We saw two very cool things today that are examples of the main types of activities that we plan for our road trips-nature activities and historical sites.
First, we went to Itasca State Park in Minnesota to see the headwaters of the Mighty Mississippi River. Jeff saw a segment about it on TV a few years ago and put it on a “want to visit” list for when we travel in that area. Today was that day! The State Park is huge and feels like it could be a National Park. We stopped at the visitor center to read some informational signs and then followed a short path to where Lake Itasca empties into a small river that was a couple feet deep and maybe 20 feet wide. There were stepping stones across the river so Jeff and I went across and took some photos. Pretty cool! We stopped at the gift shop but everything there was about the Itasca State Park and we didn’t find anything mentioning the Mississippi headwaters which we found kind of strange.
A few hours of driving later and we came to the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historical Site. This is also a state site that felt like a national park historical site. It was so interesting! We started out by watching a short video that gave some background information about the Minute Man III nuclear missile program and how it was programmed. On the one hand, it was kind of freaky just how many nukes we had (have?) and that there were and still are so many sites like the one we toured. On the other hand, it was good to see just how many people it would take to actually launch the missiles, not just one person unilaterally commanding it or one person actually pressing a red button like you see in the movies.
The tour guide then gave us a tour of the building above ground. She was amazingly informative and the building was frozen mostly in late 70’s style. This was where the Air Force soldiers lived while they were on duty, but it was weird seeing furniture that I remember as a kid being portrayed as historical and in a museum!
We then took an elevator down 50 ft to the capsules where Missileers would be in charge of the missiles. The walls of the capsules are 4 feet thick and there is a suspended floor so if a blast hit, the shocks would prevent the equipment from bouncing around. Again, it was freaky and claustrophobic feeling, but it is good to know that our defense was so well thought out.
It was fascinating! Jeff was especially excited about this visit because he teaches about the Cold War and he can use the info we learned today in his AP Works History class next year. Spencer was pretty interested too.
After the Missile site. We had a few more hours of driving where we passed just north of some thunderstorms. The sky is so big here, we could see the big clouds. We stopped to stretch our feet at a rest stop in the middle of a bird refuge area and this Western Kingbird was tweeting at me as I walked under its tree. We got to our hotel about 6:30, ate and are now relaxing for the night. One more full day of driving to get to our camp site near Helena, Montana.
Kline Road Trips 