One thing mom and I do a lot when she gets the jitters is to drive.  The vestibular motion of the car helps reduce her anxiety greatly.  She keeps telling me to keep a blog of the things we see and do.  Even if it’s just one sentence.  So here it is.

Two days ago we went driving and found a little river community of run-down trailers.  They looked about ready to collapse but at the same time, this obviously unwealthy community had the best view of the river we have ever seen.

Next we went on a random drive and came across an Oregon Trail marker.  Louis Vieux married into the Potawatomie tribe and then set up a ferry across Vermillion River.  (Looked more like a stream to me).  He charged $1 per cross in the 1850’s and sometimes made $300 / day.  That’s insane even by today’s standards!

Also at this crossing is several notable places.  One is a cemetery where the Vieux family is buried, but also there are a lot of child graves.  Probably because of cholera as it was rampant at this crossing.  In fact in one week fifty people died.

A little farther down from the cemetery is a memorial to 7 unnamed soldiers that were buried here.  There used to be an ancient elm tree there that was sprouted in 1719 but in 1989, some yahoo vandals killed it.  It had been there prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and it took nothing to ruin that history.  Also at this point the Oregon Trail, California Trail and local military trail crossed.

About 30 minutes down the road there is a hiking park where you can supposedly overlook the Oregon trail tracks.  I was sick, cold and not feeling well so thought it best to tackle that another day.

So here’s to the blog mom.