Brown County November 2009

I think this journey to Brown County began in 1991, shortly after GrandMommie Friedley died. We all missed her very much. The “girls” decide we each needed some down time. “Everyone must take time to sit and remember and watch the leaves turn.” So traveling through Indiana for the purpose of soaking in the fall colors that painted the landscape became tradition with the Women in the family.” The Men in the family gave their blessings and added the "Mom’s" responsibilities for the day to their own. Just 2+ hours north lies Brown County State Park. With its rolling, forested hills, Brown County in Southern Indiana is considered the greatest of all fall foliage spots in Indiana, usually peaking in the second half of October. This day trip became our haven of retreat and we made the most of that day.

This year we were just a little late for peak color. Most of the firey reds, deep maroons and vivid scarlets were gone, but there was still a good deal of bright yellow, intense orange, dazzling gold and green. The humidity of summer had lifted and there was just a little nip in the air. Nature was finishing up her color changing act and we knew it would not last much longer. Nick and I took the camper up with the truck. Joni and Clara came a few hours behind us in Clara's car. Jenny and Janine came the next afternoon in Jenny's van. The 3 pictures posted below were taken through the windshield of the truck and are part of the 3 mile trip into the State Park forest from the West Gate toward the campground. All campers and RVs must enter through the West Gate because of the covered bridge at the North Gate.

We are approaching the camping spot just after we checking in with the camp ranger.

In times past we have all enjoyed our time away from household tasks so much so, we always wished we could afford both the time and the money to stay another day. With the blessing of a camper in 2007 our fall retreat has grown into a few days, with some able to stay longer than others. Neither Nicki or Stacy have been able to come since the addition of the camper. We missed them both.

Here we sit like birds in the wilderness... on our little knoll.

This was the view to our back right.

This was the view to the front right. You can see the ranger check point and the camp store.

This is the shower house off to the front left.

There are nearly 20 miles of road through the 16,000 acre State Park and I think Clara, Joni and myself drove nearly all if it that first day. We stopped at several vistas and outlooks and Joni took hundreds photos.

It was at one such vista that we were swarmed by a large congregation of ladybugs. There were ladybugs in our hair on our faces all over our clothes.

And even inside our clothes

The next day the late comers (Jenny and Janine) joined us.

We have always taken time time to browse and shop in the nearby village of Nashville, which is known for its quaint specialty shops, and art galleries. Another tradition, if we got there early enough in October was eating lunch on the court house lawn. Corn on the cob roasted ears by the local Boy Scouts and fish fried by the VFW.

I think the largest assembly we have ever had was the year Seth, Nicolaas and Violet were born. All the girls came- together with the babies. (Joni, Jenny, Nicolette & Seth, Janine & Violet, Stacy & Nicolaas and myself). Our numbers vary from year to year.

This year our group was made up of Joni, Clara, myself, Janine and Jenny. We ate lunch here at the general store. Jenny set up her camera and took the traditional group photo. I would love to see some of those old photos.

We have expanded our trek further into the scenic back roads of the surrounding areas. The past two years we have taken the Fall Brown County Studio Tour (not all of it but what interested us). It is a free, relaxing, self-guided tour designed to showcase two of the areas greatest assets: the natural, quiet beauty of Brown County and the talents of the creative residents. Last year we visited several weavers and a few potters and we can not forget to mention the wineries Jenny took us to. :) I sorta missed the sineries I mean wineries.

This year we mostly visited glass studios and a few potters and. If you wish to know more about the studio tour you can click on this link. http://www.browncountystudiotour.com/falltour2009.htm

I especially liked the small studio- Godly Glass and Photography by Sandy Taylor. Joni and Sandy had some enlightening photography conversation. Sample of Sandy's work.

The next day at lunch time we ate at "The Farmhouse Café” A quaint spot that was recommend by Cheri Platter of Faerie Hollow Studio on the tour. She does beading and pottery. Sample of Cheri's work.

(we were too late in the season for the Boy Scout cuisine) The food at the "The Farmhouse Café” was good and the atmosphere was homey. In the main dining room of the farmhouse itself, the tables and chairs were all mismatched wooden antiques of many various vintages, pedigrees and states of repair. Each table was covered with a flowery, old fashioned cloth. Standing around the walls of the room were several rough, country style dish cupboards, pie safes, and side boards, distressed by age and the paint that marked them as antiques.

After lunch we went to see Anne Ryan Miller’s studio. She is probably the most talented stained glass artist’s we visited. Her work is beautiful. Jenny is wishing to “someday” commission a piece for her large window in her great room. Ann Miller working.

Janine and Jenny left for home before dark and Nick joined us just as they were leaving.Men are usually not allowed. But he had to drive the truck and take camper back home. We really did not want him to make the trip back and forth again in one day.

This next group of pictures were taken that evening, Halloween.

Joni was taking this sunset as I was trying to get the rising moon on the other side of the road.

Joni took this moon shot. It was beautiful the sunset on one side of the ridge and the moon rising on the other.

These are the shots I took just a few minutes later than Joni.

sunset through the trees and Halloween moon

Quote from Little Orphane Anne by Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley

An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't

Watch Out!

The next morning was cold and beautiful. The valleys were blanketed in a heavy mist.

Quotes from the poem by James Whitcomb Riley, When the Frost is on the Punkin When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock, And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock, …

But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock-- When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

Indianapolis Children's Museum

Below are some of the interesting things we did while we waited for our time slot to enter the Tut Exhibit. They tried to control the crowds so there were certain times posted on your ticket stating when you could enter the exhibit. You could stay as long as you wanted but you could not re-enter once you left the viewing area.

As you enter the museum using the pedway from the parking garage this is something to see.

A dinosaur peeking in the window with a young one along side appearing to be half in and half out. Sure nuff when you get inside there they are peering down at you.

Judie and Pat quickly toured the book store/gift shop and moved on to the Dinosaur display. I peeked in and saw the Pterosaur/Pterodactyl flying above. Not sure where Clara was?

Just outside the Dinosaur entrance were these magnificent paper dragons hanging from the ceiling.

I stayed in the Dinosaur exhibit for a short while, but quickly got overwhelmed. I wandered off downstairs and came upon the Reuben Wells.(and you know how I like trains). So this grabbed me right away. Therefore I have to tell you about it. lol

Reuben Wells: Hoosier Locomotive of Distinction

Indiana's first railroad, the JM & I – Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis, opened in 1836, reached Columbus in 1844 and Indianapolis in 1847. At the south end was the Madison Cut, an engineering marvel for the times.

Madison Cut opened to traffic in 1841, the railroad used eight horses driven in tandem to pull each car up the climb of 5.89 per cent and it would attain a length of 7,012 feet. This gave the Madison incline the dubious honor of being the steepest line-haul grade in the country. Most every railroad had a locomotive that became part of railroad folklore. The B & O had its Tom Thumb and there was the Casey Jones and the Wabash Cannonball, to name a few. On the Madison line, the hero of the iron rails was the Reuben Wells.

The master mechanic of the Jeffersonville shop, Reuben Wells, himself; determined that the problem of the steep incline at Madison had to be solved. Wells believed that a properly located center of gravity and enough weight to assure adhesion to the track would enable his engine to climb the grade.

The Reuben Wells, named after this master mechanic, was designed and built in the JM & I shops at Jeffersonville. This was the first locomotive to successfully operate on the grade by adhesion, without using the cast-iron rack and pinion. It went into service in 1868 and was actively used until about 1905.

The World's Largest Water Clock

After we toured the Tut exhibit, tired from standing and walking, we sat and stared at this clock for awhile. We were sitting in the lobby across from the clock when I snagged someone to take the picture of the 4 of us the in Tut blog . This fascinating clock keeps time so accurate you can set your watch by it.

What time is it Pat? (hours are on the left and minutes on the right)

Above you can see some of the school children waiting on the mezzanine for their time to enter the Tut exhibit.

Try to read the large poster to learn how the world's largest water clock works. How does gravity and vacuum suction interact to keep the giant pendulum moving? The magical moment happens when the water clock strikes 1 p.m. and the clock's 12 globes slowly drain to start over.

Pat and I wandered away to view the Stars of the Pharaohs. While Clara and Judie vegged out. We figured we would take it easy and unwind while star gazing. The chairs are much more comfortable and laid back in a planetarium. Surely someone would wake us up when the show was over? The presentation took us back to the skies of ancient Egypt.

The rising of the star (we call Sirius), the Egyptians called Sopdet or Star of Isis was used to predict the annual flooding the Nile River. Sopdet was also called the Nile Star because of its annual appearance just before dawn at the summer solstice, June 21, heralding the coming rise of the Nile, upon which Egyptian agriculture depended. The show renacted the mythological creation of the Egyptian universe and talked about the celestial connections to how they used the stars to tell time, and make a workable calendar. The Sun, Sah (the star we call Orion), and the ancient Pole Star were used to align Egypts monumental temples and pyramids.

King Tutankhamun Exhibit - Indianapolis, Indiana

I am about a month late in posting this. Our trip was October 7, 2009

Tutankhamun The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs is the exhibition that we four travelers made the day trip to Indianapolis to see.

(Judie, Clara, myself, Pat)

Photography was actually not allowed. Some of these images I remembered seeing and I got them off the internet. Some of these are actual photos from the Indy exhibit, shot from the hip by someone before they were busted by security.

The exhibition features 50 objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun including the jewelry that adorned the mummy, the golden sandals that were on the mummy's feet and a beautifully decorated canopic jars that mummified his internal organs.

Decorated Canopic Jars

Golden Sandals

The treasure from the tomb included vast quantities of gold jewelry or gold inlaid items - a gold dagger, a wooden gold decorated inlaid throne, gold statues, carved cosmetic jars, ivory game board set, chests, and various boxes plus lots more.

Wooden gold decorated inlaid throne. Chests and various boxes.

British archaeologist Howard Carter and his sponsor, Lord Carnarvon spent a number of years searching for this tomb they thought might have escaped looters and archeologists. In November 1922, four rooms of King Tut’s nearly intact tomb were discovered. The exhibit includes four galleries that correspond to these four rooms: the antechamber, the annex, the treasury, and the burial chamber.

In the Burial Chamber:

The Pharaoh's mummified body was inside 3 nested coffinettes. The weight of the sarcophaguses was so heavy it took 8 men to lift it. King Tut’s body was carefully wrapped in white cloths, and a Funeral Death Mask was placed over his head.

The outer-first and second sarcophaguses were made of a wood, layered with beaten gold.

The second wood sarcophagus was by far the most elaborate and beautifully decorated of all three.

The third-inner sarcophagus which held his mummified body along with his Funeral Death Mask weighed more than the other two combined. It was only when the layers were removed that the third-inner sarcophagus revealed itself to be solid gold!

Funeral Death Mask

The original mask covering King Tut's head which rested on his shoulders weighed 220 pounds was ornamented with glass and semi precious stones and was made of pure solid gold!

In addition to the treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun, MANY ancient artifacts were featured- furniture, weaponry and statuary which highlight several of the most significant rulers of ancient Egypt such as Khafre, whose great pyramid is the only remaining structure of the seven wonders of the ancient world and Hatshepsut, the queen who became king.

Statue of King Khafre

Stela of Any in a chariot The commemorative stela was found in his tomb. It shows King Tut and Any, a scribe and steward, returning from an awards ceremony where he received from Akhenaten the “gold of honor” which he wears.

Royal Family

Depictions of Akhenaten (possibly his father, certainly a relative), were often featured with elongated heads. It is thought to be likely an exaggeration of a family trait, rather than a distinct abnormality.

The flail and the scepter are ancient royal insignia that almost all the Pharaonic kings are holding it as a sign for royal dignity.

Sarcophagus for Prince Thutmose’s cat: Cats played an important role in Egyptian religion. They were also household pets and could be valuable in controlling snakes and rodents. We Ladies have had a busy day and we are ready to start home