In January we took our friends, Rick and Donna, over to see Salvation Mountain and Slab City. Always an interesting place to visit, they now have a new community of artists that have made their home here.
Back at the campground, I spotted this tent. This would make a perfect sunroom on those cooler days when the high temps are only in the 60s, but the sun is shining.
Now that's an anthill !
I did a few hikes along the Colorado with Paula...
and Julie...
and a bike ride with Julie on a very warm, sunny day when the rattlers were out sunning themselves! Needless to say, there was plenty of zoom involved in this picture.
Mexico, here we come!
Where did Karolyn go?
Yikes! Remember Karolyn, not everything that happens in Mexico stays in Mexico! C'mon girl, we've got margaritas calling us. 😂
Back at the campground.
These nifty little creations have been all over the campground since before we started coming here ten years ago.
I imagine the guy that created them is long gone, but they keep painting them up every year.
Very cool.
Well, our winter just flew by with line dancing, swimming, movies and trying out new restaurants. This is heading up toward L.A. in April on our way to see John's sister.
It's hard to make out the flowers in the picture above, so we stopped for a close-up.
The kids were all excited to see us back in Helena and they got a new dog, Ava.
OOPS! We might have come back just a tad bit too soon. Get those heaters under the water pipes, John!
Dallas wasn't home from school yet the day I took this.
We all went to the Flying Giant to celebrate adoption day, April 22nd, for Tierney, Tally and Benny. Convenient that three of them have the same day to celebrate. Go Tally!
Dallas
Benny is building up a backlog of traffic behind him.
Keira
Wow, Grandma Wald, look at all the irises you brought from Great-Grandpa's farm!
They're everywhere, they're everywhere!
Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild
TeePee Burner for burning sawdust leftover from logging days.
Sculpture Trail in the woods is near Lincoln, Montana about an hour northwest of Helena.
Bat Habitat
We stopped at a creek on the way home to play.
It was surrounded by purple, yellow and white wildflowers.
Grandpa happy time.
In June we headed to Wisconsin for some sightseeing and visiting. This is where we spent our first night in Wisconsin.
View of the golf course from our room.
We spent most of the next day touring the House on the Rock. John standing in the Japanese gardens.
The guy built a house carved into the side of a hill/mountain. Some of the rooms are very low ceiling and cave-like. Some of them are made with stacked rock.
He incorporated live trees into his construction wherever they happened to be growing.
He continued to build onto it his whole life and collected weird things from all over the world.
One day he decided he wanted to be able to see out over the woods, so...
This was the result.
There are rooms upon rooms of dolls and doll houses.
There must be at least a couple hundred very elaborate doll houses.
There are a couple rooms full of antique guns, long guns, dueling pistols, muskets, etc.
Medieval suits of armor. There are swords and military uniforms, antique cash registers, ladies fans, hats and masks, china, chandeliers, puppets and shelves and shelves of toy delivery trucks from all kinds of businesses.
Scads of intricate scrimshaw carvings. There are front pages of newspapers lining long hallways splashing headlines from historic events like D-Day or the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.
A half dozen huge pipe organs.
A huge room full of miniature Big Top Circus displays plus shelves and shelves of the little circus wagons, animals and people.
A room with nothing but crown jewels on display. Hundreds of ship models.
Even one being swallowed by a whale that is two stories high.
Below the whale on the first floor is Ringo's "Octopuses Garden" with the sea creatures all playing the song.
There are carriages and sleighs and whiskey distillery vats and water wheels.
He had a special fascination for carousels and music machines of every kind. One room had a full symphony orchestra that was automated machines that would play when you put in a token.
In case he ran short on horses and other animals for his carousels, there were several walls covered with extras!
Another of his carousels. There was also a six-story one with dolls riding all the animals. You just have to see this place to believe it!
After a very long and fascinating day, we stopped here at the Green Acres Restaurant for a very lovely early supper before heading to Green Lake to spend a couple days with John's cousin Nancy and her son and daughter-in-law.
We passed a few Amish buggies on our way there.
Chris took us all on a tour of the very large and beautiful Green Lake. Thank you all so much for the nice visit and all your hospitality.
Our next stop was Circus World at Baraboo, Wisconsin on the Baraboo River. I'm sure my mouth was just hanging open watching this guy. Incredible!
This guy was pretty amazing, too, juggling while cycling.
He needed ladders to get on these two!
This was the last year they would be having elephants in their show. PETA and all that stuff, you know. There were ponies and goats performing and a couple song and dance shows and clowns. It was another full day to see it all. There is a huge museum and I think seven of the original barns where they kept elephants and all the other animals. Over 100 different circuses called Wisconsin home over a 175 year period starting in 1847. Circus World is a National Historic Landmark. It opened on Water Street in 1959 with six wagons, a miniature circus, posters, costumes and props. During the winter they would make new canvas for the big top and all the costumes, wagons and equipment were designed and made here. Ringlingville became a city onto itself in the winter. One small circus in 1903 had 75 ponies and 35 dogs and a bunch of monkeys. Ringling Brothers had their winter headquarters in Baraboo for 35 years until they combined with Barnum and Bailey in 1927 and moved their headquarters to Connecticut. John Ringling eventually moved his headquarters to Sarasota, Florida. You can tour his home there and the circus museums and his art gallery, all totally amazing!
Of course, they also had lots of miniature circus stuff.
And a warehouse full of all kinds of circus wagons.
When the Feld family acquired the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1967, they established a clown college that ran for thirty years and trained 1,400 people who went onto every field of entertainment. There was a rigorous application process, but tuition was free to the 30 to 50 students accepted each year.
Lots of posters showing incredible performances. No business made wider use of posters than the circus. The poster crew arrived two to three weeks ahead of the circus. Targeting fences, barn sides, store windows and abandoned buildings a good bill-posting crew could paste 6,000 to 8,000 posters a day.
They eventually transitioned from the circus wagons to trains. Ringling Brothers combined with Barnum and Bailey in 1918. In 1927 they traveled with over 100 double length rail cars. They needed ten acres to set up the big top, menagerie tent, sideshow tent, cookhouse, horse tent, elephant tent, dining tent and dressing room tent.
The next day we stopped in Des Moines to meet up for lunch with a couple of John's classmates and their spouses, long-time friends. Great to catch up. After a couple days in Greenfield with Bruce and Gerry and lunch with Gene and Julie we headed back to Dawn's in Sioux Falls.
Along the way, we stopped to tour the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Museum in Le Mars, Iowa.
Free, fun and interesting and you get a free ice cream cone! Totally worth the stop. We spent a few days with Dawn before heading back to Montana.
She has been gradually digging up all the grass in her yard and putting in a variety of flowers and plants. A lot of work, but it is starting to look very nice.
Cruising through the Badlands on our way back to Helena.
Celebrating Ninja Boy's adoption day!
A big old windstorm came through and broke a very large limb off one of the huge evergreen trees. It took the mirror off the camper and totaled the old swing set. Could have been much worse.
Grandpa is back doing his favorite thing with the littles, while I went on my first ever white-water rafting trip with Hilary and Jeff and their friends from Illinois and the older kids. So much fun!
We are all making our own shishkabobs tonight. Benny is having pineapple and grapes.
Aww Mom, he's so cuuute! Please? Absolutely Not!
Watching the Last Stampede Parade.
Dallas's Baptism Day at the annual church baptism picnic day.
One of the sunflowers amongst my wildflower patch.
Keira is 8 today!
Ride with Unicorns. Swim with Mermaids.
Some of my wildflowers.
Everybody pitching in to help with the new patio walkway.
Benny got a new warm, fuzzy quilt from the neighbor lady for his birthday. I think they've got a special thing going, but I can't say I blame her. He is a little charmer.
Benny is 6 today.
Lunch on the patio? Did you make any for anybody else hmmm?
Great Grandma Clem's 89th birthday party!
In September we went to Ireland for two weeks with Dawn.
Walking through the gardens near our hotel in Dublin.
Walking around inside the completely walled-in Trinity College Dublin, home to the Book of Kells, which we did not get to see.
Molly Malone statue was erected in front of this church 1988 for Dublin's millennial celebration. She is an Irish folklore fishmonger who died suddenly of a fever. Her ghost began haunting the streets of Dublin and she was often called "the tart with a cart". She might be based on a real woman who died in 1699. Sweet Molly Malone has been called the unofficial anthem of Dublin, aka In Dublin's Fair City or Cockles and Mussels. James Yorkston wrote and composed the first version of the song in 1884. Molly Malone Day is celebrated June 13th with a parade, live music and street performers.
In Dublin's fair city where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone. As she wheeled her wheelbarrow through the streets broad and narrow, crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o! Alive, alive o, alive, alive o, crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o! She was a fish monger, but sure twas no wonder, for so were father and mother before. And they each wheeled their barrow through the streets broad and narrow, crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o! Alive, alive o, alive, alive o, crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o! She died of a fever, and no one could save her, and that was the end of sweet Molly Malone. But her ghost wheels the barrow through the streets broad and narrow, crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o! Alive, alive o, alive, alive o, crying cockles and mussels alive, alive o!
City garbage truck picking up in front of downtown businesses.
St. Patrick's Cathedral and Collegiate Church and Park just kitty corner from our hotel. It is Ireland's largest church and the resting place of Jonathan Swift. Built between 1191 and 1270, it stands on the spot where St. Patrick himself reputedly baptized the local Celtic chieftains in the 5th century.
John having a little break. Lots of walking today.
Lovely church grounds.
Breakfast at Fumbally's just a block from our hotel and oh so good!
Teeling Whiskey Distillery Tour and Tasting.
Leave it to Dawn to find this little message amongst all the graffiti.
We saw several of these towers on apartment buildings as we walked around and assumed they must have added elevators to make them handicap accessible or just more rentable. Or maybe that is just how they build them here?
A memorial to the dead from a battle that took place here in the park.
Oscar Wilde.
Monkey puzzle tree. We first saw these when we were in the Sidney Botanical Garden in Australia.
National Gallery of Ireland
The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes by Giovanni Lanfranco in Parma, Italy 1582 to Rome, Italy 1647. I am always in awe at the sheer size of these paintings. It covers one whole wall between two doorways. It is only part of a cycle of eight huge canvases and three frescoes that he painted for a famous basilica in Rome.
Time for supper and a pint at the pub again.
City Hall Plaza built in the 1760s next to Dublin Castle which was built in the 12th century at the confluence of River Poddle and River Liffey near Dark Pool (Dubh Linn) which gave Dublin its name.
So many churches!
Rock of Cashel
The reason we have come to the little town of Cashel.
The guided tour is excellent.
The views of the town and countryside are beautiful.
Dawn and John
Driving around town.
We are staying above the City Bar tonight in a lovely two-story, two-bedroom apartment.
This is one of the bedrooms.
We ate supper at this very nice Chinese restaurant on the second floor right across the street.
The next two nights we stayed at a lovely little hotel in Kinsale with a full hot breakfast menu.
.jpg)
The first day we did this beautiful scenic hike overlooking the bay to Charles Fort.
It's a huge fort with an interesting $5.00 ranger-led tour.
The views were spectacular. We could just barely see the smaller and older James Fort across the bay.
.jpg)
On our stoll back to town we stopped at the tiny village of Summer Cove for a pint where Dawn and I discovered a really yummy cider called Orchard Thieves.
The next morning, we met at the Visitor Center to join Don and Barry's Historic Stroll around Kinsale. This tour is highly recommended by Rick Steves, and we enjoyed it very much.
.jpg)
What a cute and cozy way to enjoy your coffee/latte indoors/outdoors.
St. Multose Anglican Church of Ireland.
I really enjoy walking around old, old cemeteries. I think they are so interesting. Maybe I am just weird.
We had a little time to spare before our next destination, so we decided to hike up to James Fort.
.jpg)
An awesome hike and it was easy to see the much bigger Charles Fort from this side of the bay.
Charles Fort
.jpg)
Hiking back and onto our next night's accommodations.
.jpg)
This is where we stayed and it was very nice.
But this house next door was even prettier. I love the landscaping around the big rock formations, that just naturally jut out of the ground everywhere.
.jpg)
They also had a monkey puzzle tree in their yard.
We stumbled upon this little park with the coolest bridge as we were walking into town to find a place to eat supper.
What a pretty little walk this turned out to be!
This is a common site in the alley behind many a pub.
The Druid's Circle is a stone circle that dates back to the early Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago. Fifteen stones arranged in a circular form with one stone in the center, the only monument of its kind located close to a town. This is what we were looking for on our way to the pub.
I don't remember what was going on here, but it looks like John didn't get enough sleep. Good thing Dawn is driving!
Try to stay on the correct side of the road, Dawn.
Oh sorry, there doesn't seem to be two lanes. Just keep it between the shrubs and pray we don't meet anyone.
We have arrived at The Plough B and B near Dingle and the view is awesome!
Once again, we were able to order a hot breakfast off a menu and our hostess, Beatrix, was very gracious.
The seaside village of Dingle was very busy with tourists.
Front and back of the church.
Convent that is now an art gallery.
150-year-old Copper Beech tree shading the convent cemetery.
Some of the gardens beyond the cemetery.
Of course, I had to take a picture of Foxy John's Bar. We did poke our heads in for a look, but it was very packed and noisy, I think a hot local spot.
You will see signs like this in Europe and I always think it's interesting how they follow our political hub bub, sometimes even more than the average American does, I think.
Dingle Pub
A little something different than we see in the grocery stores at home, but it looks yummy.
Well, you know me and cemeteries. This one was really old.
Some views along the coast.
We drove from the clifftops down to the beach here and there was a defibrillator thing mounted right to the stone wall.
This is what a good hair day looks like in Ireland. Taken at the Blasket Islands Museum which is very new and very nice.
I don't remember exactly where this was, but my little grandsons would have loved it. Somewhere on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry where they did some Star Wars filming.
The Gallarus Oratory built in the 7th or 8th century was possibly a chapel. The name interprets to house or shelter for foreigners. It is the only perfect remaining example of its kind.
When there is only one lane, who has the right of way?
Pint time again!
Ah yes, pub grub. Yum!
Hopping the ferry to see the Cliffs of Moher.
There are quite a lot of steps to get up here for the very best views, but you can get really good views from much further down.
The Cliffs of Moher
The Burren (rocky district) and Cliffs of Moher are a UNESCO Global Geopark.
On the other side of the tower, you can take this trail for quite a long way. Dawn and I went for good way, but John opted out.
The museum and gift shop are built into the side of the hill.
Also, several small vendor shops are built into the hill.
Oscar Wilde and Eduard Wilde
Kennedy Park Eyre Square
JFK
St. Nicholas Church built in 1320 A.D. is Ireland's largest medieval parish church still in use. St. Nicholas was a 4th century bishop from Greece (area that is now Turkey). On a trip he took to the Holy Land there was a terrible storm. He commanded the waves to cease and became the patron saint of sailors and mariners. Christopher Columbus prayed here in 1477. He was also known for his generosity and kindness to children, making him the patron saint of children. Today he is better known as Santa Claus. There is an actual tomb where he is buried, so he must be real. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise kids! The richly decorated church is a testament to the prosperity of the merchant tribes of that time. It was originally built as a Catholic church. In 1484 the merchants petitioned the pope to release it from the diocese. It received collegiate status allowing it to be run by a warden and 8 vicars. In 1652 Oliver Cromwell and his soldiers used it to stable their horses desecrating many stone carvings and tombstones. Catholics lost their freedom to publicly practice their faith after the Reformation. The church has remained Church of England to this day.
Just for fun because someone offered to take our picture.
The remains of a 13th century medieval hall (oldest building in Galway) discovered in 1997, probably part of a much bigger castle, parts of which have been discovered since. The Hall of the Red Earl, a municipal building built by Galway's founders, the De Burgos was used for tax collection, town hall courthouse and banquets. It took its name from Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster, grandson of the town's founding father. In the 15th century the famous Galway tribes seized power and ran them out of town. It was abandoned, fell into ruin and was built over. It was found when they went to add onto the Customs House next door. A 1651 pictorial map listed the site as the "old castle of the most illustrious Lord Richard de Burgo". I think John might like it if I referred to him as "most illustrious Lord of the RV. Well, that's certainly never going to happen! Anyway, they enclosed this discovery in glass and continued the addition on stilts above it. They have so far excavated 11,000 artifacts.
Lynch's Castle, now AIB bank, was built by the Lynch family, one of the powerful 14 tribes who ruled Galway, for protection from raids. The castle was built around 1500, but Thomas de Linch was provost of Galway in 1274. James Lynch was mayor in 1493 when he hanged his own son for the murder of a Spanish sailor after he winked at his girlfriend. Some believe that is the origin of the word lynching. A total of 64 Lynches has occupied the office of mayor since then. It is the best-preserved, fortified town castle in Galway. Its four stories are embellished with carved windows, gargoyles, ornamental moldings and cornices. The Lynch coat of arms is on the front of the building as well as that of Henry VII and the Fitzgerald's of Kildare.
This is where we ate supper after a long and interesting free tour that we stumbled across when we found the excavation of the Red Earl's Hall. The Kings Head, three floors on High Street in the heart of the Latin Quarter, is over 800 years old and has live music seven nights a week. When King Charles I was executed in 1649 the London executioner refused to do it. It was originally the mayor's home (Thomas Lynch Fitz-Ambrose), but the rumor was that it was taken and give as a reward to the man who executed the king, known as "the Price of Royal Blood". Richard Gunning, Stubbers neighbor, bragged around town about being the executioner, but it was thought to be Colonel Peter Stubbers himself, a trusted military henchman of Oliver Cromwell. The town surrendered after the siege in 1653 and the notoriously ruthless Stubbers became the town's military governor. When the local council complained of his barbarous ways, he ousted them all and became mayor and seized the mayor's majestic townhouse, now Kings Head. When the English monarchy was restored in 1660, the king's son Charles II issued the Act of Indemnity that pardoned those who conspired against his father, but Stubbers was explicitly exempted from pardon, and he quickly disappeared after the restoration.
The River Corrib only 4 miles long is one of the shortest in Europe.
Claddagh Quay where the river meets Galway Bay.
Built 1580 A.D.
This underground-level mall incorporated parts of the original castle walls.
In Belfast we had a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the 10th floor. This was the view from our patio of the famous ship-building cranes of Harland and Wolff.
We had a washing machine in our apartment, and I found the settings interesting compared to what we have in the U.S.
Our second day in Belfast we hired a cab driver/tour guide to show us around and explain the time of The Troubles. There are tours available with two separate cabs that give you the perspective from both sides, but they were all booked. So, we just got the perspective from the Catholic side, but it was very interesting, one of the best things we did.
This mural was kind of creepy. As we walked by their guns followed us. They always seemed to be aimed right at us.
This wall is two miles long and divides the Protestant community from the Catholic community. At every cross street opening there are huge barrier doors that are closed every night at 7 PM curfew. During the day they all intermingle and go about their business, but it is an uneasy peace or truce. Our guide said they would throw Molotov cocktails over the wall into the Catholic neighborhood indiscriminately. So, they added a taller barrier above the wall and then another even taller barrier was added.
This is on the back side of that wall showing just how close their back yards were to the wall and the lengths they had to go to for protection of their families.
He showed us examples of the rubber bullets they fired at them at 180 mph. I wish we could have had the tour from the other point of view. Always best to hear both sides.
This is the church where peace talks were held when President Clinton was here.
Mural of Bobby Sands and the other hunger strikers who died in prison in 1981 for the cause of freedom.
Next on the schedule was the Titanic Museum. In the foreground is a dry dock area where the SS Nomadic sits. It is the last surviving White Star vessel in the world. It was built by Harland and Wolff to ferry first- and second-class passengers to and from the Olympic-class ocean liners as she did for the Titanic.
The museum ticket included a tour of the SS Nomadic.
The interior is beautifully refurbished and the engine room, pilot house, workers quarters were all interesting to see.
Onto the museum. In 1911 Harland and Wolff launched 10 new vessels including the Titanic. The plates that made up Titanic's hull were mostly 30 ft. x 6 ft. and 1 inch thick and weighed over 4 tons. Over 3 million rivets were used on Titanic. To keep sailing Titanic burned around 600 tons of coal every day.
This was kind of mesmerizing. Lights going out one at a time as the ship slowly sinks. A very cool museum.
Cargo Bike
I liked this sign at the gas station. Come for the fuel, stay for the drool. I never thought of gas station food being that tempting. The gas prices are per liter, so it comes out to around $8 per gallon. Lucky for us, Ireland is a small country and we only had to fill up once.
Our last night back in Dublin we stayed at the Clayton Hotel near the airport. What a great trip!
After leaving Sioux Falls, we stopped at the Spearfish National Cemetery where John's biological father is buried.
Back in Helena, this was at the Harvest Festival.
I took the kids downtown for the first annual Balloon Festival.
Fire Lookout Tower.
Oops, looks like we might have stayed too long again! Get those heaters under the water pipes, John.
Happy Birthday, Grandpa!
And Happy Birthday Grandma! Our birthdays are two days apart, so yay ice cream cake twice in one week!
We also made it to our 50th anniversary this year and we are taking the whole family to Disney Land in January to celebrate. So everyone is pretty excited about that!
A little nightmare traffic in Salt Lake City.
We went from the snow to the desert in two days.
A couple days later we were back home in Yuma.
John got busy right away picking up trash in the desert next to our campground where we like to hike..
The great trash hunter scored a trophy!
I got my bike all decorated up, so I could join my line dancing buddies in the golf cart Christmas parade.
We toured Candy Cane Lane in Yuma and Story Book Land in Yuma Foothills to celebrate Christmas and joined in the campground potluck Christmas Day dinner.
I hope you are all having a very Merry Christmas season and heading into a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Tarra
