#217 Undaunted Roadtrip meets Voyage of Discovery

Without really planning it, our trip out west (the undaunted roadtrip) turned into a Lewis and Clark experience. Always a fan of the daring duo and their expedition, we found ourselves drawn to the rivers, the confluences, the forts, and the interpretive centers along the way.

Out west along the Lewis and Clark Trail, we found… Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan in Washburn, ND

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, MT

Giant Springs in Great Falls, MT

Missouri River headwaters

Jefferson River, upstream from the headwaters of the Missouri River

Beaverhead Rock, site of the greatest coincidence in US history where Sacagawea recognized her brother Cameawait when Lewis and Clark were bargaining for horses

 

And way back east in Missouri, we found Jefferson’s original headstone on the University of Missouri campus

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial underneath the Arch in Saint Louis

At the Arch, we stood looking out over the combined Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and thought about how Lewis and Clark might have felt when they returned there in 1806 after their 8000-mile journey. We hoped to spy those modern day adventurers ( the UND students) pass by in their canoe, but I guess our car moves quicker than their canoe. Listening to downloaded recordings of the Thomas Jefferson hour, we wonder how this Undaunted Roadtrip will affect our Jeffersonian lives as we transition to the University of Virginia.

Yours in following the trail,
Kelly

#212 Missouri versus Mississippi

Rivers are cool. On this trip, we’ve enjoyed some good river time. Yesterday’s list of our top 10 drives has us wondering if we could come up with a list of our top 10 rivers. That’s a little tricky, but we’ll try to work that discussion into our car time.

We played in the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park, MN.

We admired the natural beauty of the Missouri River north of Bismarck.

 

And today, we visited the headwaters of the Missouri River near Three Forks, MT. If you floated downstream in an inner tube from here, you would reach the Gulf of Mexico in 10 weeks.

Here the Madison and Jefferson Rivers collide to form what Lewis and Clark deemed the beginning of the Missouri River. More recent explorers point to Brower’s Spring 298 miles upstream as the true source of the Missouri. From this source, the Missouri River is clearly the longest river in North America. So an argument could be made that from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers just north of St. Louis, the combined river should be called the Missouri all the way to New Orleans.

Yours in renaming rivers,
Kelly

#210 The Northern Plains

Driving through the northern plains states of Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana, we appreciate...

The use of lilacs for hedgerows

The Missouri River north of Bismarck that looks as it did 200 years ago when Lewis and Clark passed by

Hay art

Uncrowded fun roads to drive

We also appreciate all these things as yet unphotographed...

• The long vistas with big, big skies
• Tumbleweed
• Rolling, grassy, treeless hills that remind us of Kansas’ Flint Hills
• The colorful rock pile
• Wild animal life – ring-necked pheasant, wild turkey, deer
• Agricultural animal life – cattle, buffalo, sheep, horses
• Flashes of storms and cool spring temperatures
• Friendly locals and waving drivers 

Yours in feeling that we are far enough away to see the big picture from here,
Kelly and Mary