our superhero capes, we would have been blown to Oz.