Thursday, July 18, 2019

Travel Journal Views

Happy Thursday or whatever day it is you stop by to visit.  We're in between one warm and humid day and the real heat arriving tomorrow. Sounds like this weekend is going to be very hot, not just for me but for a big part of both the US and parts of Canada. (Stay cool if you are in the heat please.)
I'll warn you, today's post is rather long.
So this week I have been splitting some of my time between working on cleaning out some "stuff" in the basement and making art. One thing I am working on is my travel journal from my summer adventure. Here's a few views.
 This page flips open. I made the background with some cut out from a North Dakota agriculture brochure I picked up (and actually read as I was curious about what was growing in all the fields). I used matte medium to attached the cut outs and then once dry, I gave them a rub with some brown ink. After that I laid out my page and decided where I needed to add a bit of white paint. Then I added some assorted paraphernalia from the stash, as well as some green velvet trim and a long scrapbooking sticker.
And when you flip open this page, you get this map inside.
 I found this map in another freebie travel brochure and after attaching it,  I used Sharpies to outline our routes. I used a few stickers as well as some other travel brochure cut outs. I stamped the pickup truck on the bottom right as added it as it seems white pickups are the thing in North Dakota. (A lot of them of oil company vehicles but I don't think they all are.) I also stamped our little blue rental vehicle and ran off some facts from the internet which I also added.
One place we visited was Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park outside of Bismarck. A woman on the plane had recommended it to us. My page and half spread right below focuses on the US military end of the park, but I am also in process of working on a page that shows the Mandan Native Americans, which this park also has a great learning area about. 
Here's a bit of a background and about why we visited, other than it is there and we were passing by: Many years ago  we had visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, which was General George Armstrong Custer's last stand in a battle with the Northern Plains Indians for land and freedom back in the 1870's. I have to say The Little Bighorn battlefield was a very moving place for me.  Not because of Custer, but because of the Native American speaker we listened to that day who was an extremely gifted storyteller and also really made the battle come alive. And I'm not even into battles. (Maybe I like this one because the Native Americans actually won this one-although not the war.)
Anyhow, Fort Abraham Lincoln is where Custer and his troops were stationed and set out from before that battle, never to return.  You can tour the house where he and his wife were living, as well as barracks, etc. 
For those of you unfamiliar with this story, the postcard partially covered on the right is a vintage photo of Custer. 
 My spread is a collection of brochure cut outs, the wristband we wore in the park, as well as a few other bits and pieces.
 We also visited a National Historic site called Fort Union which was a trading post right on the Montana/North Dakota line. This page above is about the side trip. The postcard does lift up and I added some written info underneath.
 And here is a couple of tags I made for the book. I showed you photos last week of the Enchanted Highway and below is the back of this tag. I wanted to remember where we stayed just in case I ever need to know that.

And here's a few related photos to my pages and things I mentioned above in the post.
Here is part of the Mandan Indian Village at Fort Abraham Lincoln that I mentioned.
We also drove by the North Dakota State Capitol, which is  shown on this same page. It was lunch time and we were passing through the area so we drove in to find a place to eat and figured we might as well check it out while we were there.
It is the tallest building in the state.
 A view of the inside of Fort Union Trading Post that I mentioned. And below is the outside view. The reason there at Teepees here is that this was a trading fort in the early 1800's with both the Native Americans and the Canadian trading posts in the area.
And this next photo is one of the silly things that I love. Fort Union sits right on the border between North Dakota (this part of the state is in Central Time) and Montana (which is in Mountain Time), making them  one hour apart. Look at the time on my husband's and my phones.
I was in mountain time and he was in central time.
Too bad I had that pop up to cover Maddie's face on mine.
And since I took you on a journey today, I can say we're all going to North Dakota, which means I shall be linking up to Chris' challenge at Art Journal Journey.

OK, enough written. Thanks for reading through all this and hope you stay cool.

18 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Fantastic and fun post! How cool to stand next to each other and be in different time zones! Love your journal pages, they will be a treasure to look back at in days o come. Great photos, too, thanks for sharing. You had such an interesting trip. Enjoy your day, hugs, Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

Thanks for taking me with you to North Dakota chair wise this afternoon Erika! Fantastic pages and photos and much interesting facts for me as well!
So pleased to see your wonderful posting and the pages are meant for Chris' topic! Thank you for all your wonderful support this month again!
Happy time, hope you will enjoy a wonderful boot weekend ahead when it is going to be so hot! Enjoy!!!

Susi xxx

Divers and Sundry said...

This looks like a great way to remember the trip with the inclusion of brochure elements, wristband and such. I'm particularly interested in the Indian Village with those mounds. Thanks for the virtual travel experience :)

Birgit said...

it sounds like you had a great time learning about North Dakota and seeing Little Big Horn. I always felt worse for the Indians even if they won the battle. I guess I am on their side. I had no idea there is only 1% of the trees left in this state-Wow! I like your journal pages where you can lift up the page and get more info. I's like to visit there plus Montana. The phones and times are pretty cool

Anne (cornucopia) said...

This was a fun blog post to read and see. I love your travel journal pages. They do a great job of documenting the trip with maps and images. I laughed at the photo of your cell phones being in two different time zones, right next to each other. North Dakota looks like a beautiful place to visit. It was nice of the person on the plane to give you a recommendation for a park to visit. The heat wave begins in CT tomorrow: 90+ degrees F for the next 3 days. We also currently have an Excessive Heat Watch for Saturday. I didn't realize the heat was going to extend all the way into Canada. That's pretty bad. I don't have AC, so it will be rough sleeping at night, because the lows will be in the mid 70s. Ugh.

CJ Kennedy said...

What a fabulous trip and I love how you documented it. That is so cool about the side by each time zones. Stay cool

kathyinozarks said...

I enjoyed this thank you

Pink Rose said...

Hi Erika wow what amazing pages you have made and i love your travel pics lots to see,thankyou for sharing with us xx

Lowcarb team member said...

Nice art work.
I enjoyed seeing your photographs, I especially liked the one with the Teepees.

All the best Jan

craftytrog said...

I love these pages Erika, such wonderful memories of your trip, I enjoyed reading about it.
Happy weekend,
Alison xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

This was a wonderful post, Erika. It was full of great memories for me, and some of what I live through.

Did you know that the wheat harvest starts in Texas every June, then works its way north though Kansas, Nebraska, the two Dakotas and finally stops in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. I thought of that when I saw the wheat sign on the background of your page.

I remember Fargo. I assure you it was nothing like the movie. No killings when I was there (grin).

I never saw Fort Abe Lincoln State Park, but I have been to Little Bighorn several times. This was such a fun and informative post and all the memories this brought back. I am deeply touched by these pages and I am thrilled you shared them with us using Chris's theme at Art Journal Journey.

R's Rue said...

I love your photos. Happy Friday.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com

Jeanie said...

Your trip sounds fascinating and I just LOVE how you have journaled it. That last shot of the phones is good.

This is territory I've never traveled before. Completely new. And you have brought a whole new interest on me to one day see this area. I don't know that I could ever journal so well as you but I would love the travel!

Neet said...

Guess that last photo should be described as "kewl" even though it promises to be warm. Thanks for the journal pages, informative as well as fun, and for someone like me who has no chance of seeing that scenery thanks for the photos too. What great memories are in this post.
Hugs, Neet xx

Meggymay said...

I have enjoyed looking at your travel pages Erika. The scenery looks lovely and you must have stored many memories, thank you for sharing views of places i am never to see for real.
Yvonne xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

Wow! This looks to be quite a trip! I would be fascinated (as I was by your pages) to visit here! What fun to see your cell phones side by side too! I am so pleased that you are sharing these pages at AJJ, as of course, they are perfect for my theme! I hope you are staying cool in your heatwave! Hugs, Chrisxx

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Enjoyed seeing your travel shots, Erika. We visited the ND capitol last year and it was the least impressive of the ones we saw on our NH to OR road trip. The art deco style was quite unique and the exterior was what we liked best.

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, so many beautiful pages to remember your adventures by! It looks like you had the most wonderful time 😀. Take care! Jo x