ON TO THE RETREAT

 I got up early and went exploring the Badlands National Park.  It is amazingly beautiful.

I went for a short walk around a boardwalk - it said to watch out for snakes.  Didn't see any but saw lots of beautiful plants and flowers.

I did see a Mountain Goat here though.

I had to wait until 8am for the Minute Man National Historic Park to open.  Normally, you could sign up for a tour down into the silo, but at the moment it's closed for repairs or something.  I would love to do that someday, but not today.  I have a long ways to go yet.  So, I got my passport stamped and headed out.

Since I'm in South Dakota, I wanted to stop in on the Capital Building in Pierre.  I must say, it's one of the most beautiful I've seen.  The marble and tile inside are very special.  But I didn't take photos of that.

Next and last stop in South Dakota was Britton, where my mother was born. 

The hospital where she was born is now an apartment building.

This plaque is outside that building.

I then headed north to North Dakota.  It was only about an hour's drive to Hankinson where the retreat would be held and I would meet up with my internet buddies.  We are staying at the St Francis Retreat Center, a convent.

I went 407 miles today.  That's a total of 2090 miles to get here.

LANSING MICHIGAN CAPITAL

 I was up and headed to Lansing, the state capital.  I wanted to visit the building before it got too busy. I even found a parking spot right next to the building.

I went in a little after 8am.  There were not many people, but lots of police.  Apparently, there was going to be a rally in a bit.  I wanted to be out of there before that started.  I went up to the highest floor I could and worked my way down.

It’s a beautiful building, very monumental, and clean. 

This is what greeted me, they are doing renovations.

The whole of the dome was filled with scaffolding.  They are cleaning and restoring the artwork.

The Supreme Court room.

The Senate from the gallery

Ceiling of the Senate 

I headed down the stairs.

The Senate floor with wool carpeting.

Beautifully carved, massive staircases.

The flag was at half-staff in honor of the passing of Senator Diane Feinstein of California

MINNEAPOLIS

 I got my rental car and headed to the Mississippi River National Recreation Area Visitors Center in St. Paul.  It was in a large building housed by a Science Museum, where I was greeted by a large dinosaur.

The Ranger suggested I go across the River to Harriet Park to sketch.  There were two different wedding parties in the park, shooting photos of the wedding party.  

I found a nice place to sit and sketch this boat, which is a bed and breakfast apparently. 

Then I headed to the state capital, but when I got there it was just closing.  I did get a photo though.

Down the street was the church I had seen while sketching.  I headed there to investigate.   It is the Saint Paul Cathedral.

Then I headed north to visit the St Croix National Scenic Riverway.  I got my passport stamped and explored around a but.  I spent the night nearby.

 

GREAT BREAKFAST

 We left Eugene early and headed north on I-5.  After googling for a good breakfast place, we stopped in Salem.  We were a little early, so we stopped at the capitol building first.  They are doing some remodeling or something there.  We walked around the building, stopping to admire some nice Sequoia trees in the gardens. 

We like stopping to visit capitols in the states we visit.  It's odd that we've never been inside Oregon's capitol - someday, I guess, but not today - they weren't open yet.

Then we drove to the 'Word of Mouth Bistro'.  Yelp said they opened at 7am, but when we got there at 7, it was filling up quickly. (Their website says they actually open at 6:45am, ah ha).   Its a great place for breakfast.  They made everything from scratch, including the breads and jam.  They even have a homemade GF bread, which we had and enjoyed. The restaurant is in an old house and full of kitschy stuff, most including little dogs.  There were dog portraits everywhere.  I managed to sketch a few.

We left, heading north through Portland and stopping in Vancouver Washington at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.  We went for a nice walk through the park and out onto the street, went under the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River (loud). Then back along the streets back into the park, which was now open.  I got my NPS Passport stamps and stickers.  Then we walked over to the actual fort.  There are people there portraying carpenters, metal smiths, and fur traders, in garb of the era.  It was fun.

And then it was straight through to home, another 3 hour drive, 165 miles.

Nice trip, if a little bit of a whirlwind.

TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA

 I left Plains and head south to Florida.  I wanted to see the capital building.  I got there around 3:30pm and I decided it was too late to go inside - and besides, finding a place to park proved difficult.

Darrell and I like to visit capital buildings when we can.  I felt a little guilty going by myself.  So I took a selfie and went in search of lodgings and a place for dinner.

Florida is noticably different from Georgia and that's all I'll say about that.

It was very hot. 

AUSTIN CAPITAL BUILDING

We left Quiltcon and went to visit the capital building here in Austin.  

I don't know why they had a phallic symbol here.

The Senate Chamber

The Representatives Chamber