The Richest Hill on Earth

Posted on June 19, 2021 by kcbernick

Butte, Montana

Friday, June 18, 2021

We arrived in Butte this morning, and first visited the Montana Mineral Museum at the Montana School of Mining. The school was founded in 1900, and the first artifacts acquired in 1901 for teaching purposes. Over the past 120 years, the number of items in their collections has grown from 177 to over 13,000 from all over the world, of which about 1,000 are on display. The museum is located on the college campus and is free to the public.

We next stopped at the Berkeley Pit, which was mined for copper from 1955 to 1982. The pit is about 1800 feet deep, over one mile long and nearly a mile wide. Several neighborhoods were removed to allow for the mining operations. The owners were compensated at market value for their homes, then given the option to buy them back for $1 and move them elsewhere. Homes not repurchased were demolished. About one billion tons of material were removed: copper, silver and gold, which gave Butte its nickname “The Richest Hill on Earth.”

While the pit mine was in operation, groundwater was constantly being pumped out. Once the mine closed, the pit quickly filled up. The water is extremely toxic, containing high concentrations of copper, cadmium, cobalt, iron, manganese and zinc. It also contains arsenic. Nothing can live here. Migrating waterfowl have made the mistake of landing here, drinking the water and dying shortly thereafter. Ongoing efforts, including noises, predator drones and even wind are used to deter waterfowl, proving to be about 99% effective. Maybe we can try something like that at home to keep the geese out of our yard!

The Berkeley Pit is the largest Superfund Site in the United States. The water level must be kept below 5410 feet above sea level to prevent it seeping into the surrounding land. Butte sits at about 5800 feet above sea level. A water treatment facility on site pumps water continuously from the pit, treats it and releases it into Silver Bow Creek. At that point, it is clean enough to drink.

Overlooking the mine is Our Lady of the Rockies, a 90 foot statue that sits on the Continental Divide.

We then headed to The World Museum of Mining, which was founded in 1963 while mining was still big industry in the area. In just over 100 years, 3 million ounces of gold, 700 million ounces of silver, 850 million pounds of lead, almost 4 billion pounds of manganese, almost 5 billion pounds of zinc and over 20 billion pounds of copper were mined here.

The Museum is located on a mine yard, the Orphan Girl Mine, where silver, lead and zinc were mined. Many artifacts remain at the site, including the Hoist House, headframe, ore bins, and rail cars. You can visit a re-creation of an 1890s mining town and take an underground mine tour. We’ve done a few in other locations, so passed that up today.

We enjoyed cocktails at the Fifty One Below Speakeasy in the old downtown area of Butte, then dined at Mac’s a couple of blocks away. We recommend both.

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Riding the Rails

Posted on June 17, 2021 by kcbernick

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

This is our first overnight train trip. We’ve enjoyed the short train trips we’ve taken in the past, and thought this would be an adventure we would enjoy.

Amtrak (a portmanteau combination of the words American and track) is celebrating 50 years of operation this year. The Rail Passenger Service Act was signed into law in October, 1970. This act created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to take over responsibility for operating intercity service from railroads. At that time, 20 railroads offering intercity passenger service joined Amtrak. The number of operating lines were cut in half – from 366 to 184.

Today, there are 33 routes that operate in all but two of the 48 contiguous states in the US. Wyoming and South Dakota are the only states without Amtrak service. Over 300 trains provided service to 32.5 million passengers in 2019. Those numbers dropped significantly in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, but the numbers are ticking up.

Amtrak has never been self-sufficient, and in 1997, after provided a $2.3 billion tax refund to ease Amtrak’s cash flow issues, Congress declared its intention to terminate funding of Amtrak’s operating losses. However, it was determined that Amtrak would not be able to function without federal subsidies, so pulled back from that declaration. Amtrak survives because of the benefits it provides to the nation, including energy efficiency, reduced traffic congestion and less air pollution, fewer fatalities, as well as providing an alternative method of troop transport if interstates and highways are damaged.

We are taking the Empire Builder route, which was scheduled to leave St Cloud, Minnesota at the insane hour of 12:24 am (just after midnight.) However, it was late getting to the station, so we boarded about an hour late. Then, we encountered a slowdown due to freight traffic. Amtrak rents the rails, so has to wait behind any freight trains.

We had booked a bedroom so we can sleep on the way to Whitefish, where we were scheduled to arrive at 8:23 pm tonight. Again, that was a little over an hour late, not too bad.

The sleeper room is cozy, but a pretty efficient setup, with one bed converting to a sofa during the day, plus an in-room shower and toilet. The upper bunk was as hard as a board, but the bottom bed wasn’t too bad. The bottom bed is a small double, and we can both fit as long as we like each other! The car was a little outdated, could use some TLC, but it worked pretty well. Masks are required to move about on the train, to sit in the lounge/observation car and the dining car. As long as we stayed in our little nook, we could spend the 20+ hours in maskless comfort.

Meals are included with the sleeper cars. In normal times, there are chef-created meals, but for now we are eating food that was prepared ahead of time and then heated up on the train (sort of like airplane food.) We learned from staff that whoever plans for provisions didn’t send enough food. No omelet for breakfast because they had run out already, no wine at dinner because they had run out already. There were few options but we didn’t starve. Staff was very apologetic about these shortages, and were encouraging riders to complain to headquarters.

We slept through Minnesota and part of North Dakota. The land is pretty flat here, but we started to see some changes in terrain about mid-morning. Mountains became visible in the afternoon. There are some nice views, but they are hampered a bit by the dirty windows.

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Flathead Lake and Missoula, MT

Posted on June 14, 2021 by kcbernick

Thursday, June 17, 2021

We picked up our rental car this morning, and headed out to explore Whitefish a little bit. We have a couple of goals for this trip – finally visit the states of Montana and Idaho, and visit several national parks. When we’re done, we’ll have only one more state to complete the entire 50 – West Virginia (scheduled for September this year.)

Then, we drove south to Missoula, stopping for a while at a couple spots on Flathead Lake. This is the largest freshwater lake in the US west of the Mississippi River, and it is considered one of the cleanest. Volunteer Park, in the town of Lakeside, has picnic areas, pebble beaches, swimming rafts and public docks. It was very well kept, clean and welcoming. Several people were enjoying the water while we were there.

During the last glaciers, a massive glacial dammed lake was formed – Lake Missoula. Flathead lake is a remnant of Lake Missoula. In 1930, Kerr Dam was built at the south end. The dam provides hydroelectric power and water for irrigation.

A few miles down the road we saw a sign for the Flathead State Park, and pulled in for some more good views. Montanans can enter any state park free, but out-of-towners are supposed to pay an entrance fee. The very kind gate staff decided that the Montana plates on our car were good enough to let us in free. Nice people are everywhere, not just in Minnesota!

Mountains were all around us on our drive – the Flathead, Swan and Mission Ranges to the east, and the Salish Range to the west. We are always impressed by the mountains we see, as the highest peak in Minnesota is only 2,300 feet high.

After checking into our lodging, we spent some time at Historic Fort Missoula, which was built in 1877 to protect settlers from native American attacks. Beginning in 1888, it housed the Buffalo Soldiers of the 25th Regiment. These soldiers of color were given that nickname by the native Americans during the Indian Wars.

The fort was home to the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps in the late 1800s. Soldiers were trained for long treks, including an 1,900 mile trip to St. Louis which took 41 days. The bicycle corps idea was abandoned as the US faced imminent war with Spain.

Fort Missoula was renovated in 1904, and then used as a military training center to train truck drivers and mechanics during WWI. It became the Northwest Regional Headquarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, serving as a center for dozens of CCC camps until 1942.

The fort was used as a military training center to train truck drivers and mechanics of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) during World War I, but was almost abandoned by 1921. However, it was designated as the Northwest Regional Headquarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. Fort Missoula served as the administration, training, and supply center for dozens of CCC camps in Montana, Northern Idaho, Glacier National Park, and Yellowstone National Park until June 1942. During WWII, it served as an internment camp for both Italians and Japanese. The fort was decommissioned in 1947.

We enjoyed a beautiful Iris garden at the park, sponsored by the Missoula Iris Society. I had never seen so many colors of iris before – truly lovely!

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Hunkered Down in Austin, Texas

Posted on February 17, 2021 by kcbernick

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

We left South Padre Island on Monday, and headed to Brownsville, where we had hotel reservations for the night. The hotel had several electric vehicle chargers, all but one occupied by non-electric vehicles. We squeezed our Tesla in and didn’t leave until we checked out the next day. Before we left the island, we stopped at the supercharger, which worked just long enough to get us about 5% more energy than we had stored.

Many thanks to the Homewood Suites in Brownsville for letting us into our room mid-morning. They even offered a dinner that evening. I doubt we would have found any restaurants that were open. Once again, I have to recommend the HiltonHonors loyalty program which has helped us out of jams more than once.

To add to our worries on Monday, our car’s communication system went down. Tesla uses the AT&T network, so we think their cell towers were down. The car was drivable, but we had no GPS, nor any way to see if other superchargers along the route would even be powered. Fortunately, it was back in service by Tuesday morning, so we were able to head out. We kept our speed under the limit to conserve power, just in case any more of the superchargers were down.

We had some food and beverages left over from our condo stay, so we weren’t too concerned about starving. At one stop by an H-E-B grocery store in San Marcos, the line to get in was stretched about a block. With more bad weather on the way, people were stocking up. At another stop, we went into the nearby convenience store to pick up a few things, but the power went down before we could pay.

Along the way to Austin, we saw cars that still hadn’t been pulled out of the ditch from the last storm. We also saw the effects of several accidents that had occurred this afternoon. Icicles hang from road signs, snow blows off of passing trucks, overpasses and underpasses are treacherous since the ice forms there first, and melts last. Electronic signs on the freeway recommend no travel.

Much of Texas is still without power, and other areas are experiencing rolling blackouts. The wind turbines are not winterized, so many of them have become inoperable, which is a small part of the reason for the outages. Much of the natural gas and oil industry as well. Texas was completely unprepared for this type of emergency. Much of the power grid is shut down during the winter months, and not brought back on line until summer when there is increased demand for air conditioning.

We drove by a few tent communities in Austin, and I do hope those people have been able to find warm shelter somewhere. The roads are slippery, sidewalks are not walkable, lights are off at many of the establishments we passed.

We’re so happy we made our hotel reservations yesterday, as it was sold out by the time we got here. We are staying at a Homewood Suites, a fairly good sized one, and only three people were able to make it to work here today. They are doing all of the checking in (and turning people away), housekeeping and other services. These hardworking young people are doing an amazing job. Reminder to self: Big Tips!


We were told that a local pizza joint was still open, but the line was around the block. We have tuna, meat, cheese and crackers, not a feast, but it works. We will stay here tonight and tomorrow night for sure, then decide if we can hit the road again. The plan is to be home in Minnesota by next Tuesday at the latest, but we’ll see. What an adventure!

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Are We Really in South Texas? Ice and Snow!

Posted on February 15, 2021 by kcbernick

Monday, February 15, 2021

The last few days on South Padre have been windy and definitely cooler. We’ve given up walking on the beach because it’s hard to stand up. When we do go outside, we’re actually grateful for our COVID masks because they keep us a little warmer. No outdoor lunches because we’re afraid our food will blow away.

This morning was the worst, though. The temperature outside was 24 degrees, with 40 mile winds. I think I saw whitecaps on the swimming pool.

The temperature inside our condo was 66 degrees, and there was no power anywhere on the island. We had no cell reception either. We quickly packed up, and headed to Brownsville, where we plan to spend the night, waiting out the storm. Fortunately, our hotel has electric vehicle charging since the Tesla Supercharger was without power on the island. We were able to check in this morning. Hotel loyalty programs can offer some nice benefits in times like this.

I am ready to go home. It’s cold there too, but we have a generator and we have a fireplace, so we’ll at least be cozy. South Padre was a good destination, and we’ll probably stay there again, since we do have a granddaughter living in Brownsville. The beaches are beautiful and very walkable, the grocery store was about 1.5 miles away, and there are several waterfront restaurants within walking distance. We even enjoyed a movie at the local theater, social distancing and masks in place, of course. Island Metro is a free shuttle service, with three routes, that can take you around the island, and even across the causeway to Port Isabel. If you’re a SpaceX fan, you might get to view a launch from nearby Isla Blanca park.

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Port of Brownsville

Posted on February 10, 2021 by kcbernick

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Fog!!! We couldn’t see much this morning except for fog, but hoped for the best as we headed to board the Danny B for a Port of Brownsville Cruise. The Danny B is a 50 foot used primarily for fishing charters, but twice a week, for a few months a year, it is used for this particular tour. In fact, today’s tour was the first one of the season.

Our captain, Darryl Stiers, was confident that the fog would lift, and we’d get to see what we came for.

It took about an hour to reach the Port of Brownsville from South Padre, and on the way, we passed under the Queen Isabella Causeway, a 2.5 mile bridge that we’ve crossed many times this past week and a half, while traveling from the mainland to the island and back. On September 15, 2001, four barges crashed into the bridge, causing three 80-foot sections of the bridge to collapse. It was foggy that day as well, which contributed to the accident. Before the bridge could be closed, several vehicles plunged into the water, and five people were killed. The bridge was closed for about two months for repairs. People and vehicles were ferried off the island during this time.

We cruised into the Brownsville Ship Channel, a 17-mile channel that was dredged between 1935 and 1936 when it opened for boat traffic. The channel is currently 42 feet deep, but around the clock dredging will in the works to increase that depth to 52 feet. The $350 million project is designed to accommodate ships that come through the expanded Panama Canal.

The channel is home to many shrimping operations, from one boat to as many as 47 boats. The largest shrimping company was started by the Zimmerman Brothers in 1952, and markets their shrimp under the Texas Gold brand.

The Port of Brownsville is also home to several ship recycling centers. From shrimp boats to naval carriers, these ships are systematically dismantled and the materials are sold for scrap or reuse. Just last fall, five former Navy warships were shipped here for recycling. Those five ships were the USS Charles F Adams, the USS Barry, the USS Stephen W. Groves, the USS Hawes, and the USS Ticonderoga (the fifth US Navy ship to have that name.) All of the ships have had their identifying marks removed, so we couldn’t tell which was which.

Mark was especially excited to see “Deimos,” one of two oil platforms that were sold for scrap, and purchased by SpaceX for use as launch platforms in the Gulf. Moving the launches away from land will help to mitigate the loud noise that a launch causes.

On our way back to South Padre, we were escorted by several dolphins riding the waves kicked up by the boat.

We got a better view of the Queen Isabella Causeway as we returned to the island. It was still somewhat foggy, though, and by sunset, it was as thick as it had been this morning.

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Relaxing on South Padre

Posted on February 9, 2021 by kcbernick

Thursday – Monday, February 5 – 8, 2021

Time gets away from us when we’re doing a whole lot of nothing. The weather has been fairly good, although we have experienced fog some mornings. The temps have been in the upper 60s and lower 70s, with some wind. It’s been great for walking the beach, and we usually get 3 – 4 miles in each day.

We see people fishing, flying kites, building sandcastles. We even watched a sandcastle building class for a few minutes. This class was being taught by Andy Hancock, who has won several sandcastle competitions.

I had read about Sea Whip, which is a type of coral that occasionally washes up on the beaches here on, so I was excited to actually find some. Besides that, I found an interesting shell, actually a clam shell that appears to have been covered in coral and smaller shells.

The Laguna Madre Nature Trail is a public boardwalk near the South Padre Island Convention Center, covering about four acres of wetland and bird habitat. While walking this, we saw several herons, pelicans, terns, ducks and fish, including several flying fish!

Tomorrow, we plan an early cruise to the Port of Brownsville.

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Sandcastles and Sea Turtles

Posted on February 4, 2021 by kcbernick

Wednesday and Thursday, February 3 – 4, 2021

Wednesday was a very quiet day. We tried driving to Boca Chica Beach (where yesterday’s launch occurred), hoping to see what the launch pad looked like after the crash. However, the road was closed for cleanup, so we returned to our spot on the island.

We then took a walk to locate what is billed as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Sandcastle.” It’s located just a couple of blocks from our condo, just in front of the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce. This is an ongoing project by sand castle artist, Andy Hancock, a former American Sand Sculpture Champion. Hancock also teaches sand castle classes if you are interested.

South Padre Island considers itself to be the Sandcastle Capital of the World, and celebrates Sandcastle Days every October (except for last year, due to COVID.)

We walked a bit further toward the downtown, but then headed to the beach, where we walked to the far south end of the island. It was a beautiful day for walking, many people were enjoying the water and sand.

On Thursday, we drove as far north as we could on the island, planning to spend some time on the beaches there. However, when we got out of the car, the wind was so strong, we could barely stand up. It felt like we were being sand blasted – ouch! After a few minutes, we concluded that this was no fun at all, so headed back to town.

Most of our time had been spent on the gulf side, so we decided to check out the bay side. After lunch at a beachside bar and grill, we walked to a nearby display of sandcastles – yes, more sandcastles! This was the Holiday Sandcastle Village, which showcases the work of several artists, who started working on the display last October. After the sculptures are finished, they are sprayed with diluted glue, and will be on display through February. We are amazed at the skill of these artists.

From here, we visited Sea Turtle Inc., an organization dedicated to the rescue and protection of sea turtles. The organization was founded by Ila Loetscher, a former pilot (friend of Amelia Earhart), who developed a passion for turtles. She began caring for and educating about turtles, and eventually started the non-profit organization, Sea Turtle, Inc.

Most of the rescued turtles are returned to the gulf once they have healed, but a few remain as permanent residents because their injuries or defects make it impossible for them to survive in the wild. Many of the turtles have become entangled in fishing line or plastic bags, some have been snagged by fishhooks, and will end up stranded on the rocks or the beach. There were several turtles from Massachusetts, that had been “cold stunned.” This is a type of hypothermia that happens when the temperatures quickly drop below 50 degrees. The turtles are brought to this center, where they slowly warm up and become active again. Then, they are released into the gulf.

Among some of the permanent residents are those whose flippers have been so damaged that they no longer function well, or the flippers or shell are misshapen. One turtle, Alison, only had one functioning flipper, so staff developed a prosthesis for her, a rudder-like fin that allows her to swim, dive and surface for air.

The air was hazy tonight, probably from the sand being blown around, so the sunset was perhaps not as brilliant as it is some nights, but still beautiful.

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Starship Launch and Crash

Posted on February 2, 2021 by kcbernick

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

We learned that SpaceX was planning a test launch today, so we headed to nearby Isla Blanca Beach to find a place where we could get a good view. We weren’t alone!

SpaceX’s plan was to test launch a prototype Starship SN9 (thank you, Mark, for providing this info.) The SN9 is 160 feet in height, and when boosters are added, it will be 390 feet. Like other SpaceX rockets, this one is designed to be reusable. The Starship goes straight up, then, when preparing to land, flips to horizontal – belly flop mode. This mode allows the rocket to drop more slowly, reducing the dependence on fuel to slow it down. As it nears earth, it flips back to vertical, and hopefully, lands on its feet at the original launch pad. The circled rocket is the one that was scheduled to launch today.

The launch was scheduled for 12:55 pm, and we arrived at the park around 10:00 am. The weather today was fabulous today, and I took a nice long walk on the beach while waiting. I determined that our condo is only about a mile from Isla Blanca by beach, an easy walk if we choose to go there again.

The launch was delayed a few times, and finally set off around 2:00, which really isn’t too long a delay. There are many reasons why a launch is delayed or even aborted – humans too close to the launch pad, weather conditions, technical difficulties, etc. It was challenging to watch the launch when it did happen because we were looking into the sun. However, it was well worth the wait and the effort. The rocket went up a bit over 6 miles before flipping to horizontal, and beginning its descent. The sun angle made it difficult to locate the rocket after it achieved bellyflop mode, until it came closer to earth. At that point, it flipped again, but didn’t quite reach vertical, and it hit ground in a spectacular, fiery crash – exciting! It took about 27 seconds for the sound of the blast to reach us. While this may sound like a dismal failure, remember, this is a test, and each success or failure helps SpaceX learn what they need to do to improve next time.

In spite of the crash, we’re calling this a good day. It was exciting to watch the launch. We had some time afterwards to do a little more exploring and to take another walk on the beach.

Our condo faces east, and although we don’t see the sunset, we can still enjoy its effects on the clouds east of us.

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Boca Chica Beach and Fort Brown, Texas

Posted on February 1, 2021 by kcbernick

Sunday, January 31

We spent most of Sunday afternoon at Boca Chica beach where is was breezy but comfortable. To get there, we drove past SpaceX and the rockets that are scheduled to be launched in the near future. Hopefully, we’ll get to witness at least one of those launches.

Part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge Boca Chica Beach is about 8 miles long, a public beach that is always open. You can drive your vehicle onto the beach, but it helps to have 4 wheel drive, as sand drifts can act much like snowdrifts. More than one car has gotten stuck in the sand.

The beach affords miles of walking, along the water, on dry sand, even in the dunes that line the park. Just stay on the paths through the dunes so you don’t cause any damage. You may run into someone with a metal detector, you will certainly see plenty of detritus washed up on shore.

You can also get a great view of the SpaceX launch pads, where two rockets were waiting for launch now.

Monday, February 1

This morning, we went searching for the original Fort Brown site, located less than a mile form the condo where we were currently staying. There isn’t much there except an historical marker, which indicated that there were the remains of breastworks in the distance. They appear to be located in or next to an abandoned golf course. Originally named, Fort Texas, Fort Brown was an earthwork construction built to protect the new Republic of Texas from Mexico. Shortly after Texas joined the United States in 1846, it was subjected to a siege by Mexican forces. The fort commander, Major Jacob Brown, was able to mount a successful defense, although he, himself, died just hours before the siege ended. The fort was later renamed in his honor. The original fort also was active during the Civil War.

I walked over to the campus of the Texas Southmost College, where several other buildings from Fort Brown are located. The Fort Brown Commissary and Guardhouse, constructed in 1904 to replace the original fort, was acquired by the City of Brownsville and School District. The Calvary Building, built in 1869, served as a barracks until WWI. It was purchased by private industry after WWII, and later purchased by the college. The Post Morgue was built around 1870. I was excited to learn that William Crawford Gorgas had served here when doing research on Yellow Fever. When reading about the Panama Canal before our last cruise, I learned that Dr. Gorgas was truly a hero of the Panama Canal construction. He determined that Yellow Fever was transmitted by a specific breed of mosquito, and he developed the protocol used to eradicate the mosquito and the disease from Panama Canal. Prior to this, Yellow Fever was a leading killer of the people who worked on the construction of the canal.

All of the former Fort Brown buildings on campus are now used by Texas Southmost College.

This afternoon, we moved to our new lodging on South Padre Island. Our unit faces the Gulf. I spent some time on our deck just enjoying the sound of the surf. This is the life!

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