Road Trip 2012: Thursday 10/25

384 miles, and camped at the home of Matt and Jaime Sipher in Shinnston, West Virginia.

Cicero, Indiana to Matt and Jamie's house, Shinnston, West Virginia.

Zoey and Chasen.  Kaylin was camera shy.

OK, I have another example of the value of a cute dog.  A woman was walking the loops last night and she noticed Zoey and stopped to pet her.  We struck up a conversation and I learned that she had visited the Grand Canyon area last March.  She said I HAD to check out the Vermillion Cliffs area, especially a section called 'The Wave."  I googled it, and WOW.  That hike is now on my bucket list, and all because of Zoey.  :-))

There was a beautiful sunrise over the White River this warm morning.  The forecast is for a near record breaking day for high temperatures.  A true Indian Summer day.

Sunrise over the White River.

We left the campground at 8:30.  It is a seven hour drive to Matt's.  I'm not scheduled to get arrive there until about 4:30, so I can take my time.  Only slightly out of the way is the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park near Chillicothe, Ohio.  I decided to stop and look around.  I'm so glad I did.  The Hopewell Indian Culture goes back about 2,000 years.  They did not have a written language, but they knew astronomy, and they built huge earthen mounds.  The midwest, especially Ohio, is rich in Hopewell culture remnants.   I saw some examples of Hopewell culture along the Mississippi River earlier in my travels.  Most, if not all, of the mounds in the exhibit are not original.  They have been rebuilt based on early photographs and surveys.  They are not original for two reasons; first some were carefully excavated to search for archeological artifacts, many of which are in the museum at the visitor center.  Second, the Army decided to build a WW1 training post on and around the mounds in 1917.  Some were destroyed then.  Fortunately there were some early scientists in the 1800's who were foresighted enough to carefully survey and document the mounds.  I found them fascinating.

These four photos are materials excavated from the mounds.

This interpretive sign shows the layout of the mound complex within about a 20 acre walled mound.

The diagram on the right demonstrates the layout of the mounds.

These photos are how the mounds probably originally looked.

Viewing the mounds from a distance.

The tallest mound.

Unusual shaped elliptical mound.

Standing inside the mound complex.

The wall that completely encircles the mound complex.

The flat lands of western Illinois gradually transitioned to the rolling mountains of eastern Ohio and West Virginia.

These trees were green when I was here in early September.

The temperature was 82 when I pulled into Matt and Jaime's driveway about 5:00.  This could be the last few days of great summer/fall weather.  In fact, snow is in the forecast for Matt about Monday night.  I'll be gone by then, but it will be nice to stay put for a few days and hang out with family.  Friday is supposed to be 76 and sunny, so we'll have at least one more nice day.  Guess that's all for now.....