Transportation Lesson #7: 8 Ways to Ride a Stagecoach

Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm: Olathe, Kansas

Transportation vehicles can take your kids mind back in time.  Imagine moving at 10 miles per hour with your ten pound or less luggage in heat, cold, dust, and bumpy roads.  Makes you appreciate your last airplane flight a bit more.  In the 19th centuries, stagecoaches acted as a main transportation mode, more rugged and stronger than carriages with thin wheels.  Slower than a horse, but taking heavier loads, stagecoaches delivered mail, freight, and passengers.  At one time, the US had over 150 stagecoach stations between Kansas and California.  The railroad competed and decreased stagecoaches.  The automobile put stagecoaches to a halt. 

We drove out west to see stagecoaches at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm in Olathe, Kansas.  The living history farm provides six rides on Saturday and one ride on Sunday ($7 adults, $5 youth entrance).  During the work week, you can get a reduced entrance fee to see the exhibits and barn, but no ride.

Here's seven other places your family can take a stagecoach ride:
1.  Yellowstone National Park; we visited the park but did not know you could take a stagecoach ride at Roosevelt area for only $15
2.  Jackson Hole, Wyoming; visiting the square, we were aware of the stagecoaches circling the square; 10 minute ride $6-10, Memorial Day to Labor Day
3.  MacDonald's Ranch, AZ; 26540 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ, 48 minutes $48 adult/$45 child; moonlight ride 1 hour $85, 1.5 hour $100; however fee to farm with no ride $0
4.  Tombstone, AZ; Allen St. in front of OK Corral, 20 minute narrated tour of historic town; adult $10, children $5
5.  Harris Stage Lines, CA; 5995 N River Rd, Paso Robles, CA 1.5 hour tour including stagecoach ride $50/person with $200 minimum; also offers camps and clinics
6.  Knott's Berry Farm, CA;  8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA; Butterfield Stagecoach ride is an attraction; admission $45 (online) to $75 (gate ticket)/person; other rides include Bigfoot Rapids, Calico mine ride, and Calico railroad
7.  Old Sturbridge Village, MA; 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, MA; May to Oct. rides in reproduction 19th century stagecoach, $3 ride

History Lesson #8: 7 Midwest Places to Bring Native American History to Life

Drums thundered, chants echoed, feathers and beads flung side to side, and the bright regala swirled to the beat.  On a Saturday afternoon, the sounds and colors filled the large Field House at UW Madison.  I sat in the stands mesmirized, impressed, and inspired.  I had convinced my sister and cousin to join my adventure.  They were happy to follow me to a traditional Pow Wow and turkey and potatoe meal.

Fast forward a decade plus, the beat of a drum softly beat as my two year old played under a grass thatched roof.  No crowds clapping, just the sound of wind through the feathers of geese landing on the grounds.  Sun Watch Indian Village in Dayton, Ohio consists of 3 acres and opened to the public in 1988 after 17 years of excavation.  We talked about what it would be like living in a village, hunting and preparing for winter.  You can read about it in a book...but when you walk through a village, the experience brings the lesson to life and inspires two year olds to ask lots of questions.

Lesson Idea

You too can immerse your kids in Native American history by visiting a museum, mound, park, or festival.  To prove you don't need to take a long trip out West for the history lesson, here's 7 sites in the Midwest:

1.  Sun Watch Indian Village / Archaeological Park - Dayton, Ohio (OH)

$5 entrance includes museum and village (pictured above)

 http://sunwatch.org/

2.  Effigy Mounds - near Harpers Ferry, Iowa (IA)

3.  Cahokia Mounds - near East St. Louis, MO

4.  Hopewell Cultural Artifacts - Chilicothe, Ohio (OH)

5.  Pawnee Indian Village State Historic Site - Republic, Kansas

6. Serpent Mounds - Memorial, Ohio (OH)

7. Native American Heritage Museum State Historic Site - Highland, Kansas

Check their websites for events like a pow wow.  For a list of National Parks with Native American education, see my other blog http://www.lightningbuglodge.blogspot.com/

Business Lesson #2: Moon Marble Company and three Marble Events

The English proudly claim The British and World Marbles Championship has been held at Finsley Green, West Sussex, England every year since 1932.  However, Americans can claim the National Marbles Tournament founded in 1922 and held in Wildwood, New Jersey.  It gives kids an opportunity for a scholarship, competing against other kids age 7-14 who have won a local championship.  If you don't compete, you may still want to visit and witness a game or two.  The event holds over 1,200 games over four days.

Learn a few of the terms before you arrive:
- "knuckle down" means the position adopted at the start line with his or her knuckles against the ground
-"keepsies" the player keeps all the marbles he or she wins
-"quitsies" allows any opponent to stop the game without consequences, if quitsies are allowed
Plus marbles have different names depending opon the marble size:  Peewee (under 1/2"), Shooter (3/4"), Targets, Duckies, or Alleys (5/8"), Boulder (1"), Jumbo (1 3/8"), Super Jumbo (1 5/8"), Toebreakers (2"), Grandfather (billiard ball or tennis ball size)
If you plan to compete, you'll need your Shooter.  It's the only size accepted in U.S. tournaments.

I spent hours playing with marbles, watching them move down the wooden run in my grandparent's house.  A form of kinetic art, the marble run or rolling ball sculpture, can mesmerize you. Kids don't play with marbles as often these days which makes it understandable why it's difficult to find a marble plant tour.  The United States had two factories, Jabo Vitro in Reno, Ohio and Marble King in Paden City, West Virginia.  Despite Ohio's fame as the marble-producing capital of the world, Jabo Vitro shut down.  Marble King as featured on The Travel Channel's Made in America and Discovery Channel's Some Assembly Required does not offer factory tours.  However, you can see hand made marble creation at a small toy shop in a small town called Bonner Springs, Kansas.  Moon Marble Company is located less than 30 miles from Kansas City.  We took a seat in the bleachers and watched the glass art demonstration.  If you plan for the right timing, you can see over 25 artists at Moon Marble Company.  The company hosts "Marble Crazy" event with free admission.  Here's three other marble events to consider:
1.  Badger Marble Show:  October, Madison, Wisconsin, show presenters exhibit marbles in their rooms Friday and Saturday prior to the show, free admission
2.  Des Moines Marble Show:  First Saturday in June, Des Moines, Iowa, six day event with in-room trading, free admission
3.  Humboldt Marble Weekend:  February, Eureka, California, visit artists, see glass blowing demonstrations, participate in a marble hunt, and attend the Bella Vita Fire Dance (dance entry requires a minimum $20 dollar donation to charity)

NPS #7: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore & 2 Other Dunes

A new environment can make getting outside and exploring fun.  Dunes are a geological wonder enabled by wind.  Diverse in size, the hills and ridges add to the visual wonder.  Did you know Michigan is home to the largest dune system in the world?

 

Let's start with the dunes operated and protected  by the National Park Service (NPS).  The federal government created the national lakeshore in 1970.

Trip One:  At 450 feet above Lake Michigan, our kids enjoyed the challenge of climbing dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan. The book Amazing Places to Take Your Kids puts the size in perspective, "The dunes are among the largest in the world, matched only by those in Colorado, the Sahara, and Saudi Arabia." As a toddler, my daughter didn't go far.  Her bigger brother gleefully ran higher up a dune than her.  She still had fun in the giant sandbox.  We returned with the kids as teenagers and we all enjoyed hiking to breathtaking views.  At the top, we stood in awe with other tourists and the Park Ranger providing stories.  The blue water, the light sand, and surrounding greenery make it a picture perfect spot.

 
Trip Two:  On a later vacation, we visited sand dunes protected by the state park system.  Jockey's Ridge State Park has the tallest sand dunes on the Atlantic Coast.  While located on the Outer Banks, Nags Head, North Carolina, the dunes are not located on the coastline beaches.  Geologists believe hurricanes blew sand inland.  At a height of 80 to 100 feet, my kids, niece, and nephew enjoyed doing cartwheels on the sand.  We enjoyed the beauty of the sunset over the water.

Trip Three:  On our most recent vacation, we sought out another state park with a sand dune.  Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah has fabulous salmon pink sand created by iron oxide and minerals.  It comes from Navajo sandstone from the geologic period called Middle Jurassic.  Although the dunes have an estimated age of 10,000 to 15,000 years old, the landscape quickly changes.  The hills can move as much as 50 feet in just one year.  This time my kids, niece, and nephew ran up and down the hills.  Those moving at a slower pace found the rare Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle, only found within the 500 acres of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.  Conservationist worry about their extinction.  A 370-acre conservation area was established in which off-roach vehicle use is prohibited.  ATV trails are just beyond the park and you can schedule a guided four-seater tour or be the ATV drive with Coral Pink ATV Tours.

Here's 7 other sand dunes in the United States for your kids to explore:
1.  Juniper Dunes, Washington (WA) for hiking, wire keeps out the off road vehicles (ORV) and motorcycles http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/juniper-dunes-wilderness

2.  Syracuse Sand Dunes, Kansas for the family into adventure and able to use ORVs http://www.syracusesanddunes.com/

3.  Killpecker, WY, another play zone for ORVs http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Rock_Springs/rec/dunes.html

4.  Christmas Valley Sand Dunes, Utah (UT), the largest inland shifting system in the Pacific Northwest http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/site_info.php?siteid=85

5.  Oregon Dunes, Oregon, if your kids are old enough, the family can go horseback riding on the dunes  http://oregondunes.org/horse-riding.html

6.  Great Sand Dunes National Park, 35 miles north of Alamosa, Colorado (CO), kids can even sled on the dunes  http://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/directions.htm

7.  Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana (IN)  http://www.nps.gov/indu/forkids/index.htm

We've also been to the Indiana Dunes.  It's also fun for kids, but don't expect perfect scenery...a few smokestakes could be in your horizon.

Animal Lesson #10: 7 Places to Show Kids Bison

Bison at Yellowstone National Park

Loved how the bison "owned" the Yellowstone National Park, roaming freely where they wanted. If they felt like crossing the road, believe me, you waited. Their size and power and prehistoric look makes you sit back, wait, and enjoy watching.

The kids enjoyed seeing the bison so much, we sought out a closer location with bison.  USA Today listed The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area as one of the "51 Greatest Places to See Wildlife" describing the area, "Located in the national recreation area known as Land Between the Lakes (between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake), Kentucky's only drive-through elk and bison prairie gives visitors up-close views of these majestic animals."  

The Elk & Bison Prairie National Recreation Area (Golden Pond, KY) in Land Between the Lakes offers family an economical deal - only $5 per car.  http://www.lbl.org/EBPrairieGate.html. Only enclosed vehicles allowed.  The loop only covers 3.5 miles, but leave plenty of time to allow bison to cross the road in front of you.

In the past, 40 to 60 million bison roamed across North America (NA).  According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, there are now only 500,000 in NA and most live on ranches.  Conservation herds total an estimated 20,000.  If you'd like to help, check out The American Bison Society http://www.wcs.org/saving-wildlife/hoofed-mammals/bison/the-american-bison-society.aspx


As the kids continued to age, I'd find more places to sight bison.  Look up bison farms where residents raise bison and offer products for sale.  I found one in Wisconsin - Lester's Bison Farm (31807 60th St, Salem, WI).  No entrance fee to pay.

We did purchase meat after learning more about the farm business from the owner himself.  If you do not feel motivated to travel for bison meat, go to meet Lester.  His patriotism shines at the driveway entrance with a row of American flags.  Retired from the United States Marine Corp, he has a lot of stories to tell.
  
If you'd like to show your kids the bison, here's 7 other locations with bison;
1.  Sandsage Bison Range, Garden City, KS, http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Wildlife-Areas/Region-3/Sandsage-Bison-Range
2.  Blue Mounds State Park, Luverne, MN, http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/blue_mounds/index.html
3.  Antelope Island State Park, Layton, Utah (UT), near Salt Lake City, $9 per car http://www.utah.com/stateparks/antelope_island.htm
4.  Fort Robinson State Park, Crawford, Nebraska http://www.stateparks.com/fort_robinson.html
5.  Maxwell State Bison Refuge, Canton, KS http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Wildlife-Areas/Region-4/Maxwell
6.  House Rock Wildlife Area near Jacob Lake, Arizona, http://www.wildlifeviewingareas.com/wv-app/parkdetail.aspx?parkid=57
7.  Witchita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, OK, bison and elk reintroduced  http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Wichita_Mountains/wildlife_and_habitat/index.html#

Science Lesson #3: Geology - Salt Mine -Strattaca in Kansas

 Few salt mines allow the public to tour.  There's the Bavaria Mountains and Salt Mines tour in Salzburg, but when I visited Salzburg, I opted for the Mozart tour and The Sound of Music Tour.  Poland has the Wieliczka Salt Mine Tour and Pakistan's Khewra Salt Mines attracts approximately 250,000 visitors per year.  I'm not sure when I'll take my kids to Poland or Pakistan. 

After researching US tours, I found one place - Strattaca, located in Hutchinson, Kansas.  Thanks to the Reno County Historical Society and two companies, the Hutchinson Salt Company and Underground Vaults and Storage company, the Kansas Underground Salt Museum opened to the public in 2007.  It's the only working museum that exists in a working salt mine anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.  Voters named it one of the "Eight Wonders of Kansas" (2008).

Formed 275 million years ago when the Permian Sea dried up, it's one of the largest salt mines in the world and still mined today.  When you descend 650 feet below the prairie surface on an industrial elevator (and our group chose to keep the lights off - cool!!!), you walk out and see the vast space.  It's 300,000 square feet of mined out area.  Ceilings are 10 to 17 feet high.

 Kids read every sign in their geology exhibit, listened to short history videos, and checked out the equipment.  As Chicago residents (and people who need to get to work, no matter what the weather), we need to really appreciate this place - it's a source of the salt used to melt the ice and snow on our roads.  The museum fund raises to expand the exhibit. 

We bought the Blast Pass ($19 adult, children $12.50).  Besides admission, you get two tours:  1.  Dark Ride (30 minute tram tour explaining air flow and mine hazards), and 2.  Train Ride (15 min. Salt Mine Express shows the active areas of 1940s and 50s including the garbage that never disintegrated).  Kids tend to love hands on activities, so when the tour gave them a small bag and told them they had a few minutes to pick a piece of salt from a pile, they were excited to find their own souvenir.


The salt mine also serves as a secure storage facility, holding original Hollywood movies and many other documents.  An exhibit explains.

For a real treat, the museum offers special Scout and 4-H overnights.  Boy Scouts may earn their Geology and/or Mining in Society merit badge.

Agriculture Lesson #4: North Carolina Zoo Bee Exhibit & 7 National Pollinator Events

  Bees serve us in so many ways, most importantly as a pollinators of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.  The world has other pollinators, but bees perform about eighty percent of all pollination worldwide.  Bees also produce honey from the sugary secretions of the plants, aka floral nectar.

When I toured the Google headquarters and ate lunch on a picnic bench, I noticed they had their own beehives for fresh honey - impressive!  In exploring the Fairmont Edmonton, Canada patio grounds, I delighted in the inclusion of beehives.  You don't need a special invite to a corporate headquarters or luxury hotel in Canada to show your kids beehives.

The United States is a major honey producer, ranked third after China and Turkey.  If you search events, you can likely connect your child to a local beekeeper who manages hives of domesticated bees.  Also, I like to look for bee products at farmers markets such as honeycombs or flavored wax honey sticks.  The kids love to taste sweet honey.

My family took time to explore bee hives and educational materials at the North Carolina Zoo located 75 miles west of Raleigh, NC in Asheboro, North Carolina.  Entry costs approximately $15 for adults and $11 for children.  We also watched a live hive at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum.  Admission is a suggested $7 for adults and $4 for children.  If you can't visit an exhibit or museum, go the to the KU Natural History Museum website for a link to the live bee cam.  Kansas designated the honeybee as the official state insect.

Unfortunately pesticides, air pollution, habitat destruction, and drought contribute to bees dying.  According to Greenpeace, worldwide bee colony collapse occurs as winter losses exceed the norm - especially in the United States.  Europe has placed more restrictions on pesticides.  You and your family can celebrate and support bees by joining events during National Pollinator Week in June.  Visit the website pollinator.org for updated events.  Here's 7 examples of past events across the country:  

1.  Bees & Brew at the Botanical Conservatory; Fort Wayne, IN

Suit up for a beekeeping experience with live beehives, sample raw honey, make DIY beeswax candles at the Foellinger-Freeman Botanical Conservatory

2.  Bee Bee Q; Detroit, MI

Fundraiser with silent and live auction, live music

3.  Wild! Heritage Pollinator Party: Huntington, WV

Make your own pollinator plant pot out of recycled materials at the Heritage Farm Museum and Village, see a colony of bees

Couldn't resist the costume.  He's so sweet, he's my Honey!

4.  BeeFest; Salt Lake City, UT

Enter your kids in the kids pollinator costume contest.  Event entrance free and you can support by buying plants or honey-baked items.

5.  Meadowbrook BeeBlitz; Urbana, IL

Train on how to photograph bees and upload photos to Bee Spotter, meet at the Garden Pavilion 

6.  Bugs & Brews; Denton, NE

Take an evening walk through the prairie and enjoy refreshments and presentation by biologist working with farmers and conservation groups

7.  Meet Our Beekeper; The Episcopal Church of the Advocate; Chapel Hill, NC

Watch Piedmont Patch beekeeper demonstrate the equipment at the hive besides pond where volunteers planted over 1,000 native grasses and wildflowers

She's my Honey too!

Music Lesson #1: Steve Martin and 8 Bluegrass Festivals

 Before your kids are teenagers, you have the opportunity to teach them that there's other music genres than just rap and R&B.  To widen their music appreciation, consider bluegrass - a genre invented in the United States by Bill Monroe.

Bring the lesson alive.  Take the kids to a concert, especially a festival with multiple acts.  We attended the Bill Monroe Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in Morgantown, IN.  Besides recognition for having the world's oldest bluegrass festival, Morgantown is also the location of the International Bluegrass Music Museum.  Festival tickets ranged $20 to $30 per day.

Under the stars, sitting on the lawn, we experienced a real treat - watching Steve Martin play banjo.  Comedian, actor, writer, art collector, banjo player...what can't he do?  He won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2009 by releasing "The Crow:  New Songs for the 5-String Banjo."  A few jokes and a lot of amazing music, the whole family watched in awe.

Bluegrass festivals take place across the country every Summer and Fall.  Here's eight other bluegrass festivals:

1.  Joe Val Bluegrass Music Festival - Framingham, Massachusetts; Feb - indoor 3 day event at Sheraton in the Boston area, Kids Academy teaches kids age 5-17 to play and offers opportunity to perform on stage; early bird ticket $110
http://www.bbu.org/events/joe-val-festival/

2.  Graves Mountain Festival of Music - Syria, Virginia, May - $35 to $45 daily ticket, 3 day event at resort in Blue Ridge Mountains; take advantage of nearby fishing, biking, & hiking

3.  Telluride Bluegrass Festival - Telluride, Colorado; June - enjoy the San Juan Mountain setting, 3 to 4 stages, and 4 day event

4.  Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival - Oak Hill, NY; July - Catskill mountain farm, limit of 4,000 camping tickets ($170 adult, kids under 12 free, plus $20 parking fee)

5.  IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Festival) Fan Fest - Raleigh, NC - 3 day indoor festival, 60 acts, film festival, award show, supports charities like the Bluegrass Trust Fund; check location annually

6.  Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival - Winfield, Kansas; Sept. - numerous contests including autoharp, madolin, banjo, flat-picking, dulcimer, and even camp decoration contest!, early purchase tickets (Dec. to Feb.) discounted to $75

7. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival - San Francisco, CA; Oct. - over 100 artists on 7 stages at the Golden Gate Park; it's a bargain! free festival funded by gift

8.  Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration - Rosine, KY; Oct. - on the site of Bill Monroe's birthplace, free tent camping, nearly 300 volunteers, includes gospel and square dance music

Art & Sculpture #1: Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park Plus 4 More Midwest Sculpture Parks

Exposing children to art can be so much more than giving them a box of crayons and paper.  Why not immerse them in art such as taking them to a play, concert, or sculpture park?

Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Photo by Krenda

I count my children fortunate to have lived near Hamilton, Ohio - (a small town north of Cincinnati).  In 2000 the Ohio govenor declared Hamilton "The City of Sculpture".  You'll find sculptures throughout the city.  My kids and I especially enjoyed "Lentil" in the downtown.  It's a sculpture of a boy marching through town with his harmonica and dog created by Nancy Schon.  It's extra special because it has a local connection - it's based upon a 1940's children's book by Hamilton native Robert McCloskey.  To see other sculptures around town, check out the Hamilton city website:

http://cityofsculpture.org/Sculptures.aspx

I counted Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, a 265 acre park filled with trees and sculptures, as Hamilton's hidden treasure.  It's up a hill right off State Route 128, don't give up on finding the entrance.  Check out the website for address & contact info I especially enjoyed the large sculpture "Cincinnati Story" by George Sugarman.  Not only is it beautiful art, it is also located in a beautiful spot at the top of the hill with a view.  George Sugarman's first sculpture was considered radical because each form was painted a different color.  The sculpture in Hamilton was built later in his life in the 80's.  I think it's inspirational with it's cheerful multi-colors.  

 

Lesson Idea

Find a sculpture park near you and discuss the artist and their inspiration to make the sculpture.  You don't need to live near Hamilton to immerse your kids in sculpture.  Here's five Sculpture Parks in the Midwest:

1.  Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park - Hamilton, OH (pictured above)

http://www.pyramidhill.org/aboutthepark.php?pid=1

$8 adults, $2 children age 5-12

2.  Laumeier Sculpture Park - St. Louis, MO, one of the first and largest in the U.S. with 60 sculptures on 105 acres, free and open daily

3.  John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park - Des Moines, IA

4.  Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection - Wichita, Kansas

5.  Georgia and David K. Welles Sculpture Garden - Toledo, OH

For sculpture parks in Illinois, see my article about The Sculpture Park Schaumburg.