Downtown Harrisburg, Capital of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is a city with rich history that spans over 200 years, most notable during the westward immigration and the Civil War. Foot bridge crossing the Susquehanna River Many of the buildings in downtown Harrisburg were built with sandstone, which is confirmation of the presence of Germans during the westward immigration. The five largest ethnic groups are German (15.0%), Irish (6.5%), Italian (3.3) and English (2.4%). Brick bu

Typical of German Colonial architecture, most often found in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland Many of the houses dated back to 1700 and are made of stone. German Settlers in the American colonies used local materials to recreate building styles from their homeland. Two-feet thick walls made with sandstone. Reinforced stone arches above the first floor windows and doors. Hand-hewn beams pinned with wooden pegs. Exposed half-timbering flared eaves. Massive wishbo

We visited Black Hills Ntl. Forest and Custer State Park which included Mount Rushmore Ntl. Monument. It was a great day, partly cloudy and pleasant temperature. I wanted to get a close up of the head of a bison, but no such luck However I managed to get pretty close to the mountain goat. Half of the body had the new coat, which was very white, but the other half still had last year's coat. We were impressed how well the parks were laid out, well marked, no commercial bus

We visited Badlands yesterday, clear sky and 32 degrees C. Last time I was there was in 1962. It is an impressive landscape.