Traveling the Badlands and Beyond

Badlands National Park

Entering the Badlands © 2013 Bo Mackison

Rapid City. 6:27 am. Sunny and 37˚F.
Filling the car’s gas tank is morning’s first priority – $2.94 a gallon,
cheapest gas on my travels. I buy sunglasses as I pay for my gas.
Standard equipment in Arizona, I’ve three lost pairs in the car,
and I’m driving due east into sunrise.
Streaks of angry orange flames decorate the cheapest pair that fit.
No matter, I buy them, in a hurry to find the back road to the Badlands.

I am the sole traveler on Highway 44 for miles, the country’s rough, desolate, beautiful.
The Badlands rise from prairie, stark layers of sediment,
rock ribbons in tan, gray, yellow, black.
Grasslands and badlands – a contrasting combination
of pale green growth and rock erosion. Soul soothing.

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park © 2013 Bo Mackison

My hike is brief – an hour in, an hour out – I make the time.
Hiking in rocky wilderness is good for what ails me.
I celebrate with lunch, Indian Tacos at the Cedar Pass Cafe,
visit the Badlands National Park’s Visitor Center.
Roam through the twenty site campground – more family trips
come to mind. I am grateful I’ve held tight to these decades-old memories.

I’ve avoided the mindless Interstate roads for 2100 miles, but no longer,
Back roads that head east are no longer an option.
Roads in South Dakota head to outlying ranches or farms, or towns 50 miles to the south.
I pull on I-90 East, set the cruise control, and become traffic.
Destination: Sioux Falls, a decent dinner, a quiet hotel room.

On my last night on the road, I wade through puddles in the cold rain,
enter the nearest restaurant,
and order a steak. It comes with a first class salad bar –
bowls mounded with fresh veggies along a twenty-foot table.

Contentment eases into my being.
Tomorrow I will be in Wisconsin,
but for now, a walk in the rain soaks me in Midwestern welcome.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. A cross-country traveler by day, and an occasional poet by night. This is a poem in nine parts, because the trip lasts nine days. This is Day Eight.

Cross Country Adventure

Cactus Flower Wreath

Cactus Flower Wreath © 2013 Bo Mackison

I locked the doors, left a note in my neighbor’s mail box, and gave the mountain view from my door a lingering look. A red-tailed hawk swooped towards the arroyo, then caught an uplifting current and soared into the deep blue sky.

Months ago, when I was pondering a solo road trip half way across the country, I questioned my sanity. But today, it feels right. I’ve crammed everything into the car — mostly boxes of books and art supplies, a couple of pieces of art I purchased for re-location to the Midwest, and a box of newly acquired book-making paraphernalia. Camera bags and my suitcase occupy the back seat. My bag of travel food – peanut butter, vegetable juice, apples, almonds, baby carrots – is in the front seat within easy reach. So is a cooler of ice, a jug of iced tea, and several cases of water. My goal is to do the trip without any fast food stops.

My other travel objective is to drive over 2,000 miles while (mostly) avoiding the interstate system and stopping at every National Park or monument within a half hour drive. That is the part of my plan that makes this travel plan sensible, doable, and sane. And the fact that I’m limiting my road travel to 350 miles a day. It’s not a lot, it will take me a week to get to Wisconsin, but it is doable. Even enjoyable. I’ve already promised myself that when I see a photo opportunity, I will take the time and stop.

What’s not to love about this kind of road trip!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.    She will report in with travel updates, as time and  internet connections allow.

 

Bleeding Hearts

String of Hearts

Hometown Hearts © 2011 Bo Mackison

“Solo in Tucson” is over.

Sherpa and I left Tucson on Thursday morning and spent the first night of our “going home” road trip at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino just south of Albuquerque. Friday we planned to drive to Wichita, Kansas before stopping for the night, but high winds and blowing dust plagued us from noon until after five p.m.

After I counted the eighth semi rollover in a two-hour period — trucks sprawled upside down in the roadside ditch — I went searching for a map and a closer stopping place. We ended up staying in Liberal, Kansas, four hours behind schedule. Fortunately, Saturday dawned calm and sunny, and after thirteen hours of driving, we reached our third night’s destination, Quincy, Illinois.

Quincy is my hometown, and as a child, I lived in a huge brick apartment house with my parents, my grandparents and my great-grandmother. I was frequently sent to pick a bouquet of flowers whenever someone wanted some spring color in one of the rooms. In April, my flower of choice was the beautiful bleeding heart. It never failed to bring a smile to the face of the recipient. Or to me.

Bleeding Heart Bush

Bleeding Heart Bush © 2011 Bo Mackison

On Sunday morning, our last day of travel, we stopped at the old house. The home is vacant and in disrepair, but I could see part of the back garden from the road, the greenery overgrown and leaning against the side yard fence. And I could see the bleeding heart bushes covered with hundreds of blooming flowers.

I grabbed my camera and quickly took a few photographs of my childhood garden. The bleeding heart plant is one that never ceases to thrill me, its many branches supporting strings of bright pink hearts. What a lovely and unusually shaped bloom.

And then Sherpa and I hit the road, and arrived home Sunday evening. We unpacked the art trailer before we collapsed in bed, quite exhausted.

My spectacular journey, “Solo in Tucson,” comes to an end.

All totaled, I spent 78 days in Tucson and Arizona, and wrote 62 blog posts about my travels, the art fairs I did in Tubac and Tempe, and the many places I explored and photographed in the Southwest.

During my travels, I was grateful to all who regularly visited my blog. Last Thursday, I announced a drawing for some of my photography as a token of my appreciation. Today, as promised, I announce the winner.

The winner of the drawing, picked using a random number generator, is Robin, a writer/photographer I often visit on her blog, Life in the Bogs.

Congratulations, Robin! I’ll be in touch soon.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She spent the last 10 weeks living Tucson while exhibiting in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art, and living life “solo” in the desert. Bo’s “Solo in Tucson” adventure is over, but the memories will last forever. And who knows — maybe there will be a “Solo in Tucson 2012”!

The Agonies and the Ecstasy

Ranch Entrance

Snowy Ranch

Yesterday was full of challenges and joys. Perhaps it was an indication of what is to come in the next eight weeks – days full of challenges and joys, intermingled with everyday activities such as laundry and cooking.

First, the challenges: We were traveling along I-40 in the Texas Panhandle when the storm began – first a few icy plops on the windshield, then sheets of sleet, then finally wet, sloppy snow. Since we are Wisconsinites, we didn’t have an inordinate amount of difficulty driving in the messy, white stuff.

However, there were plenty of other drivers who refused to slow down so they could drive safely on the road.  And there were many, many more semi-truck drivers whose sole ambition in life was perhaps to prove that no matter what the weather, they could still drive 85 mph on any Interstate constructed by man.

Many of these drivers were wrong, as was quickly proven when two semi-drivers had rollovers and effectively blocked the west-bound lanes of I-40 heading into Albuquerque. Dozens of cars and jack-knifed semis also stopped in various states of distress along the roads, as reported by the New Mexico DOT. (We were a few hours behind these numerous accidents, on I-40 West, heading towards a Super Bowl party in Albuquerque.)

Considering that first of all, the roads weren’t much fun (or safe) to drive on, and second of all, there was no scenery to see in the white-out conditions, and third, the road ahead of us was closed for no telling how long, we did the sane thing. We stopped at the first town we came to, Tucumcari, and got a hotel room.

The weather and the driving was the agonies part. (Some of the other drivers were down right scary, and Sherpa drove in silence, with his teeth clenched, for at least 30  miles.)

The ecstasy part came next. The hotel provide plenty of activity: we caught up on our laundry that we’d hauled, wet and dirty, from Madison; we luxuriated in the hot tub; we ordered out Chinese food; we walked across the street to a gas station for beer and tequila; and then we turned on the television just as the Super Bowl game–not the hype–was about to kick-off.

We enjoyed a most marvelous game between our beloved Green Bay Packers and their worthy opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the ecstasy part: Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 25. Yes, the Green Bay Packers won — they are the Super Bowl Champions!

So Sunday was a great introduction to my adventure–a bit of agony, a bit of ecstasy. Oh, and I took 322 photographs, many of which I deleted, but there were a few fun ones I kept to document the snowy weather in Texas and New Mexico.

And tonight? If all goes well, we arrive in Tucson tonight, a few hours behind schedule, but we’ll arrive at the condo tonight. Hurrah!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Visit as she writes about living and working in Tucson. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Snow: It’s Everywhere, It’s Everywhere!

Wisconsin Minimalism

 Blue Landscape at Sunset © 2011 Bo Mackison

Today is the third day of our four day road trip to Tucson.

So far, we’ve traveled through five states–Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma–and we have three more to visit–Texas, New Mexico and Arizona–before we arrive at our final destination. I’ve traveled in these southern tier states during winter, but I’ve never seen so much snow this far south and west in February.

Heavy snow and peaked drifts on the sides of the roads in Kansas, snow piles five feet deep in Oklahoma. Then we hit a rainstorm in Oklahoma City which turned the roads into slushy puddles. And west of Oklahoma City, there is more bitter cold weather, snow and then sleet predicted for later today. Weather has been a challenge for people in all parts of the country this year!

Today is also Super Bowl Sunday – Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers. I’ve been a Packer fan since moving to Wisconsin more than three decades ago. It’s hard NOT to be a Packer Backer when you live in Wisconsin! (Though I do not own a Cheesehead hat.)

Depending on how our travels go, we’ll either watch the game with wonderful blogging friends in the Albuquerque area, or we’ll stop at the first hotel we see along I-40 when kick-off time approaches. After all, the Packers haven’t played in a Super Bowl in 14 years. Can’t miss kick-off! Nor do I think it’s safe to drive the car while listening to the Super Bowl on the radio. Just saying’!

I’m hoping for good weather today and light traffic because I would love to cheer for my Packers in the company of friends!

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Bo Mackison is the photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She will be living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Visit as she writes about living and working in Tucson. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”