142) Kobuk Valley National Park

Visited: Friday, June 30, 2023

If getting there is half of the fun, it's also half of the hassle.  We started yesterday with the discovery that our first flight of the day had been cancelled - and the alternatives on offer involved a delay of at least two days.  So we booked a flight to San Francisco, figuring it puts us _much_ closer, and that we might wiggle on to a flight.  In the end we did; we arrived in Anchorage around 11:30, and got to our hotel just over 24 hours after waking up.  Normally this would call for sleeping in, but we had a flight to Kotzebue this morning, getting us north of the Arctic Circle for the first time.  And after a quick bite of lunch, we were walking to the NPS visitor center here in town when time came for our trip to Kobuk.  And, on the way back, we picked up passengers in Kiana, a town with fewer people than I've attended gaming conventions with.  It reminded me, truth be told, of picking up the passenger in Ab die Post.

But the destination - Kobuk is absolutely nothing like what I think of when I think of Alaska.  It's - a sand dune.  Surrounded by trees and water and mountains and glaciers - there's even a glacier _in_ the sand dune - and it feels like it was dropped there by accident.  The flight there was beautiful, there was no one else at the sand dunes when we were there (Kobuk is one of the least visited national parks - you really have to want to get here to make it), and it was worth the visit.

141) Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

Visited: Friday, September 17, 2021

This is really a rather remarkable site.  Hoover's wife decided, upon his leaving office, to restore and preserve the cottage where Hoover was born (his later boyhood home having already been torn down), which led to there being four historic buildings a short walk from the visitor center - in addition to the cottage, his father's blacksmith shop, the Quaker meeting house, and a schoolhouse.  The library and museum are also right nearby, though unfortunately they were closed during our visit.

I had not realized that Hoover's parents both passed away when he was so young; it's not often someone outlives their parents by 80 years.

140) Effigy Mounds National Monument

Visited: Thursday, September 16, 2021

Growing up in Ohio, Native American burial mounds are familiar - even if I've still never seen the ones in Ohio.  And I learned at Effigy Mounds that there are actually a very large number of burial mounds around Columbus, even if the most well known one (I assume) is further south.

The amazing thing here is that these mounds were preserved, thanks to a local amateur archeologist.  Of particular note are the "marching bear" mounds - each the same size to a remarkable extent, and giving the impression of marching across Iowa.

There are a number of nice views of the Mississippi from the drive, as a bonus.

139) Pipestone National Monument

Visited: Tuesday, September 14, 2021

As a practical matter, I never spend as much time as I should researching NPS sites before we visit.  Which has an upside; there's an element of surprise.  And - I knew nothing about Pipestone, except for a little bit about George Catlin's association with the site, which we heard about at Saint Croix.

And - it's a wonderful site.

The site is named for the soft (2.5 Mohs) stone found here which many Native American tribes used to make - pipes.  There's a nice, if small, exhibit about the pipemaking; there were also petroglyphs found here, which have been moved but are well kept in the visitor center.  So far so good...

...but there are also Native American artists making pipes; they have three stations set up, and one artist was working while we visited.  This is - very cool.  But...

...they also sell artwork by the artists who work there.  Not pipes, but other objects - all very nice.  And...

...they have a very nice trail, from which you can see multiple active pipestone quarries.  Including one you can descend into, to see the layers.  Also...

...there are the natural rock formations themselves, which led the Native Americans to the site in the first place.  But then...

...there's the waterfall.  And the river, and the lake.  It's really a beautiful site - far prettier and more diverse than one would expect from such a small site.  This is probably my favorite site from this trip - though it's definitely not Megan's, so take that with a grain of salt.

Oh, and as a bonus, on the way we stopped at the Jeffers Petroglyphs, a site with extensive drawings, dating back thousands of years.  Unfortunately the visitor center is only open Saturdays, so we missed out on that, but the petroglyphs themselves were enjoyable.  The even more spectacular view came on the drive - we saw two _large_ birds ahead on the road.  We assumed they were large crows, or maybe turkey vultures - but in fact they were bald eagles, and we got to see them closer than I've ever seen a bald eagle before.

138) Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway

Visited: Monday, September 13, 2021

The part of the river we saw is quite nice, and the ranger at the visitor center was very informative - and quite talkative.  And the movie -- featuring Walter Mondale, due to his role in protecting the river - was quite interesting, if - claiming a bit more than justified on occasion.  Yes, one big dam project was stopped, but there are a number of smaller dams on the river, and have been for years.  On the whole, not my favorite style of NPS site, but still well worthwhile.

137) Voyaguers National Park

Visited: Saturday, September 11, 2021

I'm not sure just what to think of Voyageurs.  On the one hand, it's quite pretty, and on a nice boat trip to Kettle Falls we saw a whole bunch of bald eagles.  On the other hand, as national parks go - it doesn't have the best story.  There's some nice natural beauty - but honestly, Pictured Rocks or Apostle Islands offer similar experiences.  And Grand Portage does a _much_ better job of telling the story of the voyageurs.  I enjoyed it, I'm glad we went, and thrilled we were able to book the boat ride, but - it's not a park I really need to get back to.

I'm amused that I kept getting closer and closer to Canada by visited smaller and smaller waterfalls.  At Niagara Falls I was a few blocks away from Canada; had I known that we wouldn't be going to Europe, I probably would have gone.  Then we got to International Falls, 1/2 block from Canada.  And then on the way to Kettle Falls - which has no falls, by the way, just some rapids that have been replaced by a dam - we actually went into Canada.  Well, Canadian water, at least...

136) Grand Portage National Monument

Visited: Friday, September 10, 2021

I had no idea what Grand Portage was until we visited.  And it's - out in the middle of nowhere.  Well, it's not _that_ far from Thunder Bay, but when it's difficult to get into Canada, it's a long way from everything.  But it's well worthwhile - the cultural center gives a great background on how the area rose to prominence (and the history of the Native Americans _after_ the site lost it's prominence), and the rebuilt trading post (and the ranger who told us about it) give a good feel for how a British trading post in American operating as French made a long go of this site.  It's a unique story, and it's very well told.