Center for Historic Architecture and Design

While our trip to Montana was nothing short of a success, the end of the trip became the most harrowing part of the experience. As a group, we were always planning to leave Virginia City Thursday morning, and return to Newark Saturday afternoon. What unfolded was a journey of more than 2,200 miles, and a race to beat mother nature home.

Goodbye Montana!

Thursday morning 7:30 a.m.– We left Virginia City, said our goodbyes to the staff at MHC, as well as the ghosts of the Bonanza Inn, and headed to Bozeman.

Thursday around 9:00 a.m.– We dropped Corinne off at the airport. The remaining field schoolers headed into Bozeman for an epic breakfast. We stopped at “Main Street Overeasy.” To say this was the best breakfast I have ever eaten is an understatement. I myself had the “Bison, Bacon, and Biscuits.” A heavenly union of sausage gravy and biscuits, topped with bison sausage, bacon AND eggs. Gloria had the “Bone-In Country Ham Breakfast,” and the ham was almost as big as her plate! Kevin opted for a huevos special, topped with pulled bison skirt steak (did I mention we were in Montana?)! And Becky had the fluffiest, plate sized pancakes, with bison sausage! Add local roasted Yellowstone Coffee to this mix, and this place might be heaven on earth!

After breakfast the group had an hour or so to explore Bozeman. We dispersed to yarn stores, food co-ops, coffee companies, book stores, and vintage shops. At 11 we reassembled in the car.

Friday 1:00 AM!–After driving at least 13 hours, most of which in MONTANA!, we made it to St. Cloud Minnesota. For those of you who are counting we went through Montana, North Dakota, and into Minnesota. We drove through the picturesque Painted Canyon, North Dakota Badlands and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Through out our drive on Thursday, we kept getting various updates (when cell service was available) about the unfolding State of Emergency in Delaware.

Friday 7:00 a.m.– The group piled back into the car after 5 hours of sleep. We left St. Cloud, MN, bright and early. We drove through the rest of Minnesota, down through Madison, Wisconsin, and then onto Chicago. We hit some traffic in Chicago, and continued to Indiana.

Friday 9:00 p.m.– We arrived for the night, right outside of Cleveland, OH. After another long day of driving, the group was famished, and headed to a local diner, “Memories.” After returning to the hotel, we had access to the internet, and the insanely intense news coverage of the impending storm. The University of Delaware had cancelled student move-in, orientations, and classes indefinitely! What were we returning to? Would we make it?

Saturday 6:30 a.m.– At breakfast in the hotel we met a group of electricians from Chicago, IL, heading to Chester CO., PA. They were dispatched ahead of the storm, to help with the inevitable power outages Irene was going to cause. We learned that our hotel was completely booked, mostly with first responders!

"Irene" trucks

All that lay between the CHADsters and Delaware was the state of Pennsylvania, and it’s turnpike. Traffic was typically heavy, however  who was driving it had dramatically changed. We saw a lot of cars from PA, and NJ, also hoping to make it home before the storm, and convoys. Lots and lots of convoys. We passed upwards of 10, each containing 20 or so vehicles. We saw responders from FEMA, Ohio Task Force 1, tree trimers, trucks with “Irene” in duct tape on the back, from Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. What were we doing? Talk about counter intuitive!

Saturday  1:00 p.m. (ish)– We stopped outside of Lancaster, PA to pick up groceries. After having been gone 10 days, no one was prepared to return home, let alone to a possible natural disaster!

Ohio Task Force 1

Saturday 1:30 p.m.– As the first rain drops were falling on Newark, CHAD’s field school rolled in to town. We unpacked the van, and our repacked cars said our good byes, and went home to ride out the storm!

Everyone arrived safely, but what a strange crazy trip.

Convoy!

For more info on places we stopped:

http://www.mainstreetovereasy.com/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm

–Doc Holliday

The real star of the trip so far has been the huckleberry. Lets just say that the field crew has huckleberry mania. As wikipedia helpfully tells us, “huckleberries are enjoyed by many mammals, including grizzly bears and humans.”

So far on the trip the crew has had huckleberry ice cream, huckleberry truffles, huckleberry bark, huckleberry beer, huckleberry soda, huckleberry tea, huckleberry wine, huckleberry taffy, huckleberry fudge, huckleberry Italian cream soda, huckleberry licorice, huckleberry jam, huckleberry pie, and huckleberry syrup.

Keep those huckleberries coming!

Kevin tasting his first huckleberry chocolate in West Yellowstone.

High Points and Low Points!

Tonight is our last night in Virginia City before we start the long trek home. After a delicious chicken dinner prepared by Corinne, Cate, and Kevin, we are thinking about the high and low points of the trip.

Trek up to Mount Cookie

Corinne’s high point was hiking to the top of the mountain behind the Bonanza Inn, affectionately named Mount Cell Phone Tower, and finishing her very first elevation, of the Bickford House. Low point…regretting not buying more huckleberry chocolate in Yellowstone Park, because it ranked highest on the huckleberry scale!

Gloria’s high and low coincided on the question of where to put the dimension strings on her board…
Kevin’s list of high points: the non-appearance of any ghosts in the Bonanza Inn; double rainbow; spotting the Hawaii license plate; completing the site plan in China Town; the Victorian Promenade for Peace; drawing both an outhouse AND an opium den…NO low points!

The Bonaza Inn

Cate’s low point was realizing her career as a microbrewer was over before it began due to her unfortunate allergy to hops plants. Her high point was the entire rest of the trip…

Sunrise over Ennis, MT.

Becky’s low point was when the van decided to stop in front of the sheriff’s office and refused to go out of the parking gear. High point was learning to use a drop spindle and overdosing on log construction

None of us are ready to go home….in fact some of us are already planning a return trip next summer…stay tuned!

Yesterday took us to the Sarah Bickford House on the outskirts of Virginia City. Sarah Bickford, is a compelling figure in Montana, as well as U.S. history. Bickford–born enslaved, emigrated to Montana in 1871. She married twice, and acquired a controlling share in the town’s water company. By 1888, Bickford was the only African American Woman in Montana, to own a utility company. She died in 1931,  after living in Virginia City close to 60 years.

Sarah Bickford House

The Bickford House, now owned by the Montana Heritage Commission, has never been documented before. We went out to the house, and completed the floor plan (Gloria drawing the footprint) and an elevation of the original front of the house (Corinne’s first elevation!).

Elevation work

During the course of our day, Kevin had a mishap, and fell (but he is OK now).

Later in the evening we hosted four Montana Heritage Commission employees for dinner. We had salad, spaghetti and meat sauce, with garlic bread, and Montana Ice Cream. Corinne made the feast, and the MHC crew supplied the dessert.

The Crew

The crew continued with MHC, on into the night, at the Pioneer Bar. Where Kevin, again, had a mishap and fell. He just can’t stay on his feet!

For more info on Sarah Bickford please see:

http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aaw/bickford-sarah-gammon-1855-1931

http://sarahbickford.org/

We rolled into town in the early evening last night. We stopped in Ennis, MT to pick up some groceries.

The Lake Hotel

Earlier in the day we drove through Yellowstone National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site! We stopped at Lake Yellowstone, the Lake Hotel (on the National Register), Old Faithful, the Old Faithful Inn (on the National Register, and a U.S. National Historic Landmark), and the Midway geyser basin.  We also saw some animals, bison and elk, but not as many as last time.

The Group at Old Faithful

After exiting the park, we had a free hour and a half to explore the town of West Yellowstone. The group broke up to shop, eat, and experience Montana. We also got to see another National Register site, the Eagles Store, originally a general store, and soda shop.

Midway Geyser

Today documentation begins. We are touring Virginia City, and starting field work down in Nevada City. The sites selected for documentation are in the “China town” area, and are all wooden vernacular structures.

Elk on the river

–Buffalo Bill

We made it to Cody, Wyoming last night, aptly named for Buffalo Bill Cody, before dinner. We rested up a bit and went out to dinner (Buffalo Burger, natch), and sampled some of the local micro-brews (Moose Drool)!

Cody, WY

On the last leg of our journey, we drove through Bighorn National Park (also a scenic byway!)

Bighorn National Park

This morning we went to a local diner, “Our Place,” recommended by one of the friendly locals. We are currently en route to Yellowstone. Expect updates and scenic views!

Our Place

Greetings from the road! We have been driving for an amazing 27 hours straight, and are right outside Kadoka, South Dakota! We have a great, and affable bunch of folks assembled, who are all excited for the task at hand–conquering the rest of this journey!

Chicago Tolls

We have passed through Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, AND Minnesota so far. We are heading for Cody, WY tonight, and are expecting to be in around dinner time!

Sunrise over the Missouri River (in SD)

Tomorrow we are driving through Yellowstone, and stopping for some sightseeing and recreational activities in West Yellowstone. We should be in Virginia City by night fall on Friday–stay tuned!

P.S. Follow us on Twitter @CHAD_UDel ! Kevin is keeping it current with his witticisms.

By Kevin Barni:

Today is our final day in the office before shipping out for an exciting two weeks in Montana. Going on this trip is a ragtag group of pioneers setting out to document buildings in the Chinatown district of Nevada City as well as a house located in Virginia City.  Among the possible sites are the Sarah Bickford House, a brothel and an opium den.

The Group

This trip isn’t all work. We have plans to stop in Cody, Wyoming. This will be our first extended stop after 30 hours of driving, YIKES, and will be close to the Buffalo Bill Historic Society! We also have the opportunity to drive through Yellowstone National Park on our way to Virginia City, MT.

All told our trip will take us through 11 states and over 4400 miles. We’re not saying it will be pretty, but it will definitely be an adventure.