Chicago, The Good Earth, NPs and Crazy Bisons
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Bo en Tim
07 September 2016 | Verenigde Staten, Thermopolis
In a short period we are doing a lot of really nice and cool things. Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like months. I need to say, feels pretty good :)
After Detroit we planned to go to Chicago but it was kind of hard to find a sleeping place. We tried some couchsurfing but everybody was 'full'. But than Rogier came by Bojangles and talked to my dad. And before we knew we were in contact with this amazing Dutch family living in Naperville, a suburb from Chicago. (Thanks Rogier!)
They didnt had a problem with us staying there, luckily! We left Detroit a day earlier because we could help Willemijn out. Willemijn is the head of the parents school board at her daughters (Lot) school. And what a chance is that! Visiting an American lower school! It was really cool to see. It is really like all the movies; Talking though the intercom, the cafeteria and the whole building. Thanks you so much Willemijn for taking us!! We loved it.
We also loved to be in a Dutch family again. It was nice to talk about all the differences. And of course they had good cheese!
Our first night there we took Willemijn, Jake and Lot to a baseball game. I never had seen something like that. First they start with the national anthem. It takes a while the game but after every inning they will make sure the crowd enjoys themselves. We cheered for a army guy, we tried to catch balls and we tried to get on the big scream. (And we made it!!!!)
After the game I went down to the field together with Lot. And the players gave us a ball!! Thanks to Lot! It is a good memory and we will never forget.
the day after we went to Chicago by train. We love Chicago. There are some good vibes over there. We would love to go back some day. Especially because we did all the touristic things now.
Our next big thing was the second farm!! The Good Earth its called. It is near Sioux Falls in South Dakota. This farm was bigger than the one in Detroit. It was an Organic Farm again owned by Jeff and Nancy. They had a lot more animals, there were two pigs called Harriette and Charlie, a steer called T-bone, a lot of turkeys and chickens, two donkeys, a pony and of course an amazing dog called Buck. It was an old farmhouse and all the barns were also old, what looked kinda cool. We helped with packing boxes for the people who ordered them. Jeff and Nancy have a lot of land and seeded a lot of veggies. So there was enough to harvest. Jeff also had a full time job so we did a lot together with Nancy. We had some really cool conversation with her. Both of them were really open and we felt like home. And luckily they had a hot-tub with a beautiful night sky and some good beers. :)
After all the cities and stuff we were ready for the National Parks (NPs) again!! We started in Badlands NP, it is a beautiful park with a rare landscape. After a long morning hike we were back at the campground. But it felt like a desert there so we decided to continue. In the Badlands you can do some wildlife camping. So of course we did that! We were nearby an other campground but still in the wilderness what makes it awesome. We were on the top of a little hill so we had an amazing view over the prairies. Bisons live on the prairies but they will never attack you. If you dont come too close. So we didnt of course. Those animals are big!!
When the night came and we were laying in our tent, watching the beautiful stars we heard a crazy noise. It was the sound like somebody was breathing really heavy through his nose. So Tim looked up and saw this big bison not even 10 meters in front of the tent. It was really dark and we only saw his posture. I can tell you, he was huge!! We were pretty scared. so I went down and we were quiet. The bison just passed the tent and went to a tree nearby. We couldnt see him anymore, but we heard him laying down and getting to sleep. It was a scary moment than but i need to say, now it is a pretty good story. We think because were on the hill he couldnt see us till he was up there too. The next morning we stayed a while in the tent, just to be sure he was gone. and after that we left Badlands pretty quick.
Our next stop was Windcave NP. What is a different but awesome park. We loved it. It is a big cave, the 6th biggest of the world. And they still finding new rooms. It looks like the cave is breathing. That is how people found it back in the days. The story of the cave it hat two brothers where hunting in the area and heard a noise. So they went looking for it and found this small hole in the ground. They came close there and one of the cowboy heads blew off. They found this a cool trick, so the second time they took there friends. But this time the head didnt blow off, but it was suck into the cave. And so far, nobody found it yet.
They didnt do any discovering further. That came a few years later, by this 16 year old boy who loved to discover the cave. He wrote everything in his journal. And he was the first one who started to give tours there. The rangers and cave exploders now, know that the boy found rooms in the cave that they havent yet.
We loved it a lot, and we know we studied Social works but we are thinking of making a career switch and become cave exploders!
In windcave we did also some awesome hikes, but every time we needed to pass some bisons. So we did a lot off-trail hiking to be as far as possible from the bisons. At one point I was kind of done doing that. So after we saw the next bison laying down on the trail we decided to go back. We did a little side walk and while we were walking back to the car this bison surprised us. He was standing next to the road we walked on. We already passed him when we saw him. Again, this crazy bison was pretty close but he didnt give a shit. (luckily) Im kind of done with the bisons but i know we will see some more....
The next park was Custer State Park. Were we had showers on the campground... Finally!! we felt pretty dirty after all the hiking and sweating and not showering! In Custer park we climbed to Harney Peak what was cool, such a nice view again. It was not as heavy and high as the one we did in Rocky Mountain NP. (we are just getting better) But still a beautiful view. We also went to Mount Rushmore, what is cool to see and you need to do as a tourist. But a great tip: Go early, if you be there before 7:30 it is free parking. (Still Dutch!)
After that we went to Crazy Horse Monument. I need to say i liked that one better. they are still working on it but it will be huge! Mount Rushmore is nothing compared with it. What i liked about crazy horse is that it is not only a statue out of a mountain, but they want to help the native community. So they build an university over there and it is still developing.
After that we went back in time. We went to this little open air museum village with all old buildings and old furniture in there. With the Sheriff, the Saloon and everything. it was cool to see! Back to the wildwest!
Now we are having a stop in between before we go to Yellowstone! Cant wait for that one :)
people in the states are really nice and we have been in the cowboy area now for a while. Still we are meeting a lot of kind people and open minded. If you see some of the cowboys you woudnt think that. We are curious about the elections... it is a big thing and we are talking a lot about it. it is interesting for us as Social Workers. So next to all the fun and awesome things we do, we are also busy with our own development, the society and what to do after this big trip.
After Detroit we planned to go to Chicago but it was kind of hard to find a sleeping place. We tried some couchsurfing but everybody was 'full'. But than Rogier came by Bojangles and talked to my dad. And before we knew we were in contact with this amazing Dutch family living in Naperville, a suburb from Chicago. (Thanks Rogier!)
They didnt had a problem with us staying there, luckily! We left Detroit a day earlier because we could help Willemijn out. Willemijn is the head of the parents school board at her daughters (Lot) school. And what a chance is that! Visiting an American lower school! It was really cool to see. It is really like all the movies; Talking though the intercom, the cafeteria and the whole building. Thanks you so much Willemijn for taking us!! We loved it.
We also loved to be in a Dutch family again. It was nice to talk about all the differences. And of course they had good cheese!
Our first night there we took Willemijn, Jake and Lot to a baseball game. I never had seen something like that. First they start with the national anthem. It takes a while the game but after every inning they will make sure the crowd enjoys themselves. We cheered for a army guy, we tried to catch balls and we tried to get on the big scream. (And we made it!!!!)
After the game I went down to the field together with Lot. And the players gave us a ball!! Thanks to Lot! It is a good memory and we will never forget.
the day after we went to Chicago by train. We love Chicago. There are some good vibes over there. We would love to go back some day. Especially because we did all the touristic things now.
Our next big thing was the second farm!! The Good Earth its called. It is near Sioux Falls in South Dakota. This farm was bigger than the one in Detroit. It was an Organic Farm again owned by Jeff and Nancy. They had a lot more animals, there were two pigs called Harriette and Charlie, a steer called T-bone, a lot of turkeys and chickens, two donkeys, a pony and of course an amazing dog called Buck. It was an old farmhouse and all the barns were also old, what looked kinda cool. We helped with packing boxes for the people who ordered them. Jeff and Nancy have a lot of land and seeded a lot of veggies. So there was enough to harvest. Jeff also had a full time job so we did a lot together with Nancy. We had some really cool conversation with her. Both of them were really open and we felt like home. And luckily they had a hot-tub with a beautiful night sky and some good beers. :)
After all the cities and stuff we were ready for the National Parks (NPs) again!! We started in Badlands NP, it is a beautiful park with a rare landscape. After a long morning hike we were back at the campground. But it felt like a desert there so we decided to continue. In the Badlands you can do some wildlife camping. So of course we did that! We were nearby an other campground but still in the wilderness what makes it awesome. We were on the top of a little hill so we had an amazing view over the prairies. Bisons live on the prairies but they will never attack you. If you dont come too close. So we didnt of course. Those animals are big!!
When the night came and we were laying in our tent, watching the beautiful stars we heard a crazy noise. It was the sound like somebody was breathing really heavy through his nose. So Tim looked up and saw this big bison not even 10 meters in front of the tent. It was really dark and we only saw his posture. I can tell you, he was huge!! We were pretty scared. so I went down and we were quiet. The bison just passed the tent and went to a tree nearby. We couldnt see him anymore, but we heard him laying down and getting to sleep. It was a scary moment than but i need to say, now it is a pretty good story. We think because were on the hill he couldnt see us till he was up there too. The next morning we stayed a while in the tent, just to be sure he was gone. and after that we left Badlands pretty quick.
Our next stop was Windcave NP. What is a different but awesome park. We loved it. It is a big cave, the 6th biggest of the world. And they still finding new rooms. It looks like the cave is breathing. That is how people found it back in the days. The story of the cave it hat two brothers where hunting in the area and heard a noise. So they went looking for it and found this small hole in the ground. They came close there and one of the cowboy heads blew off. They found this a cool trick, so the second time they took there friends. But this time the head didnt blow off, but it was suck into the cave. And so far, nobody found it yet.
They didnt do any discovering further. That came a few years later, by this 16 year old boy who loved to discover the cave. He wrote everything in his journal. And he was the first one who started to give tours there. The rangers and cave exploders now, know that the boy found rooms in the cave that they havent yet.
We loved it a lot, and we know we studied Social works but we are thinking of making a career switch and become cave exploders!
In windcave we did also some awesome hikes, but every time we needed to pass some bisons. So we did a lot off-trail hiking to be as far as possible from the bisons. At one point I was kind of done doing that. So after we saw the next bison laying down on the trail we decided to go back. We did a little side walk and while we were walking back to the car this bison surprised us. He was standing next to the road we walked on. We already passed him when we saw him. Again, this crazy bison was pretty close but he didnt give a shit. (luckily) Im kind of done with the bisons but i know we will see some more....
The next park was Custer State Park. Were we had showers on the campground... Finally!! we felt pretty dirty after all the hiking and sweating and not showering! In Custer park we climbed to Harney Peak what was cool, such a nice view again. It was not as heavy and high as the one we did in Rocky Mountain NP. (we are just getting better) But still a beautiful view. We also went to Mount Rushmore, what is cool to see and you need to do as a tourist. But a great tip: Go early, if you be there before 7:30 it is free parking. (Still Dutch!)
After that we went to Crazy Horse Monument. I need to say i liked that one better. they are still working on it but it will be huge! Mount Rushmore is nothing compared with it. What i liked about crazy horse is that it is not only a statue out of a mountain, but they want to help the native community. So they build an university over there and it is still developing.
After that we went back in time. We went to this little open air museum village with all old buildings and old furniture in there. With the Sheriff, the Saloon and everything. it was cool to see! Back to the wildwest!
Now we are having a stop in between before we go to Yellowstone! Cant wait for that one :)
people in the states are really nice and we have been in the cowboy area now for a while. Still we are meeting a lot of kind people and open minded. If you see some of the cowboys you woudnt think that. We are curious about the elections... it is a big thing and we are talking a lot about it. it is interesting for us as Social Workers. So next to all the fun and awesome things we do, we are also busy with our own development, the society and what to do after this big trip.
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