In order to travel to Iceland, Americans had to be vaccinated and present a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of departure. We were vaccinated, but getting the test in that time frame over a weekend was not as easy.
We ended up driving to a testing facility in Denver on the Saturday before our Monday flight. The results came back quickly, negative as expected. |
| Result - Negative |
Now, all that was left to do was finish packing.
Although we were sad to leave NERI, we were more excited about the many upcoming travel adventures we had to look forward to. Because we had been having issues with the RV not starting, we made our way to Knoxville, Tennessee, so that the Mercedes dealer there could see what was going on. Unfortunately, they couldn't seem to find what was causing our issue.
Although we had originally planned to take a more scenic route home, visiting two new National Park units on the way, we decided to scrap that plan. We didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere and have RV issues.
We therefore took the safe way back, interstates almost the entire way. We also decided to stay in hotels right off the highway instead of more remote campgrounds.
The highlight of the trip happened on our last day when we stopped to see the Kit Carson County Carousel in Burlington, Colorado. The building was closed, and we had to peek through the windows to see the beautiful interior. I’d love to see it when it’s operating.
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| Kit Carson County Carousel |
As I’ve mentioned before, I love working at NERI and fondly think of the museum collection as “mine.” We really feel like we have accomplished so much over our last five years working here and that the collection is in so much better shape than it was.
This year, we continued to perform backlog cataloging and re-housed and reorganized the museum collection. We also decided to tackle the many items that had never been accessioned into the collection.
In order to make it easier for those who will come after us, we inventoried and photographed all of the unaccessioned items. These items will require a review and determination as to whether they meet the Scope of Collection Statement and should or should not be accessioned into the collection.
Jessica was so good at her job that we recommended that NERI hire her as a museum technician. By doing so, however, we pretty much guaranteed that NERI would no longer need our services. That’s a sad thought for us, but the park needs Jessica on a full-time basis.
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| Finishing Our Project at NERI |
Our last field trip in West Virginia was a bit farther afield. Tim and I like to visit state capitol buildings but had somehow never made the time to visit West Virginia’s. To rectify that omission, we drove to Charleston to tour the capitol.
Designed by Cass Gilbert, the structure was dedicated in 1932. It is said that Gilbert liked the design of the interior so well that he reused part of the design for the United States Supreme Court.
Almost all state capitol buildings are impressive structures, and this one was no exception. I always love to look up inside the domes, and I was quite impressed by the huge crystal chandelier.
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| West Virginia State Capitol |
