Long long ago when Karen was in early elementary school, her Dad would read aloud to hear at bedtime. Sometimes they were historical novels aimed at young readers. One of the books was about Sacajawea, Bird Woman. Today we visited the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Park where she lived as a young woman married to Toussaint Charbonneau before Lewis & Clark hired him (them) as guide and interpreters. The contour of the land at the actual site of the village still shows depressions at the sites where the earth lodges once stood. The park service has built a replica of a Hidatsa earth lodge. It’s easy to envision an extended family living in this comfortable space. We particularly enjoyed discussions with the rangers Jeff and Dave giving us a broad overview of the trading patterns among the Native American nations including how the Knife River got its name and specifics about Hidatsa and Mandan society and about Sakakawea and Charbonneau.
By deliberate choice we were in Medina for all the winter holiday festivities from Candlelight Walk in the days before Thanksgiving through A Christmas Carol and A Celtic Christmas as well as an Alex Bevan Concert and a historic house tour all the way through Medina’s 31st Ice Festival but perhaps the highlight was the town hosting hundreds of folks whose homes and lives were devasted by Hurricane Helene at the A Promise of Christmas Event the middle of January. It’s an honor to be a part of this amazing community!
The warmth we anticipated when we headed to the Caribbean in mid-January didn’t really materialize but the fun we had with our dancing friends and the great crew of the Margaritaville at Sea Islander more than made up for the not so favorable weather.
Aboard Jewel of the Seas, a favorite ship of ours, we enjoyed a foray into the history and geology of Canada’s Atlantic coast while enjoying the joys of friendships, longtime and new. Now we’re looking forward to returning to the same ship for further adventures!
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