Saving Time in a Bottle

relishing the life God has given us

Homestead National Monument of America

Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln | Homestead National Monument | September 2020

For our last adventure together in September, we left Charlotte at home and drove Southwest for a short day trip. Our first stop was in Lincoln to see both the Lancaster County Courthouse and the Nebraska State Capitol. We parked inbetween the two and went for a short walk around to see and take pictures of both. The courthouse wasn’t anything exciting, just a large plain government building. The capitol building wasn’t all that ornate either — it kind of reminded us of Oregon’s, but with a very tall tower in the middle. It was kind of odd. But hey, another capitol building closer to seeing them all.

Next, we drove South to Gage County. We stopped in Beatrice to see the courthouse — much more architecturally pleasing than Lancaster’s — then continued West to our main stop for the day: Homestead National Monument.

Homestead National Monument exists to commemorate and educate about the Homestead Act of 1862, which was the most significant event in the Westward expansion of the United States. Anyone who was a head of a household, over the age of 21, and had never taken up arms against the US was able to claim a 160 acre plot of land and try out homesteading. People who were able to ‘improve the land’ for 5 years were then given title to their land for free. This system existed in varying forms all the way until 1976, and then until 1986 for Alaska only.

The monument was built on land that was given to Daniel Freeman, the first person to take advantage of the Homestead Act. We started our tour in the Heritage center and museum (which is currently still open with COVID-19, masks required for indoor spaces) and learned about how the Homestead Act was created, how revolutionary the idea was at the time, what people had to do to claim the land, and the struggles they faced while homesteading.

After that, we went for a long walk on the grounds, starting with the Palmer-Epard Cabin, all the way to the education center and Freeman School, then looped back to the Heritage Center. The NPS has made a conscientious effort to return the land to tallgrass prairie, much how it would have appeared in 1862 when Mr. Freeman first claimed his stake. We really enjoyed our time here — the only downside is that dogs aren’t allowed on the grounds, which is why Charlotte had to sit this adventure out. Curtis completed the Not-So-Junior Ranger program and got his matching pin.

Johnson County Courthouse Building in Tecumseh, Nebraska

We then began our drive home, this time taking US-136 East to Tecumseh to see the Johnson County courthouse — definitely one of our favorites so far! Finally, we took NE-50 back to Omaha.

Hitchcock Nature Preserve

Hiking in Hitchcock Nature Preserve | September 2020

The day after hiking in Platte River State Park was the perfect sunny and warm September day, so we drove to Iowa to go for a hike in the Loess Hills. Today’s destination was Hitchcock Nature Preserve, a park located North of the small town of Crescent, Iowa that offers hiking and camping and is dedicated to preserving the prairie. We paid the $3 admission fee, then parked near the visitor’s center and our trailhead. We first went to check out the observation tower — the top level was closed, but we were able to walk up to the second-to-last landing. Then we began our 4 mile loop hike through the park.

We started by heading South on Badger Ridge because we knew it would offer views, and it surely didn’t disappoint. We enjoyed unobstructed views to the East on the majority of this stretch of trail. The elevation change was minimal for almost a mile, until we came across the Hidden Valley and Blazing Star trail intersection, then we started going downhill.

We hiked down into a wooded valley and then continued on the Wildwoods Trail. One highlight as we were walking through the woods was when we came across another hiker who called our attention to a large flowering bush where there was a charm of hummingbirds — they were everywhere, hopping from flower to flower!

After about 2 miles, the trail went steeply back up to near where we had started. From here it was our intention to hike to the boardwalk on Hawk Ridge in the most direct manner. However, Charlotte insisted that we must take the scenic route, so we gave in to our very persistent puppy’s demands. This added an extra mile to our hike overall. We took the Fox Run Ridge to the Hohneke Trail to Hawk Ridge — I know these names don’t mean anything to you if you’ve never visited, so if you’re interested you can just see what I mean on our AllTrails recording here, or better yet check out the official trail map and plan your own trip!

We enjoyed more views along Fox Run Ridge, and then spotted some more wildlife in the woods. We finally reached the boardwalk, then made our way back to the car. By the end of our hike, we had a very tired puppy (she had no one to blame but herself for that) but were very satisfied with this hike. We hope to return many more times and see this park through the different seasons and hike all the other trails.

We attempted a letterbox on our way back, then just so happened to come across a Krispy Kreme in Council Bluffs while driving back — how could we resist? Also, they offered a doggy donut to Charlotte, and it turns out she’s also a fan.

Platte River State Park

Hiking in Platte River State Park and Memphis Lake Recreation Area | September 2020

The first cold front came through right after Labor Day weekend. The highs were in the 50’s, lows in the 30’s-40’s, and it took everything in me to not turn on the heat. In the end, we survived, and we were stronger for it. By the time the weekend rolled around, we even felt ready to spend an extended amount of time outside and go hiking in the cold.

Our main focus today was to explore Platte River State Park, located on the South side of the Platte River SW of Omaha. The sky was cloudy and grey, giving the area a cool, damp feel. We parked near Jenny Newman Lake and set off on a 3 mile loop around the park. Curtis kind of used letterboxes to determine our route, but we didn’t end up finding any of them. We’re learning that there isn’t really an active boxing community here, and most of the boxes in the Omaha area haven’t been found in almost a decade. Curtis has some ideas for boxes though and might try to plant some in East Nebraska and West Iowa next spring. Truly, Southern AZ has been the best place we’ve lived for letterboxing by far, both because of the boxes and the community!

Anyway, I digress — despite not finding boxes, we did really enjoy our hike. The trails were in good condition if meandering and it was a lovely walk through the woods. Our one complaint is that the trail we took never really went near the Platte River. This is because there’s a stretch of land between the state park and the river that’s owned by the BNSF railroad. That being said, there are still trails we didn’t hike so maybe there’s an overlook somewhere that we missed?

One highlight for me was coming across tepees that you could rent for camping. I have memories of going on a trip with my family when I was 4 where we met up with some friends of my parents who lived in Omaha and stayed in tepees, and now I’m sure this is where we were. So I guess this was actually my second visit to this park!

As we were nearing the end of our hike, the sun came out and we quickly became too warm in our jackets. We returned to our car after about an hour and a half of hiking. If you’re interested, here is our AllTrails trail recording.

Next, we drove a little further West to another state park on the river, Eugene T. Mahoney State Park. However, this park was packed and we didn’t come across any obvious trailheads while driving through. The only thing we knew about was the observation deck, but that was closed for maintenance. We decided to leave this park for another day when it was less busy and we were better prepared.

Instead, we took NE-66 up to Memphis and to Memphis Lake State Recreation Area. Curtis just wanted to attempt a letterbox here, but it was so nice out that we decided to walk around the entire lake. Right as we were entering the park, we saw a guy with a basset hound and immediately had to pull over to show him our basset. Side note, I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but I’ve had this happen to me at least 4 times while walking Charlotte — a fellow or former basset hound owner will stop their car to tell me how much they love bassets. 🙂

We really enjoyed our short walk around the lake, even if the letterbox was a bust. We saw lots of wild flowers, a blue heron, and two bloodhounds on our way. Charlotte didn’t notice the bloodhounds until they started baying at her. Altogether the walk was 1.7 miles, and you can check out our AllTrails recording here.

To wrap up our day, we drove to Wahoo to see the Saunders County Courthouse, because no weekend is complete without a courthouse visit these days! This one also had an elaborate veteran’s memorial and a memorial for the USS Wahoo – a very famous and decorated WWII submarine. Perhaps we’ll come back someday to plant a box about it. Stay tuned, fellow boxers!

Battle of Athens State Historic Site

Labor Day Weekend 2020 | Battle of Athens State Historic Site

This year, Curtis was given a four day weekend for Labor Day, and we decided to go spend it with my family in Iowa! On our way there, we stopped at my grandparent’s farm in central Iowa and spent a few hours catching up. They sent us on our way with plenty of their farm fresh produce — tomatoes, peppers and onions.

Coming back to Cedar Rapids was still a shock, even 3 weeks after the derecho. It felt like it had been longer since we last visited, but driving through town and seeing all the chopped up trees on the side of every road was a reminder of how much damage was done and how much more work needed to happen. We were very happy to see my family doing well though, with their power and water fully restored and their yard in much better shape. The debris that we had piled in the ditch was all cleared away, and dad was working on re-seeding their grass.

While we were there, we went hiking at a few parks that were open. We walked around Clark Park in Hiawatha, which is newer and didn’t have big trees, so it didn’t receive much damage. We also went to Wikiup Hills, where several trails were still closed but there were trucks working on clearing away trees while we were there. Mostly we enjoyed the ability to socialize and be with family.

On Labor Day, we packed up and said our goodbyes and started our trip back to Nebraska…except this time, we took a much less direct route. We drove South on US-218 all the way to the small town of Croton, near the Missouri border. Our main stop for today was just across the Des Moines River at the Battle of Athens State Historic Site. But we stopped in Croton to look for a letterbox and mark the ‘furthest Northern battle west of the Mississippi during the Civil War’ – although there are some technicalities to that statement. Unsuccessful with the letterbox, we drove across the River and then over to the actual battlefield and the now abandoned town of Athens, Missouri.

Athens during the 1850’s was a thriving community with multiple businesses, a large mill, and a healthy population. But in 1861, Missouri was hit hard with the secessionist movement. Unlike most other states that were hard one way or the other, Missouri was split, and was determined to remain neutral in the contest. But, after federal intervention, disagreements over states rights, and a pro-southern Governor, Missouri entered the Summer of 1861 with a pro-Confederate government in exile with local support under the Missouri Guard, and a federally appointed pro-Union government in Jefferson City with local support under the Home Guard.

As the Union made more decisive victories through the center of the state and the exile government retreated to the South, pockets of pro-secessionist Missouri Guard forces were left in pockets scattered throughout the North and Central areas. One such pocket under the command Col. Martin Green attempted to make mischief and raise support in NE Missouri. This was naturally opposed by Home Guard volunteers under the command of Col. David Moore, who decided to make his stand against the more numerous Missouri Guard in Athens, due to its proximity to the Croton rail depot, and the Iowa Militia.

On the 5th of August in 1861, the Missouri Guard attacked the town of Athens. Armed with only three cannons (including a hollow log) and frontier weapons, the Missouri guard was out gunned and out maneuvered by the technologically superior Home Guard resulting in a Union victory.

After the war, the town of Athens diminished as rail transport increased and river transport diminished. But today you can walk around the remaining preserved/rebuilt homes, see the layout of the streets, see the old mills foundation, and read the signs.

So why is there a sign in Iowa calling it the furthest Northern battle if it was fought in Missouri? While it is true that Iowa Militia ‘participated’ by firing from the Iowa side of the Des Moines River, the only return fire that they received was from the two cannons, which fired wildly with one hitting the Croton rail station, the only cannonball to land on Iowa soil during the war.

Once finished at the park, we began our long journey West. We first jogged South to Kahoka, MO to see the Clark County Courthouse, then took US-136 West to Glenwood, IA-202 back into Iowa, and IA-2 all the way across the state. Along the way, we saw four more courthouses: Schuyler, MO; Appanoose, IA; Wayne, IA; and Decatur, IA. Our favorite courthouse for the day was Decatur county. All this ended up taking 8 hours when driving directly from door to door takes exactly 4 hours, but it was honestly so fun for us to drive these mostly empty roads. Another highlight was seeing a retro Hy-Vee sign along with the smallest Hy-Vee we’ve ever seen.

We returned home that night refreshed after a fun weekend away, and with enough tomatoes to last us for the rest of the month!

Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge / August 2020

This year, the month of August began with us arriving in our new home state, and ended with us in our new home. We experienced all the exciting feelings that come from moving to a new city, where every outing feels like an adventure. We created a cozy space in our apartment, frequented all the nearby parks, and familiarized ourselves with our favorite grocery store. Curtis started a new position with his career and a master’s program and I went back to work after taking a month off while moving. In so many ways, this was the month we’ve been waiting for for so long. Of course not everything went as planned, it’s still 2020 and unexpected things happened (looking at you, hurricane that ripped through Iowa) but dealing with stressful things just feels way easier when you’re not stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific.

When I think about this month of transition, the word that comes to mind is ‘easy’. And that’s exactly what we needed after the past 3 years. The day we left the island was the day so much anxiety and stress was lifted off my shoulders. Looking back, I’ve realized how isolated and out of place I felt throughout my whole time living there. I never felt like I fit in, or like I could be a ‘local’. In contrast, we’ve only been here for a month but it’s been so easy to find our way around. We’d only driven through Omaha once before moving here, but it has that familiarity of a Midwestern city that feels so comforting to us. That and the fact that we’re only 4 hours from ‘home’!

Besides that, I feel like I’ve been carrying around this guilt for the past several years of living on Hawaii. I knew I was living in a beautiful place where so many people would love to live or even just travel to, but I wasn’t happy there. I felt guilty that I didn’t like it and felt bad every time I wanted to vent about my problems there. I did my best to enjoy the little things and ‘bloom where I was planted’, but all I felt was isolated and trapped. But now, I feel free, I feel much more connected with people I love, and I feel completely at peace that we are where we’re supposed to be. If you had told me in January that we’d be moving to Omaha this year, I wouldn’t have been that excited, but after all the events of 2020, this is exactly what we needed.

Besides our weekend adventures, we have adapted to our new routines here. Our new apartment is the perfect size for us, small and cozy just the way we like it, yet much bigger compared to our Hawaii home. We’ve enjoyed using modern luxuries that we haven’t had in years, such as a dishwasher, dryer, and air conditioning. The only real downside is that Charlotte no longer has a yard, and we’re on the third floor with no elevators meaning there’s a lot of steps to go up and down whenever she needs to go out. But on the plus side, we’ll stay in shape by walking up stairs so much, and we have great views from our windows and balcony!

On the last Sunday of the month, we went out exploring different small parks around Bellevue, looking for good places for Curtis to metal detect and Charlotte to walk around. That evening, we drove through downtown Omaha for the first time to walk across the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, or “The Bob” for short. Parking was free and close to the walkway, and we enjoyed walking around both the Omaha and Council Bluffs side, and standing in the middle of the bridge, in two states at once. We learned that there’s a light show that takes place on the Council Bluffs side that we’ll have to return for someday. For tonight, we just watched the sunset and then made our way back home.

Waubonsie State Park

Hiking in Waubonsie State Park | August 2020

The theme of today’s adventure was “More Counties, Loess Hills.” Our goal was to bag the Southwestern-most county in Iowa, the Northern-most county in Missouri, and a few Nebraska counties on the way home, as well as visit a few parks along the way. We set off early, crossing over into Iowa, and took the Loess Hills Scenic Highway heading South.

As we drove, we soaked up the unassuming beauty that is the Iowa countryside. The rolling hills, the perfectly lined cornfields, the patches of forested areas in between. We drove through small towns and passed farm houses, with signs advertising home grown produce for sale with the owners sitting in lawn chairs out front. Neither of us could deny the overwhelming feeling of love for this state, and for the Midwest.

Our first stop was in Sidney, IA in Fremont County, where we drove to the courthouse and then got out for a short walk around. Often times while wandering around small towns we find a recurring theme in the statues and artwork placed on street corners, buildings, or lamp posts, and the ‘theme’ here appeared to be cowboy boots. (Other past themes have been Ice Cream Cones and Butterflies)

After snapping pictures, playing Pokemon, and sniffing all the sidewalks twice, we continued driving South to our main stop for the day: Waubonsie State Park. This is one of the few state parks in Iowa that has an entrance fee for vehicles not licensed in Iowa, but we happily paid the $5 fee in support of the park. We packed up our water and letterboxing gear, applied bug spray, and began our hike. The first view point was not too far from the parking lot, and we stopped briefly to enjoy the view before continuing on our way.

We started hiking on the Sunset Ridge Trail, mostly through wooded areas with small clearings where they were working on prairie restoration. After about a mile we made it to edge of the ridge where the trees and land fell away and we were able to enjoy views to the West as we continued South. In the distance, we were able to see Cooper Power Station (a nuclear power plant that will be decommissioned soon because of the flooding here in 2018 – there goes another post military job position)

After following the ridge for half a mile, the trail turned East and went steeply downhill. We came across an old charcoal kiln or maybe a root cellar, then made our way uphill and to the Southernmost parking lot. At this point Curtis realized we had passed the only letterbox and retraced his steps to go look for it while Charlotte and I relaxed at a bench and waited. The box turned out to be missing, and we carried on our way following the road until we picked up a trail that ran parallel. Altogether the trail was about 3 miles long, and we would definitely return to this park just to hike along the ridge again especially as fall colors come into full swing. If you’re interested in our AllTrails recording, check it out here.

From Waubonsie, we drove South into Missouri and to our next hike of the day at Brickyard Hill Natural Area. In this park is the highest point of Atchison county, MO, and while county high pointing isn’t a goal (mostly because many county high points in the Midwest are just random points in the middle of fields or on private property), this was supposedly accessible so we decided to give it a shot.

Unfortunately this hike turned out to be a bust. The ‘trail’ was hardly maintained at all, and we found ourselves walking through tall grass with tiny ticks, spider webs, and poison ivy all around. We stuck it out for about a half mile but then decided we weren’t enjoying it at all and turned around. We’ll stick with visiting county courthouses as our county goal for now!

We drove a little further South to Rock Port, Missouri where we saw the courthouse and attempted another letterbox, then drove West over the Missouri River back into Nebraska. While crossing the bridge on US-136 into Brownville, NE, Curtis spotted a boat moored along the river. Since it was still early in the afternoon and we didn’t have any more plans for the day, we pulled off and parked nearby.

The boat was the ‘Captain Meriwether Lewis’ a steam driven, side wheel paddle boat, that was used by the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the Missouri for flood control and navigational purposes throughout the 20th century. Retired in 1976, the Capt. Lewis is one of the few surviving examples of boats of her type and was converted to a museum boat…that is until the Missouri flooded in 2018. That flood caused a lot of infrastructure damage along the MO-IA border including several museum boats and ships. The damage was quite apparent as the sidewalk leading up to the boat was toppled and scattered. It’ll be awhile before the boat opens her doors again, but the exterior appears to have survived relatively unscathed.

We continued through Brownville, NE to US-75, where we saw our first Nebraska courthouse for today: Nemaha County, in Auburn. We finally began heading North, stopping for one last courthouse in Otoe County in Nebraska City. Nebraska City is known for being the home of Arbor Day, and naturally their ‘theme’ was little artistic tree sculptures everywhere, but it was getting late, so we decided to save the Arbor Day Farm and other historic and natural areas for a return trip.

Ponca State Park

Weekend in the IA-MN-SD Tri-State Area | August 23, 2020

On Sunday morning, we packed up our tent and got back on the road. We drove back into Iowa, made our way to US-75 and began heading South. For our first stop, we drove to Le Mars, IA, which is known as the ice cream capitol of the world. We arrived around 9 and attempted a letterbox. We stopped by the ice cream museum and shop, but it didn’t open until noon. I’ve always believed that it’s never too early for ice cream, but apparently the so-called “ice cream capitol of the world” doesn’t believe that! Instead, we drove to the county courthouse and got a few pictures. Our official goal is only to visit all of Nebraska’s courthouses, but that’s kind of turning into “see all the courthouses we possibly can.”

Next, we drove to Sioux City and stopped at the Sergeant Floyd Monument. The obelisk is easy to spot when you’re driving on I-29 as it’s on a hill overlooking the interstate and Missouri River. We took time to walk around, read the signs, and enjoy the view. The obelisk marks the final resting place of Sgt. Floyd of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery and is the only member of that party to have died during the expedition. We were surprised to learn that, not only is the obelisk near the original bluff the Corps buried their comrade, but that the remains of Sgt. Floyd are actually interred in the base of the obelisk. Needless to say, we’re very excited to be living near the Missouri and so many Lewis and Clark points.

From Sioux City, we crossed the Missouri back into Nebraska, and drove North to our main stop of today’s trip: Ponca State Park near Ponca, Nebraska. Our first stop in the park was to purchase our Nebraska State Parks Pass, which we could now get with a discount as official Nebraska residents!

We then drove to the “three state lookout” and took in the view of the Missouri River, Iowa, and South Dakota. Unlike much of the Missouri river, which is dredged, dammed, and controlled to protect the surrounding agriculture and infrastructure, the stretch of the Missouri around this view point is ‘wild’ and much similar in state to when the Corps of Discovery passed through 220 years ago. We went on a short loop hike for a letterbox. It was starting to heat up, but as long as we were in the shade and moving we managed to stay cool.

Finally, it was time for our long drive back. Well, it didn’t have to be that long, but of course we wanted to take the scenic route. We drove back to South Sioux City (on the Nebraska side) and then took US-75 down all the way back to Omaha. On the way back, we were able to see 4 more Nebraska county courthouses: Dixon, Dakota, Burt, and Washington. We’ve found that it’s quite easy to see each of them and get decent pictures on weekends since there isn’t anyone else there, and most of these small towns have parking right out front where we can just pull up, take pictures, and leave. I know this doesn’t sound like the most interesting hobby, but we’re really enjoying it. We love seeing the different styles of architecture and landscaping, as well as driving down the main street each of the small towns. It’s also an interesting way to break up an otherwise long drive.

Speaking of which, we found this drive to be very scenic, with rolling hills and beautiful countryside. There were even a few scenic pull-outs on the way. We passed by a few other forts and attractions, but since they’re relatively close to Omaha we decided to save them for other weekends when we don’t have the time to drive as far. Overall this short weekend trip made us excited for all the things we can do in the Midwest, and the humidity made us excited for fall weather!

Loess Hills / Pipestone National Monument

Weekend in the IA-MN-SD Tri-State Area | August 22, 2020

The month of August was exactly as hot and humid as you’d expect for a Midwest summer. However, we weren’t adjusted to it at all. We hadn’t seen temps or humidity that high since…well, last summer when we were on the mainland. It was tempting to hide out in the air conditioning, but we happen to know what comes after August…and how quickly fall gives way to winter. There’s nothing like the changing seasons to motivate us to get out and enjoy each one while we can! We certainly haven’t had that kind of motivation for a while.

Curtis really wanted our first weekend trip to be up to the Sioux City area, or maybe even the IA-SD-MN tri-state area. I’m pretty sure he just wanted to claim some of my ‘pink counties’ on our joint county map, but that’s ok, I still have plenty that I’m sure I’ll keep for a long time. 😉 We made a list of all the parks and trails we could possibly check out and found there was way too much for one weekend — that’s always a good sign, right? We also realized that our last-minute planning style wasn’t ideal during the summer because most campsites were booked. But we were fortunate enough to find one that was technically a ‘canoe-in’ spot, which we contacted the park about and they said it was alright to park our car in a nearby lot.

We packed up and set off for our weekend adventure bright and early on Saturday morning. We drove into Iowa and headed North on I-29. Our first stop for the morning was Preparation Canyon State Park in the Loess Hills. Here we hiked a 2 mile loop that went through a prairie and a forest. The best thing about Iowa state parks is that all but 2 of them are free, so it never hurts to just drive in and check one out. While we were hiking, it started raining, but the high tree canopy kept us from getting wet and it helped to keep the temperature down. If you’re interested in seeing our trail recording, check it out here.

From the trail head, we drove around deeper into the Loess Hills on dirt country roads eventually making our way to the ‘highest point of Monona County’. We weren’t expecting much to begin with, but it ended up being a pretty cool lookout over the Loess Hills and Missouri river valley. There was a trail that followed the ridge with unobstructed views all around which we followed until it came to a deep cut before turning back around.

After finding our way back to the interstate (and stopping to see the Monoma County Courthouse), we were indecisive about what else we wanted to do today and what to save for tomorrow. Eventually I made the call that we should just drive to Pipestone National Monument because it was the furthest North and we still had plenty of sunlight left today. We took I-29 into South Dakota, drove around Sioux Falls, and then East on I-90 into Minnesota. Just like that, we had visited 4 states in one day! That was a fun concept for us, considering how much time we’ve spent in only one state over the past four years.

Once in Minnesota, we took MN-23 North to Pipestone. We stopped briefly to see the Pipestone County Courthouse, then drove to the park. The visitor’s center was closed, but the park was still open and we were able to do a mile long loop hike with Charlotte.

This area is significant to the Plains Indians due to the prevalence of a soft red claystone that was integral to their mythology and religious ceremonies. The Siouxan and other tribes would travel to this area, where, do to the tilt of the geological layers, there was a relatively exposed seam about a mile long. They would quarry out slabs of the rock and then carve them into the T shaped ‘calumet’ pipe associated with plains tribes today – hence the name Pipe-stone. These pipes then became traded across the upper plains and with American expansion into the region, spread across the continent as a novelty item. Today the tradition continues with Siouxan artisans still allowed to quarry the stone. Of note, most if not all of the exposed rock in the pictures, around the loop hike, and all the buildings is NOT pipestone, but rather hard Sioux Quartzite which acts as a capstone for the pipestone underneath.

We really enjoyed the loop trail — starting behind the visitor’s center, it went through prairie to the tall red walls, passed a waterfall and across the creek. Here is our trail recording.

Following our hike, we followed the Pipestone Creek and Sioux Quartzite to the Southwest back into South Dakota. There, we hiked a half mile loop through the steep cliffs at Devil’s Gulch Park, famous for a daring escape by outlaw Jesse James, and then drove to Palisades State Park where we hiked the Balancing Rock Trail next to Split Rock Creek. It was definitely unique to follow along the water as it traveled through flat, open prairie, then through essentially a canyon, and come out into prairie again on the other side. Maybe a place to go kayaking in the future?

But Charlotte decided afterwards that we had hiked quite enough for a day and requested we just sit in the grassy area and do nothing, so we did just that until we could convince her to get back in the car.

The day was winding down, so we began our drive to our campsite in Newton Hills State Park — but not without a few short stops. Driving through Canton, SD, we came across yet another county courthouse (#3 for the day) and stopped for a picture. Then we drove back into Iowa and down another country road until we found the IA-MN-SD tri-state marker, where we could say we were standing in 3 states at once. There certainly aren’t points like this in Hawaii!

Finally, we drove to our campsite and set up for the night. We made some hash on our camp stove, and Curtis discovered our site came with a plum tree. We watched the sunset and then retired to our tent. We enjoyed a quiet night camping in the country with this site all to ourselves!

Derecho in Iowa

When we found out we were moving to Nebraska, the part I was most excited for was being so close to my family again. After this year especially, it just felt right to be closer to home during these uncertain times. However, we never could have guessed the crazy events that would happen just one week after moving back to the Midwest. Before sharing this post, I want to say that we were not affected and did not personally experience the terror of the derecho in Eastern Iowa on August 10. If you’re interested in reading something from the perspective of someone who did, my dad wrote about their experience on his blog, which you can read here!

The morning of Monday, August 10, 2020, Curtis and I received text notifications of severe thunderstorms in the area. We looked outside our hotel window and saw nothing but blue skies. A half hour later, Curtis took Charlotte outside and noticed the skies had turned — there were now ominous clouds passing quickly above us. However, if there was a thunderstorm, it must have stayed North of the Omaha area, because we didn’t get much more than a little rain.

A few hours later, my mom texted and asked if we had a storm. I said no, and asked if they did. She replied that it was there right now — the tornado sirens went off, they were in the basement, the power went out, and there were trees falling all around. After the storm passed, they started sending me pictures of the yard. They live on a wooded acre lot, and in the pictures we could see there were at least 10 trees down. Eventually they stopped texting me, I assumed they were out cleaning up. Curtis and I briefly discussed driving to Iowa and helping, but his parents had plans to come see us in Omaha later that week, and we weren’t sure if the military would be okay with us leaving our ‘quarantine’ for the last few days.

The next morning, (Tuesday the 11) I texted my mom first thing and asked how they were doing. I didn’t hear back all morning, and I was getting concerned. I remembered she said they lost power, so maybe it still hadn’t come back and maybe their phones were dead. I started seeing more pictures pop up on Facebook from friends in Eastern Iowa, and we were beginning to see how widespread and devastating the damage really was. This wasn’t just a tornado which affects only what lies in its path, this was a derecho, or an inland hurricane with 120+ mph winds. I texted the rest of my family, waiting anxiously to hear if they were alright.

I heard first from my brother at Iowa State University in Ames — he was fine, though still without power. Later, I heard from my sister who lives on the SE side of Cedar Rapids. She told me they just had a few smashed windows, but there were trees and power lines down all around their neighborhood. They were also without power, and cell service was spotty.

Around that time, Curtis’ dad texted Curtis and asked if we’d be able to meet them in Cedar Rapids. They don’t live in Iowa anymore, but they had plenty of friends that needed help and they planned to camp in someone’s yard. Since we didn’t have a place for them to stay with us in Omaha, it kind of made more sense to just go see them there while also helping. My sister told me we could stay with her in case it didn’t work out at my parent’s. And so it was decided — we would leave the next morning (Wednesday) and stay until Saturday, which would still give us time to move into our apartment before Curtis started work on Monday.

I was still so anxious as we went out and ran some errands. I hadn’t heard anything from my family. Were they doing ok? Would we actually be any help? Curtis picked up a chainsaw and all the necessary accessories, things that would surely be in high demand in Eastern Iowa now. We ran to Aldi and picked up food that we could cook on our camp stove, assuming that power could be out the entire time we were there. Finally, we picked up gas cans and filled them up after hearing that there were hour-long waits at the few gas stations that were open.

I finally heard back from my dad when he went to his office. They had no power, water, or cell service, and had at least 15 big mature trees down. At his request, we picked up another chainsaw and more supplies, and then filled all our water containers. We were all ready to go.

Pictures taken by my dad after the storm

The next day we set off for Cedar Rapids bright and early — even taking (almost) the most direct route! We made sure to fill up on gas around Des Moines so we wouldn’t have to get any in Cedar Rapids. While driving on I-80, we first started seeing some fallen trees by the interstate East of Des Moines. By the time we were around Grinnell, we started seeing portions of cornfields that had been blown flat. Having heard that I-380 was busier than normal, we decided to jog up to US-30. We drove through the town of Belle Plaine, and started to see how devastating this was on a personal level for each of the residents — there were huge trees down in almost every yard.

Driving on US-30 was a real shock. Entire cornfields lay flattened by the wind. Power lines bent over, some even split in half, not by falling trees but by the sheer power of the wind. Silos and barns destroyed, trees fallen, street signs missing, semi trucks overturned, tarps on roofs. We almost missed our exit because the sign was bent clear over. Driving through Cedar Rapids, stop lights were out, trees that I had grown up always seeing were gone. The pictures I had seen online didn’t do it justice, and didn’t prepare me for seeing my city all torn apart. They certainly didn’t prepare me for how I’d feel driving into my neighborhood, and seeing my family’s house.

When we arrived, there were two things that were very clear: God’s hand of protection was very visible as we saw how their house had been spared, and also, there was definitely going to be enough to keep us busy!

Pictures while working by Julie

We spent the next 2 ½ days at my parent’s, with Curtis, my dad, and Curtis’ dad on chainsaws and my mom, sisters, Curtis’ mom and I hauling branches to the ditch, making piles of firewood, and cleaning. On Thursday evening, the power came back on for about 2 hours, and then another few hours on Friday morning. It finally came back for good right before we left on Saturday. Their water came back on Friday.

Progress pictures of the backyard

I’m so glad they were all home and safe when the storm hit, and for God’s protection over them. Their yard, along with the rest of Cedar Rapids, won’t ever look quite the same without those trees. I had hoped that now that we live so close, goodbyes wouldn’t be so hard, but that just wasn’t the case this time. Knowing what they had gone through and that there was so much more work ahead of them made leaving so hard. But I’m thankful that now live so close and are able to be there when stuff like this happens.

This certainly wasn’t the reunion we planned to have, but I’m thankful we were able to share this experience and grow closer through it. We said goodbye for now on Saturday morning and drove the 4 short hours back to Omaha, where we finally moved into our apartment. Thankfully this time it won’t be over a year before we see them again!

Our First Week in Nebraska

When we arrived in Omaha on Sunday, August 2, Curtis “checked in” with his new command by phone, and then began two weeks of “quarantine” before reporting to work. I use that term very lightly because unlike in Hawaii where the quarantine was very strict, here all that meant was that he wasn’t allowed to go into work for two weeks after arrival. They told us we were allowed to do any essential errands we had, we could go out for exercise, and told us to just be smart, socially distance, and wear masks. Easy enough! Honestly, we were very thankful for these two weeks “off” but not on leave just to give us time to adjust to our new hometown.

Our first task was to visit our soon-to-be new home and finalize the paperwork. After months of going back and forth on whether to buy or rent, we ended up deciding to rent an apartment. Though it felt a little like taking a few steps back after having owned a house, we were at peace with the decision. However, the soonest we could move in was August 15, which meant 14 days in the hotel, but the military would only pay for 10. We tossed around other options like going camping for those last couple days or going to visit family, but put off making that decision closer to day 10.

Next, we needed to find a car to buy as soon as possible so that we could return the rental. We looked all over Craigslist and used car lots, test drove several vehicles, and finally found ‘the one’ on Wednesday: a Subaru Outback. Car shopping is not our favorite thing and I have trust issues with cars after our first two, but hopefully this one will give us many years of adventures.

Along with these errands, we also went for a couple short hikes just to get out of the hotel room. We visited city parks like Walnut Creek and Halleck Park in Papillion, Zorinsky Lake in West Omaha, and Haworth Park in Bellevue on the Missouri River. All of these had paved paths that made for enjoyable walks, and I’m sure we’ll be back many times over the next two years.

On one afternoon, we crossed over the Missouri and went for a short hike in West Oak County Park in Pacific Junction, IA. This was our first official hike in the Loess Hills, and we enjoyed hiking with the incline, seeing wildflowers, naming trees and birds, and even found a pretty vista. They’re certainly not mountains, but we can appreciate the simple beauty of the Midwest here — and even better, we were the only ones on the trails that day!

At the end of our first week, my parents were going to be with my grandparents in Des Moines, and with their invitation we decided to go see them. It had now been over 2 weeks since we had flown, our interactions with others after that had been minimal, and we were feeling fine. After 7 years of living half a country away, and only seeing them twice in the past 3 years while living in Hawaii, being able to see them with only a two hour drive felt like a dream!

Ok, the drive there did take a little longer because we wanted a few new counties, but it was worth it because now our Iowa map doesn’t have a gaping hole between I-80 and US-30. We arrived at my grandparent’s and had a very happy reunion. Charlotte also got to meet her new ‘relative,’ Rocky the German Shorthaired Pointer. She doesn’t always get along with bigger dogs, so we were very proud of her for being on her best behavior!

While we were there, we enjoyed catching up, eating fresh produce from my grandparent’s garden, and had seafood from Waterfront Seafood Market. We also went for a morning walk around the Iowa Capitol Building — we had both visited separately years ago, but wanted to go back together since we now have a side hobby of visiting them in every state.

On our way back to Omaha, we stopped to see Holliwell’s Covered Bridge in Madison County, then took US-34 the rest of the way home. We again debated going back the next week, but being the type to not make plans until the last minute, we again tabled that decision for the next week. More on that, coming up next!

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