Tag Archives: Americana

Observations on Americana

January 26, 2011 ~j Leave a comment

I’m not inspired to write this entry. I’ve moved on to thinking about the next trip, and these last little bits are just so random that it makes any remotely coherent writing nearly impossible. But, this could be the last Yellowstone entry, which is great because I already have so many other things to include. Here are the last observations from our half-way across the country road trip.

I was so happy to find the Buffalo Crossing sign to add to the photo collection! In all of Yellowstone, there is only ONE that we saw. The irony is that there wasn’t a buffalo for miles around the sign; they most certainly were everywhere else. We found the sign as we were leaving the park on the last day. Road signs included, there are quite a few differences between Canada and the US that are easily noticed when driving through the United States. None of these differences is a bad thing (well except for one which we’ll get to!)

Overt Patriotism abounds in the US. Not to say that Canadians aren’t patriotic, we just don’t generally plaster the Canadian flag anywhere and everywhere (well, except in Falkland. Maybe they’re a little nutty?). In addition to flags everywhere, each little town along the way had a huge letter on a hillside somewhere on the edge of town, like a teeny tiny Hollywood sign to celebrate the town, but with only the first letter. I can’t remember where the photo of the M is from, but you get the point.

Another difference–elected law enforcement. In BC, Sheriffs serve primarily with the court system. They’re involved with jury selection and with transporting prisoners to court cases etc. Whereas, in the US, the Sheriff is seen as the highest member of law enforcement, and is elected by the county he/she serves. As you can see, Wade Magers and Jesse Allen were running for Lincoln County Sheriff** (Kudos to you Wade Magers for winning by over 1000 votes.) Which also brings about the use of the word “County”. Seriously, I bet less than 1 in 10 Canadians could tell you which county they live in. We never use that term. Ever.

The one sick difference–white gravy at breakfast. Biscuits and gravy=wrong! You would be hard pressed to find that in any breakfast/brunch buffet in BC. Vile! And non-sweetened Iced Tea–why would anyone want plain, tasting-like-newspaper-ink actual cold brewed tea?

We did see another food item that was particularly interesting. Anyone up for attending the Testicle Festival event next year? Their slogan “You’ll have a ball! If you miss it, you’re nuts.” Klassy with a capital K.

And there were plenty of “interesting” attractions in the small towns we drove through. How about the Jackalope Exhibit?

There were literally thousands of Adopt a Highway signs. Every 2 miles for thousands and thousands of miles. I felt like I was being brain washed. Somehow they aren’t as noticeable here. The other uber-depressing marker that there were thousands of–little white crosses along the interstate that mark where someone has died.

And my all time favourite=Smokey Bear. I’ve never seen Smokey used on any fire prevention signs here. That would be awesome, and much more entertaining.

Happy Travels,
~j

**The campaign signs were everywhere. Jesse Allen Lincoln County Sheriff became quite the conversation topic. Imagine a made for TV movie staring Tom Selleck as Jesse Allen and some washed up wrestler (like the dude who was a Governor) as Wade Magers. They would have rival moustaches. Ooh, that would be good TV for the ancient demographic.

North America, USA, Yellowstone

Yellowstone to Cody

November 2, 2010 ~j Leave a comment

Early evening on day 3 of the trip we left Yellowstone through the East Entrance. We drove through the Shoshone National Forrest and ended up in Cody, WY for the night.

Cody is a small place just under 10 square miles (25km²) with a population of almost 9000. AND, the Walmart is open 24/7. How is this physically possible? We have more than 10 times the population and Walmart still closes at 10pm. I guess the demand just isn’t happening here!

And, the other difference, try not to vomit, you read that correctly. FIFTY! Who needs 50 McNuggets?!? (FYI: I’m willing to bet a 10 piece meal here is almost that much.)

Walmart and Nuggets aside, I really enjoyed Cody. It was an immaculate little town–so clean and beautifully landscaped. Before we shipped off to our next destination we went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre. (Not the “It rubs the lotion on its skin” Buffalo Bill, just so we’re clear!)

Cody is actually named after William Frederick Cody aka Buffalo Bill. Wild West history isn’t really something I’m into or very well informed of, but Buffalo Bill seems like a hip dude for his day. He worked for the Pony Express. He was against slavery, he was for women’s suffrage, he fought for the rights of American Indians. He also wanted equal pay for equal work. He fought in the Civil War. And though he hunted buffalo, (that’s how he got his famous nickname) he also supported conservation. That’s pretty forward thinking for the times I’d say.

I for one say let us give our women absolute freedom and then it will do for us to talk about freeing other nations…I believe in Women Suffrage…I’m not one of the kind that think that God made woman to do nothing but sit at home in the ashes and tend to babies…if a woman can do the same work that a man can do and do it just as well she should have the same pay.

—W.F. Cody

The Historical Centre is actually 5 museums in one. In addition to Yellowstone history, Plains Indians history, Western Art and Buffalo Bill history, there is a huge fire arms exhibit. I’ve never seen so many guns in my entire life.

Stay tuned for Devil’s Tower…

Happy Travels,

ps: Cody has a Dug Up Gun Museum. That’s just crazy. No, we didn’t visit.

North America, USA, Yellowstone

Old Faithful

October 15, 2010 ~j 1 Comment

We arrived about 15 minutes before an eruption of Yellowstone’s famous Old Faithful. Eruptions occur anywhere from 65 to 91 minutes apart with a 10 or so minute window either way, so we were lucky we didn’t really have to wait. Word is that if the eruption lasts less than 2.5 minutes the next one will be in 65 minutes or so, and if the eruption is longer than 2.5 minutes the next one will be in about 90 minutes. So clever those scientists making a schedule for everyone!

Old Faithful is totally the “Mona Lisa” of the Yellowstone. You can’t really visit without seeing it, but it isn’t the most beautiful feature. And, it is by far the most touristed. There were hundreds of people waiting to see the show–half probably on bus trips to see one or two things in the park and then off to their next destination. Oddly, when we were getting our info at the Yellowstone Association, the two guys who were behind us said, “We have 3 hours–what do we see?” How about a whole lot of nothing!

Surprisingly, even though it is most famous, Old Faithful isn’t the highest or largest geyser in the park. Steamboat Geyser (video in previous entry) takes that title. However, unlike Old Faithful, Steamboat is unpredictable with major eruptions from 4 days to 50 years apart. Old Faithful is usually around 145 feet high, whereas Steamboat has been up to 300 feet high. Last huge Steamboat Geyser eruption was in May 2005.

Here are the Old Faithful photos. Imagine you have a flip book.

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I’m sure the Old Faithful Inn and Visitor Info Centre go through periods of boredom and super busy insanity every 45 to 91 minutes. There was mass exodus once the eruption was over. Obviously, it was worth seeing, but not the most spectacular thing we saw in the park.

Happy Travels,

North America, USA

Montana: The Heathen State

September 20, 2010 ~j 1 Comment

Montana has some weird stuff going on. If you drive through Montana on the I-90 you’ll notice that there are a bunch of liquor stores, gun stores, pawn shops, porn shops, and casinos. The road-side billboards are all advertising those same things. Apparently the license plate slogan should be “The Heathen State” not “The Treasure State.” Who knew?

In Butte, the billboards aren’t any better than the establishments because they’re all about Meth. I suppose this is all fairly typical of a mining community, or any other small town that is highly independent on one industry (oil, lumber, coal, etc). Apparently the anti-meth campaign has been extremely successful though. The billboards definitely have an impact; I’m a few thousand km away and still thinking about them. My favourite one we saw: “Before Meth I had a daughter, now I have a prostitute.” Billboards and Montanan pass times aside, there were some great finds…

Like Evel Knievel Days! Who knew that Evel Knievel was from Butte, Montana?!? I’m only sad we weren’t there in July when all the stunts were going down. That would have been classic. There were helium stars and stripes balloons lining the street along with placards hanging from lamp posts to honour this home town hero. At some point in his career Evel Knievel wanted to jump his motorbike across the Grand Canyon, but never did. He did jump 13 Pepsi Trucks though. FYI: His bike is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. Don’t think I’ll be making a special trip there to see it, but if I happen to be in the neighbourhood you never know.

The other find, not much of a symbol of Americana, but also in Butte–Our Lady of the Rockies. (ps: I don’t know how we manage to find so much Catholic iconography on our travels, but we do.) The statue caught our eye from when we were checking out the historic district. Now, thanks to google, I know what it is all about. Here’s a little recap: Our Lady of the Rockies is almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Bill O’Bob built the statue for his wife after he promised the Virgin Mary he would build a statue if his wife recovered from her battle with cancer. When she recovered, and the statue was built to honour women everywhere. Another interesting fact–Our Lady of the Rockies sits atop the Continental Divide which we crossed several times during the trip. Stay tuned for the next entry of our exciting I-90 adventure.

Happy Travels,
~j

North America, USA

Half Mast

September 20, 2010 ~j Leave a comment

Our first actual day in the US was September 11th.

Not that I wouldn’t have remembered the sombre significant day had I been in Canada, it just had more impact actually seeing the actions of the people. There were flags everywhere–which isn’t unusual for Americans to display, but I mean they were EVERYWHERE! 99% of them were at half mast. Businesses had messages on their communication boards. Homes had flags and messages in windows or on fences. Service men and women were hanging banners and flags on over passes. All of these things really acknowledged a shared sense of grief.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing during the 9-11 attacks, as I’m sure all of you do too. I was working at the resort, and we found out during morning check-in for rafting. There was no radio, no news paper, no TV, no nothing, just panicked phone calls asking if we were o.k. We were in the middle of nowhere in BC along a major river/transportation route, and there was a 3rd plane missing. Looking back, I think it is odd that people, random people at that, thought we would be in any danger at all. A super tiny Canadian village or the Pentagon, there is no contest really, but that is how panicked everyone was.

I didn’t see the actual footage until later that evening. Thinking of it now is still upsetting.

US Flags line the street

We Remember

this bird flies