Road Trip: NASA Camp

Peter's acceptance into the NASA Inspire Program prompted a road trip to the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology earlier this month for NASA camp. Craig and the boys are all about road trips; me, not so much. But I've been keen to get back to Montana ever since my days of traveling the college fair circuit each fall for Willamette University. Back then, I'd fly into Billings, drive as far north as Cut Bank, over to Kalispell via Havre, down through Missoula, Butte, and Helena to Great Falls, where I'd fly home. On one occasion, Craig took the train out to join me in Essex, where we discovered the Issac Walton Inn, built by the Great Northern Railroad in 1939 to house winter snow removal crews. Nestled in the foothills just south of Glacier National Park, it has groomed cross county ski trails in winter and provides a relaxing backdrop in summer.

The Inn, which is just a few miles from the West Glacier Entrance, was our first stop. With no phone, television or internet service, the boys were unimpressed.

Glacier National Park was just as beautiful as I remembered, particularly Lake McDonald.

The Going to the Sun Highway was not nearly as narrow as I remembered ... the first time I made that journey I was terrified we were going to tumble off the side of the mountain.



We stopped at Little Bighorn Battlefield and Ben, just having finished a unit in American History, regaled us with stories about Lt. Col. Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn.


My very most favorite place in Montana is Pompey's Pillar. On their legendary journey, Lewis and Clark stopped on the banks of the Yellowstone River and left their mark in the overhanging stone wall:

How cool is that? The first time I visited this site, there was just a dirt road leading to the butte from I-94. Not yet a National Monument (that didn't happen until 2001), it was a quiet, lonely place back in those days and, standing alone amidst the rustling trees, I could almost imagine what it must have been like 200 years ago, seeing this part of the country for the first time. The site has been developed and now there is a visitor's center, parking lot, and boardwalk to the top of the butte. I'm not sure, however, that these additions constitute an improvement.

We did a few touristy trips, like Mt. Rushmore

and Crazy Horse, and generally did our part to curb the economic downturn. We also discovered that Hotwire.com can produce some pretty good hotel rates the closer you are to your destination. We dropped Peter off at the SD School of Mines & Technology at 4 pm on a Sunday afternoon, and I admit to shedding a few tears on our way back to Billings from Rapid City. After 24 hours of no texts or calls, I was feeling more than anxious until I checked his Facebook page and discovered a happy status post.

Craig and Ben returned to Rapid City, via Yellowstone Park, two weeks later to fetch Peter and our summer road trips are over ... for now. Peter had the best time at NASA camp and frequently wears the tee-shirt, which happily proclaims "I went to smart kids camp."

My Own Backyard

Returning from Oz, Dorothy assures Auntie Em that "if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard." Lately, my heart's desire has included sugar. And the wild blackberries in my back yard were begging to be sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and baked in a cobbler. I've used this recipe so often: Cut* 1/2 cup butter into 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour, add 1/3 cup milk and stir until the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a cutting board, knead four or five times until the dough all sticks together, then roll out into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Cover with one layer of fruit (in this case blackberries, but my eldest's favorite is apple slices), sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and roll up cinnamon roll style. Cut into slices and place in buttered baking dish. Boil 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, pour over dough, and bake for 1 hour (or so) at 350 degrees. About 45 minutes in to baking, I usually sprinkle some more cinnamon and sugar over the top for that slightly crunchy effect.


Mmmmmm ... there's no place like home.

*I used to HATE cutting butter into flour (or any other dry mixture). Tedious and messy, not to mention time-consuming. A pastry blender worked better for me than two knives, but still. Until I discovered ... the cheese grater. Just take a VERY COLD stick of butter, unwrap the paper and, still holding the stick of butter with the wrapper, grate it into the dry ingredients using a hand held cheese grater. Once it's all grated, toss gently with the dry ingredients and you're done. Piece of cake. Or dough, as it were.