Follow Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk as we explore the USA and Canada. Trips began in 2013. See sidebar. Since Jan. 2013, over 220,000 miles traveled and 1100 days on the road. Over 700 blog posts written. 2023-We are closing in on 350th National Park unit. Photo below is Pacific Ocean by Big Sur, CA
About Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net
We are a husband and wife team living in St. Paul MN. Both of us retired by the end of 2012 and decided to travel and visit areas of the U.S. and Canada that we had not seen before. Most of the time we head out for 3-7 weeks; usually by driving, first in our 2001 Saturn and then when it hit 225,000 miles we traded it in for our 2016 Subaru Legacy . This travel blog is written to help us remember the great places we have visited and people we have met as well as to inform family and friends of our whereabouts.
Contact us at ckeh72@comcast.net
In 2013 we took the following trips: Trip 1-January--2 weeks in Florida to visit Orlando, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Amelia Island. Trip 2-February and March-4 weeks in Hawaii, visiting the four major islands. Trip 3-March and April--several weeks in New Mexico visiting family followed by traveling cross-country to VA for VA Garden week. Trip 4-May and June--6-7 weeks driving to Las Vegas, the Sierra Nevada Mtns, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia N.P, Salt Lake City, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Devils Tower and home. Trip 5-June- a quick trip to Boston to visit family. Trip 6-July and August-a 6-7 week trip to Calgary, Banff, Mt. Ranier and Mt. St. Helens, Olympic N.P., North Cascades N.P., Victoria, Vancouver, Whistler, Revelstoke, Jasper, Yoho,Whitefish lake, Theodore Roosevelt N.P. Trip 7-August and September- our daughters wedding in MD and returning home through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Trip 8-October and November-3-4 weeks in the Ozarks, Arkansas, Missouri. Trip 9-December and January 2014-Christmas in Santa Fe and New Years in Flagstaff and points in between.
In 2014 we took the following trips: Trip 1--a week in Ely MN, most of it dog-sledding in late Feb. Trip 2--6 weeks in the Deep South including LA, MS, AL, GA and FL in March and April. Trip 3--a trip to Boston to visit family Trip 4--May and June houseboating on Lake Powell followed by Monument Valley, Arches and Canyonlands N.P, Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P, San Juan Mtns of CO Trip 5--time spent in MN and the Midwest Trip 6--visiting Ontario, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, the Adirondack Mtns of NY, our daughters wedding in CT and home through Philly and Ohio, 7 weeks in September and October. Trip 7--Southern California including Joshua Tree and Mojave Desert N.P, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, and then to Flagstaff for Thanskgiving for three weeks in November.
In 2015, we took the following trips: Trip 1- 8 weeks traveling around FL in February and March, most of it on the panhandle, penninsula and Gulf Coast. Trips 2 and 4 to Boston in April and July. Trip 3 was to Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. Trip 5 was to southern MN. Trip 6 was to Voyageurs National Park and northwestern MN. Trip 7 was to the Great Smoky Mountains and neighboring areas.
In 2016 Trip 1 was to Chicago IL. Trip 2 was to southwestern MN. Trip 3 was to Boston. Trip 4 was to southwestern United States. Trip 5 was to Lake Superior. Trip 6 was to Winona MN. Trip 7 to western Massachusetts (the Berkshire Mountains). Trip 8 to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Trip 9 to Boston and Rhode Island.
In 2017, Trip 1 was to the Mississippi River Headwaters. Trip two will be a month long tour of Texas and another month traveling to and from Texas across the southern US.
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Paris, Tennessee (forgot to post this, posting on Dec. 9)
Several years ago my GI doctor recommended visiting Fort Donelson, a Civil War battle site in TN. We finally got there.
It is 300 miles from Little Rock Arkansas to Fort Donelson, Tennessee. It was a sunny, breezy, cool day as we played tag with the semis along Interstate 40. Once again we crossed the Mississippi River, this time at Memphis, going east.
The Confederate batteries were guarding the Cumberland River.
Fort Donelson was constructed over a period of months, perched on a hillside overlooking the Cumberland River. A companion fort on the Tennessee River was not finished in a timely manner and Union troops and iron sided gun boats easily took that location. The Union expected another easy battle but the Confederates put up a stiff fight.
The Union, under the leadership of General U.S. Grant, did win the battle at Fort Donelson. Like many battles, individual courage tells only part of the story. The South had more poor decisions that changed the outcome of the battle. In the end, 13,000 Confederate troops surrendered. The Union victory in February 1862 opened up the interior heartland of the Confederacy through the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.
The surrender papers were signed at the Dover Hotel.
This battle brought the attention of the North of General Grant. When the South sought to negotiate their surrender, he wrote back that the only terms would be unconditional surrender. Thereafter, Northerners said his name of U.S. Grant stood for Unconditional Surrender Grant.
Our evening meal was a great Italian dinner at Moustos Pasta and Grill in Paris TN.
We are driving back and forth across this part of the South due to: a. Our desire to focus on visiting National Park Service units we have not seen previously, and b. These lesser visited park units are closed on varying days of the week making a logical touring route impossible.
We have traveled most of these roads in earlier trips. Our first few years we did not have such a strong focus on visiting NPS units. But there are only so many times you can visit an art museum or a flower garden. NPS units cover such a wide variety of topics, we can keep going for a few more years.
Friday we left Vicksburg, MS for Jackson, MS, a one hour drive. Our destination was a new NPS site: Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. Older readers will recall that Medgar Evers was a nationally recognized civil rights advocate in Mississippi. He was assassinated in the carport of his home in Jackson on June 12, 1963. The high powered rifle bullet that killed him went through his body, broke a window, passed through a wall, and ricocheted off the refrigerator. The hospital where he was brought initially refused to treat him because he was black.
The Evers homeThe Evers children beds were on the floor to lessen the chance of a bullet hitting them. Medgar also taught them how to belly crawl low on the ground, drawing on his military experience.The white square is the bullet hole where the bullet came into the house after hitting Medgar.
His murderer was arrested with his fingerprints and rifle found at the scene. He was set free after two all-male, all-white juries deadlocked. After one of the trials, the then Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett stood by the murderer’s side and shook his hand.
31 years later, new evidence convicted the murderer. Myrlie continued the fight for civil rights she and Medgar had worked so hard for. The home reflects the life and battles fought not only by the Evers but by black families throughout the South and the entire U.S.
Leaving Jackson we drove 2.5 hours north through modern Mississippi evidenced by the Nissan car factory and then through rural Mississippi with poverty and agricultural lands. We passed the Ross Barnett reservoir, “central Mississippi’s largest recreational area and one of the most desired residential locations in the state.”
Our destination was Sumner MS, site of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Money MS who was kidnapped and lynched in August 1955. His severely mutilated and decomposing body was found in the nearby Tallahatchie River.
The sheriff tried to have Emmett’s body quickly buried but Mamie Till-Mobley insisted the body be brought back to Chicago where the open casket viewing shocked people and raised awareness of vicious injustices suffered by American blacks.
The county courthouse where the trial was held.The courtroom, jam packed every day of the trial.
The two white men arrested were acquitted of all charges by an all male, all white jury. Later in a magazine article they confessed to the charges but could not be re-tried.
Both of these sites were small, in not impressive facilities with no fancy technological graphics, not appearing to attract throngs of visitors, etc. but the impact was huge.
The afternoon was wet and windy. We spent the night in Clarksdale MS a blues hot spot. We spent 90 minutes in the Delta Blues Museum. No pictures allowed. Other than Muddy Waters and B.B. King, most of the names of musicians did not ring any bells. Both of the two locations we had been considering for music and food were closed in early January. We ended up having bar b q at Abe’s, a 100 year old joint that reeked of atmosphere and friendly, talkative people.
Sidenote: We talked with St. Paulites while in Vicksburg while Chris was doing the laundry and in Sumner while visiting the Emmett Till interpretive center.. Not snow birds but just travelers.
Today we crossed the Mississippi River again, westward into Arkansas this time. First stop Arkansas Post National Memorial. This off the beaten path location had been a trading post with the Quapaw Indians under French and Spanish rule, was the site of Revolutionary War and Civil War battles, and the capital of the Arkansas Territory.
The flags that flew over Arkansas PostUsing the words of the state’s declaration of secession, the NPS shows slavery was the primary reason for the South to secede from the Union.
Today it is in an isolated area, cut off from the rivers that initially sustained it due to changes in river channels from flooding and creation of dams. The facility is well done and the ranger knowledgeable; I think he was happy to have some visitors to talk to. Going in we had no expectation of the wealth of new knowledge we would pick up.
From the eastern side of Arkansas to its western side we traveled next to the birthplace of President Clinton. This was the home of his first years. The house was rehabilitated and given to the NPS by friends and citizens of Hope AR. We were given a personal tour by a park ranger, followed by a video of Clinton’s formative years.
His home at birthKindergarten photo, growing up in Hope made lifelong friends for Bill ClintonThe family used playing cards to teach Bill numbers and colorsHope community calendar with the birthdays of the white residents.
It was all very positive, not touching on the convoluted family tree aspects of his life. We were not over whelmed and if this was not an NPS site, would most likely have skipped it. We had visited the Clinton Presidential Library years ago and that gives a more nuanced presentation of his life.
Tomorrow, Sunday, we cross the Mississippi River again, going east into Tennessee.
What a fantastic day! It reinforced why we travel as we do.
We left Leesville Louisiana for a one hour drive to Cane River Creole National Historical Park and its 9 AM tour. It was the only tour scheduled for the day so we had to make sure we got there in time.
Oakland Plantation main house
Our Ranger guide had been at this park for 14 years, and was a wealth of knowledge. First off, we had to make sure we knew the difference between Cajun and Creole. As I understand it, Creole is a culture and tradition, while Cajun refers to French people who were forced out of Canada after the French lost the Seven Years War to the British. Many of them landed in the southern portion of the United States. Creole people have ancestry going back to people here before the 1800s whether it be of European settlers, enslaved Africans, or those of mixed heritage, including African, French, Spanish, and Native American influences.
Overseers HouseThe pigeonnier- the pigeon roost; building one in a highly visible location was a symbol of status and wealth
This historical park preserves and protects two long-standing plantations in the area, Oakland and Magnolia. Sidenote – Magnolia was closed due to inaccessibility because of road construction. The Prud’homme and LeComte families had these two plantations in continuous family ownership since before the 1800s. The historical park is here to demonstrate the full range of history, people, and activities in this region for a 200 year period. It is not intended to be simply a Civil War era plantation.
I have been admonished by multiple sources that I don’t need to re-cap and retell the full 75 minute tour given by our guide this morning. Needless to say, the tour was quite informative, and Chris and I came away with knowledge and appreciation for the area.
After the tour and walking around the site, Chris and I headed out for a three hour drive to Epps, Louisiana, in the northeast corner of the state. Located here is Poverty Point World Heritage Site. (The name comes from the farm where the archaeological site is located, it has nothing to do with the economic state of poverty.) Poverty Point is one of only 20 UNESCO sites in the United States.
Poverty Point- the beige color is the central plaza, the white rings are the ridges homes would have been built on.
Poverty Point is the site of monumental earthworks, the largest constructed in the Americas until Cahokia in Illinois. However, Poverty Point predates Cahokia by over 2000 years. This site preserves over 400 acres of earthworks that were constructed by a hunter gather society starting around 1650 BCE. There is a central plaza of around 43 acres, six semi circular oval ridges totaling about six miles in length that are 4 to 6 feet high where homes were built around the central Plaza, and several earthen mounds. The mounds were constructed probably for ceremonial purposes with the highest mound still at 72 feet.
A view of part of what would have been the central plazaAt the far left and right are what is left of the ridges after plowing by modern farmers, the homes would have been built on these elevated ridges
The earth moving endeavors must’ve been enormous. It is estimated that the earth needed just for the tallest mound would equal 15 1/2 million, 50 pound baskets of soil. And archaeological research indicate this mound was built in just 90 days!
Mound A, the tallest mound
Poverty Point is an active archaeological site today, managed by the Louisiana Department of Parks. This state has an unusually large number of mounds and earthworks, with the first mounds dating back to 5000 BCE. The museum here has displays of jewelry, weapons, cooking devices, etc.
We spent 2 1/2 hours here, with 1/2 of that time on a guided tour on a tram, taking us throughout the site. It is difficult to imagine the site without that overview, but the photos give our best effort to provide you with some perspective. The tour provided fascinating details about the archaeological research and the way the entire site was built over a period of time.
Tonight we are staying in Vicksburg Mississippi. We visited here in 2014, tonight is just lodging, no sightseeing.
Setting the proper speed limit on a highway normally takes a traffic engineer with years of experience. But it doesn’t seem that way in Texas. Two lane roads, one in each direction, little or no shoulder, multiple driveways and cross streets coming directly out into traffic equals a 75 mph speed limit. A 4 to 6 lane road, 2 to 3 in each direction, limited access, wide shoulders, not in an urban area, seems to call for a 65 mph speed limit. Go figure.
Of course, then you drive into Louisiana where that 75 mph road is now 55 mph. But at least in Louisiana we’re seeing real trees, not the usual scrub brush that has been so ever presented in South Texas. Okay, at the eastern edge of Texas we did start to see some real trees.
Yes, we are back on the road again. Tuesday, Jan. 2, was a rainy day in the Corpus Christi area. We used the day to get a mid trip oil change for the Subaru, and to visit the Art Museum of South Texas. The museum is small but it still had its Christmas tree display up. Schools or classes from this metro area used a book to set a theme for their Christmas tree.
We observed numerous books that we recognized, Cat in the Hat, Good Night Moon, The Hobbit but most were titles we had never heard before. It quickly became evident our daughters are many years from being in school.
The past three days when we crossed the water to go to Corpus Christi, we used the southern route with its soaring bridge and causeway. Leaving today we took the northern route with its short ferry ride across the ship channel. It was so quick we did not have time to take decent pictures. Four to six ferries operate constantly but the lines in summer can involve a hour or more wait. We drove right up, they closed the gates and off we went, even though the ferry was only half full.
Today was just driving, through downtown Houston plus miles of scrub brush scenery north and south of Houston. Tomorrow will be two different sites to visit. I am sure you just are itching to discover what they are.
A lazy day by the ocean, oops, Gulf of Mexico. Slept in and then walked across the street to the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. We were informed, by a birder, that this place is known worldwide by birders. We came because it is across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn where we are staying.
A boardwalk takes one through marshland out to the edge of the tidal waters. We skipped the alligator portion to focus on birds. As we told one male birder from Michigan, we just enjoy looking, we are not knowledgeable. So rather than listing the bird names below, we will just throw in a few pictures.
We went to the beach, took a nap, went to a crowded church service with a lousy homily, and had a great German dinner listening to a local band and finished up with ice cream.
So to my journalist nephew who prefers the blog with more pictures and fewer words, I hope this gets your approval.
End of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. Not a time to plan to visit local attractions. We are in Port Aransas for three nights, it is on barrier islands across the bay from Corpus Christi Texas. Before we left South Padre Island Saturday, we visited Sea Turtle Inc. Sea Turtle is a sea turtle rescue facility (rehabilitating injured sea turtles) that also works to help turtle eggs hatch and make it safely into the sea. The facility has several rescue sea turtles for viewing.
Another claim to fame was their work in 2021 when Texas had a deep freeze, and the Texas electrical grid crashed. A lesser publicized event from this storm was the “cold stunning” of sea turtles. The ocean water turned so cold turtles went into shock. A new “record” was set with an estimated 12,000 stunned sea turtles up and down the Texas coast. Sea Turtle on South Padre Island and its hundred of volunteers played a major role in rescuing them. Even though only an estimated one-third survived, those survivors would not made it without human intervention.
Today’s only excursion was to Padre Island National Seashore. It is the longest, undeveloped barrier island in the world at 70 miles. It has sand and shell beaches, ocean waters, windswept dunes, endless grasslands, and tidal flats. We hiked on the beach and on a nature trail and sat on the veranda of the visitors center in rocking chairs talking to another couple from Minnesota.
Like many of you, we finished up the day watching college football.
Holy Moly! Brownsville Texas is waaaaay down south. It is farther south than Miami Florida. It is at the southeastern edge of Texas where the Rio Grande RIver dumps into the Gulf of Mexico. It took us six hours of driving today to get here from Del Rio Texas.
What did we see? More scrub brush. Some hills. A few sheep and goats. Lots of wind turbines. Some oil pump jacks. Very few cars on the first eastward, back roads leg of the journey but lots on the second southward, Interstate highway leg of the journey. And around Uvalde Texas-the winter garden of Texas-fields of cabbage, spinach, carrots, onions, etc.
We are here in Brownsville to visit the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park. When Texas was annexed by the United States in February 1846, disputes over its boundaries and ownership pushed the U.S. and Mexico toward war. US President James Polk claimed all of Texas, including its Rio Grande River. Mexican President Mariano Paredes insisted Mexico still owned Texas, and its border was the Nueces River. The Nueces is about 150 miles north of the Rio Grande.
The battlefield terrain is not much different today than it was in 1846.
Palo Alto Battlefield is the site of the first skirmishes and battles of this two year war. When the war was over, Mexico had lost one half of its pre-war land, including what is now Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado. What an impact this war had on the futures of Mexico and the USA!
For the next two nights we are staying at South Padre Island. It reminds us of so many Atlantic Ocean beach towns with hotels, bars, restaurants, T-shirt stores, miniature golf, etc. except it is in Texas.
The second phase of our trip has begun. Phase one was time with family in Flagstaff, Arizona. Now begins two plus weeks of travel to see 13 new (to us) National Park Service units.
Yesterday, Wednesday, was driving all day. Flat scrub brush usually framed by mountains north and south. The day bookended by the largest road runner statute in the U.S. located in Las Cruces NM and the second largest road runner statue located in Fort Stockton TX (made by FastSign in Sparta WI).
Road runners, Fort Stockton left, Las Cruces right
Leaving Fort Stockton this morning, our destination was Amistad National Recreation Area. Amistad means friendship in Spanish, appropriate for this park named in 1990 but created by a joint U.S. Mexican dam on the Rio Grande. The dam was completed in 1969 to control flooding issues from heavy rain storms in the area.
Pecos River
The park itself extends 81 miles up the Rio Grande River, 14 miles up the Pecos River, and 25 miles up Devils River. Water recreation is a main focus as Lake Amistad is the fifth largest lake in Texas.
A view of a portion of Amistad National Recreation Area
We did not fish. We did not boat. However, Amistad and the state run Seminole Canyon State Park protect the Panther Cave archeological site, one of the largest collections of pictographic art in North America. We were unable to view the pictographs directly due to low water restricting NPS boat tours and limitations of the state park tours.
Full size re-created pictographs in Seminole Canyon park exhibits
Exhibits at Amistad and Seminole discuss the pictographs and the development of the area, with an emphasis on the impact of ranching and railroads. Sheep and goat raising are important in this part of Texas, the largest wool raising state in the U.S., although we only saw two small herds as we zipped along US 90.
Seminole Canyon
Seminole Canyon State Park was named after the U.S. Army’s Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts who, between 1872 and 1914, patrolled the western frontier. Seminole Canyon has impressive cliffs, formed solely by rain water erosion over the eons, it does not have a consistent water course.
The Judge Roy Bean Saloon where trials were held inside the saloon and on the porch
On our way to Amistad, we broke our promise to skip the Judge Roy Bean museum in Langley TX due to the scarcity of rest room facilities along our route. We were pleasantly surprised by the modern museum, with its helpful and informative staff, and a modestly entertaining 1960s era video about Roy Bean and the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad through this section of the country. The rivers and canyons and short mountains provided a challenge that was met by immigrant labor.
Tomorrow, driving day down to the tip of Texas at Brownsville.
Merry Christmas family and friends, We hope you found yourself in a joyful and loved filled place these past few days.
Ed and I arrived late afternoon on Friday, December 22 to the Flagstaff home of my brother Lucien and his wife Joyce; my sister Kathy arrived later in the evening via plane. Lucien and Joyce’s home was beautifully decorated and there was beef stew and muffins waiting for weary travelers. The creche below was made by our paternal grandfather.
On Saturday, December 23, we…
…awoke to see snow capped peaks through the windows,
…had a light breakfast,
…delighted in watching birds enjoy the seed wreaths Lucien had made to place on the juniper wreathe he made for their patio,
…did errands and stopped for malts/shakes and light lunch,
…went to Little America Hotel and Restaurant for evening meal and tour of its Christmas decorations, as well as to shop in its gift shop,
returned home to watch a Christmas movie.
Christmas Eve Day is here!🎄 But first it is the 4th Sunday of Advent. So we went to Lucien and Joyce’s church (Episcopal church of the Epiphany in Flagstaff) for morning service and after helped the Altar Guild decorate the church for the Christmas Eve services that started at 4 p.m.
We had a Christmas Eve Day meal at 2 p.m. (pecan crusted cod, green beans, couscous salad) and then off to the Christmas Eve service.
Board games and desserts at home followed, although Lucien had to be involved in 2 services (verger at one and usher at another….very long night for him).
Christmas Day🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄,
…Christmas brunch,
…calls and Facetime to family in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Texas,
…gift opening around one of the three large trees decorated at Lou and Joyce’s,
…Christmas jigsaw puzzle time,
…elaborate evening dinner of Southwest pork tenderloin with cranberry-avocado salsa, salad and potatoes,
…another movie, and
…watched moon rising over their front yard.
Lou and Joyce have several mechanical Christmas decorations. We did video shots throughout Christmas Day of how these operated and sent them out to family across the country. Below is one of our video shots.
We are heading home via Mississippi today, December 26 after a wonderful family Christmas in Flagstaff.
Chris Klejbuk and Ed Heimel travel adventure 
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