Weekend Warrior: The Badlands

Dear Travel Diary,

They call them "fly-over states;" simply the patchwork view from an airplane window en route to Los Angeles from New York City.

Who'd want to live down there / in the middle of nowhere

Jason Aldean, "Fly Over States"

Without discrediting anything NYC or LA has to offer, we must not ignore the in between. If your only exposure to the middle of America is the view from an airplane seat, then please observe what you are missing out on ...

This perspective is absolutely stunning.

The next morning, we got up early in order to be on the road by 8:30 a.m. with the intent to drive through the Badlands.

Here again, we were treated to up-close views of the wildlife.

And here again, my son's geography lessons were brought to life as they explored, touched and climbed, while keeping an eye out for rattlesnakes.

We were home by 7:30 p.m. and crashed into our own beds at 8. It was a whirlwind weekend adventure, but certainly worth every minute.

Weekend Warrior: Driving across South Dakota

Dear Travel Diary,

We crossed state lines into South Dakota late Saturday morning, and drove through historic Deadwood. Known as the final resting place of the legendary Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane (in Mount Moriah Cemetery), Deadwood has become quite commercialized. Still in existence are the gaming halls, saloons and casinos once frequented by famous gun slingers, but they've all adapted to the modern era. It was kind of sad, in a way.

Deadwood was born out of the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874, and the region's rich mining history is alive and well. Once we left Deadwood city limits, we drove through Lead, SD. There we stopped at an enormous open pit mine, where over 41 million ounces of gold was pulled to the surface. The mine was so deep that we couldn't see the bottom from the safety of the observation deck.

Even now, gold seekers continue to try their luck. We stopped to take pictures of a roadside waterfall and found two men panning for gold in the shallow creek.

We continued our travels to our next stop, Mount Rushmore.

The last time I was here, I was 10 years old and preparing to start 5th grade. The changes were vast and apparent, and I texted my mother about it when we were back in the car. Still, sharing this monument with my children and re-experiencing it through their perspective - it felt like life had come full circle.

The states of our nation were represented as we approached the monument.

A 250-stair climb was added, known as The President's Trail. We climbed, and breathless, we observed the artisan skill directly below the carved faces of our Founding Fathers. It was there we realized cracks were beginning to form in the monument, thus a renewed push for conservation. I was glad we were able to take the kids when we did, because who knows what could happen to this landmark in the future.

The Crazy Horse Monument was nearby, so we ventured over. My family also visited over 20 years ago, and I was a little sad to see there had been very little progress made. Crazy Horse receives no state or federal funding, so the project relies heavily on admission fees to advance its construction. The site had a museum of Native American history dedicated, and it was there we shared with the kids' that they shared this heritage.

We left as the Crazy Horse site was closing for the day, and made our way to Rapid City, where we booked a room for the night. The adventure continued however, because wild life had begun to feed. We were able to get within feet of a herd of elk and a few bison! The bison especially were equal parts cool and terrifying.

Trust me, it was a relief to return to the Interstate as night fell.

Weekend Warrior: The Wild West

Dear Travel Diary,

Every second was a fresh perspective, a break from our “normal,” and a true escape from the hustle-and-bustle of the life we live back home.

It was short but sweet for certain. With both kids in school, we are confined to our zip code for most of the year. When a break is scheduled, like this one for MEA, we take full advantage. We also had a personal family matter, the details of which I won’t express here, but we had the added benefit of spending time with relatives not always seen. 

Related: Our 2015 MEA Week Adventure

On Friday, October 21, the kids and I flew into Billings, Montana.
We arrived late, so we only saw the outline of the city and its surrounding plateau. However, there must have been a cattle sale or show of some sort because there were cows e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Bull racks clogged traffic, which made for an interesting change of pace.

We drove two hours into Sheridan, WY bound for the hotel where we had zero troubles falling asleep.

The next day we said goodbye to our relatives and began our cross-country road trip. But first, we enjoyed the stunning Bob-Ross-painting-like views of the mountain scenery ...

Few things announce your presence out West like a roadside skeleton -

Ascending a mountain with a necessary bag of Cheetos? Nah. We found an interesting wall at a gas station in Gilette, WY and decided to create an illusion.

(She also lost a tooth!)

To be continued ...

The Mary Jane Twilliger Story

Writer's note: this is a developing story, and one that has sparked my curiosity as I read Minnesota's abundance of stories and legends. My two preliminary sources are linked, and I intend to update in the event I uncover more information. 

Dear Diary,

An urban legend is defined as a "humorous or horrific story or piece of information circulated as though true, especially one purporting to involve someone vaguely related or known to the teller."

One such urban legend talks about the Loon Lake Cemetery, near Lakefield, Minn. (186 miles from the Twin Cities), where 3 witches were brutally executed in 1881.

Believed to be the most powerful of the three, Mary Jane was beheaded, and a curse was placed upon the land. Desecrate their graves and you will meet a swift, unpleasant and unnatural death. The story adds a twist in mentioning however, that Mary Jane's gravestone has been removed so you could stand upon or walk across her grave without even realizing it.

It was an interesting story to read, especially as Minnesota's weather cools with the transitioning seasons and Halloween approaching. I was skeptical though, witches? Beheadings?! I believe it's important to respect the dead (all dead), so I began wonder if this was just a made-up story to scare kids away.

I decided to do a little more research.

Twilliger's headstone, now on display at the nearby historical society (source)

Of the 67 tombstones that once stood in Loon Lake Cemetery, only 18 still stand. And of those 18, the passage of time has weathered their inscriptions making it impossible to know who is buried where. The location is remote, swampy, and inhospitable so I'm sure that alone has fueled the creation of this urban legend. Plus, this urban legend lead to the destruction of one of Minnesota's pioneer cemeteries.

There is no record of a visitor meeting an untimely end because he inadvertently traipsed upon the unmarked graves. Fueling speculation, it could be because all of those offenders fell victim to the curse. Or, there just simply isn't one.

Then I found information that there was a Mary Jane buried in Loon Lake.

And her headstone is now at the local historical society, which eerily lends a bit of credit to the urban legend.

But what the urban legend cannot deny, is recorded fact - her name is Mary Jane Twilliger and she was 17 when she died of diphtheria.

She was born in Iowa and worked as a servant, and her parents are also buried at Loon Lake. She had siblings, she had a life and she has a story far different than the urban legend that paints the picture that she was a witch.

Here's the largest disconnect that discredits the legend - Mary Jane's documented death was March 5, 1880 and the storied witch was beheaded with an ax in 1881. The great-grandniece of Mary Jane, researcher Janine Eller Porter, found this documentation to clear her ancestor's name and call into question why she became the subject of this story.

Loon Lake Cemetery now sits in a state of disarray due to vandalism, and after Mary Jane's headstone was found in a neighboring yard, it was taken to the courthouse and soon after, the historical society. We may never locate her body's final resting place. We may never know how or why a 17-year-old girl came to be improperly immortalized as a witch in a story that is not true. What I do know, is that Mary Jane Twilliger lived a short life, denied of the life experiences we take for granted, and deserves to be remembered for who she was instead of who she is not.

May she rest in peace.

Other facts:

-Last burial in 1926

-There is no longer a direct road to the cemetery but it can still be accessed

Summer's Last Hurrah in Hayward, WI

This was "home" for the week.

Also, there's bears.

Our cabin was on the Ojibwa Reservation located quite literally at the end of the road.

We raced go-karts twice and played a round of mini golf.

 She was MAD Nick wasn't in the lead.

 Clearly things got a little intense.

 Driving Miss Daisy

 Now we have a race!

Until next time, Hayward!