Appalachia and the Ozarks

In my recent adventure, I traveled to the region known as Appalachia and the Ozarks. This region extends from Tennesse to Pennsylvania. In this region, I explored different things including the coal mines in West Virginia and the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. This region is known for its rugged mountains, great views, and resources. I will show you some of the things that this region has to offer.

In terms of jobs in the region, there are a lot of opportunities to find work in the coal industry. West Virgina is where you can find jobs like this. In recent years West Virginia had been hurt when many people in the area lost their jobs due to new regulations that had been set out by the government. I had found out that now they have been able to find jobs again so I figured that I would pay a visit to them in the coal mines.

When I got there I met with some the coal workers and they told me about what had happened to them. They told me that they had lost their jobs and were unable to make money to support their families anymore. I could tell that they were happy to get back to work. They were also very emotional and you could tell that they wanted to be there. I also met with some of their families and they were very emotional too. They told me they were so excited for the workers to return. This connects well with the region because it reflects the industry in the region.

These are the workers I met with in the mind.

This is the process of cutting out the coal.P

After being in West Virginia for a few days I went to Pennsylvania to check out the Pocono Mountains which is in a National Park. I went there to check it out because it is known for its good views. This region is known for its mountains so I figured that it would be good to check out a place that reflected the views of this region. This park reflects peaks of mountains, waterways, and trees. So I thought it was pretty cool. 

When I got there I saw a lot of people hiking and checking out the bright fall colors in the trees. I also saw people canoeing in the waterways. It seemed like they were all having a good time and enjoying the outdoors. I was also excited to check this out because summer was coming to a close and winter would soon be near. Those people were also enjoying every last moment of summer they could get. It was something to remember forever. My time in that park was truly amazing and I will never forget it. My trip to this region was emotional as well as rewarding in the outdoors. 

Pocono Park 

Kayaking at Pocono Park.

The Changing South

In my recent traveling adventure, I went to the region in the United States known as the Changing South. This region extends from Eastern Texas to Virginia and covers many southern states. This region is known for its different variation of cultures so it is hard to tell what culture is in the south. In this region, I explore a couple places related to music which would be some of the cultures that can be seen in this region. It was really fun to check out.

My first stop in this region was the home of the one and only Elvis Presley. His home is named Graceland and everything related to it has something to do with him. Graceland is just outside of Memphis, Tennesse and here you can find a sense of culture that affected the south in the 1960's. Elvis was known as "The King" and became very popular with his blues music. Blues is what put the city of Memphis on the map and has continued to be a mainstay of culture since then. Blues music had been around before Elvis, but he helped put it on the map for everyone to see.

This is the front of Graceland.

This is the kitchen inside Graceland

When we got to go inside Graceland we were told that we could not touch anything. I was excited to see all of the cool rooms that Elvis had. You could tell that they were decorated by him because they were classy just like Elvis was. I was on a tour with a group and the people who were with me were drawn in and interested in checking out everything. I heard a lot of comments saying that everything was awesome and they hadn't seen a house this cool before. We also got to tour and learn about the blues. After the tour, we all felt that the blues was the best music around. The blues is definitely a culture that you can find in this part of the region.

After a few days, we went to Nashville to check out the Country Music Hall of Fame. There we learned a lot about the history of country music and how it has affected the culture of Nashville. Nashville like Memphis has developed a culture around music except for this type of music is country music. The Country Music Hall of Fame has artifacts that date back to the beginnings of country music. Some of these artifacts are from legends such as Johnny Cash and June Carter. If you go through the evolution of country music there you will see that as the music evolved the culture evolved with that. Even today the culture in Nashville continues to evolve along with the country music. In the hall, you could also see the plaques of all the members which I thought was very cool.

The Country Music Hall of Fame

Dolly Parton's Plaque

While visiting I saw a lot of kids looking at the different exhibits imagining that they were country singers. I even saw some older people looking at artifacts from country singers in the past. They were reminiscing about the good old days when they were in their prime and loved listening to country music. Country Music is also my favorite type of music so I really enjoyed checking out this exhibit. We even saw some people singing music out in front of the hall. In this city, there is definitely a passion for country music. 

Overall my visit to this region was music infested. Both of the places I talked about however represent cultures in the cities they are located in. The Changing South is known for its many different cultures and these are just a few of those. I will definitely come back sometime soon. 

The Agricultural Core

In my latest adventure, I traveled to a region known as The Agricultural Core. This region extends from Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri all the way over to New York and Ontario in Canada. This region is known for its agriculture. This includes crops, livestock, and even forestry. This is the most productive region in both Canada and the United States for agriculture which you can tell by the name of this region. In my first stop on this trip, I stopped by John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois.

John Deere Pavillion is where John Deere the major manufacturer for farming equipment has its main headquarters. The Pavillion is the main visitor center where visitors can learn more about John Deere and the history of the company. They also have a museum full of different tractors throughout the history of John Deere which was very cool to see. They also did a very good job of teaching you about the man you created the company and that was John Deere. You are able to learn about how he created the first plow and how his company got started in 1837.

When I got to John Deere Pavilion I saw a lot of people who were from the city life and I could tell that they were interested in learning more about farming and tractors. I also saw some people who I thought were farmers and were really interested in the tractors and going on about all the facts they knew about each different tractor. I was really interested because I thought that I knew a lot about John Deere but I truly didn't and this was a learning experience for me. This connects to the region very well in that it is an agriculture company that calls this region home. You can't go far anywhere in this region without seeing a John Deere tractor or something related to John Deere.

John Deere Pavilion

Inside John Deere Pavilion 

In the second stop on this trip through The Agricultural Core, I went to Jackson Minnesota. There I toured the manufacturing plant of where they make AGCO Tractors. It was an interesting place to check out because I had never seen how a tractor had been made before. The people who work there are hard workers and definitely show pride in what they do and that is putting tractors together. They also had a nice visitor center that goes over the history of AGCO Tractors.

On the tour, there were a lot of people who were interested in the tour seeing how the tractors were put together. It was like many other factory tours I had been on before. There were a lot of people interested and a lot of things were cool to them so that was fine to me. This connects to the region well because of the part of manufacturing tractors and using them heavily in this region. I will definitely not forget this trip to the region. I was definitely interested in learning more about agriculture.

Workers working on the tractors.


The AGCO Visitor Center in Jackson MN.

The Great Plains

In my recent traveling adventure, I went to the region known as the Great Plains. This region extends from Alberta in Canada all the way down to Texas along the Mexican Border. This region is known for its grasslands that cattle graze, mountains, some forests, and the wide openness of this region. On this trip, I got to check out some really interesting things that can be related to this region. My first stop was in South Dakota to check out Mount Rushmore. This attraction attracts people from all around the country.

In my first stop, I went to Mount Rushmore which is a rock carving of four of Americas greatest presidents. Each of these men helped America in some great way. These men on the carving are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Rosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. It was constructed in the 1940's by Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln. The type of rock that they were carved out into was a rock called granite. It took over 15 years to complete as it was a long drawn out process to carve the rocks. It also was put on hold because of the Great Depression in the 1930's. The project ended up getting completed in 1941. Gutzon had died before it was able to be completed so his son Lincoln finished it. There had also been talks about creating a museum up in the carvings and putting the U.S. Constitution and other documents there but that never happened.

When we got there we saw a lot of people excited and taking pictures from the observatory. You could also rent binoculars from the park service. I saw a lot of American Flags hung everywhere and people American themed clothing. People were very happy to show pride in their country and celebrating history by checking out this historic site dedicated to the presidents. This site is very important to the region as it attracts people to it and helps keeps it on the map.

This is Mount Rushmore from the Observatory Deck.

This is the hole where the museum would have been built on top of the Mountain. 

In the second part of my trip in this region, I stopped by Yellowstone National Park to see a geyser known as Old Faithful. It is a cone geyser that was found during an expedition to the area in 1870. It was also the first geyser to receive a name that is located in the park. It is the most popular geyser in the park and you never know when it is going to go off. If you are there when it does go off it is pretty cool to see. The trick is you never know when it might go off, though.

When I went there I saw a lot of people excited to see if Old Faithful would go off. I spent about two hours at the location and I was luckily able to see it go off. People started cheering in excitement because the thing that they had come to see happened. I was excited too because I thought that it probably wouldn't have gone off while I was there. This geyser helps bring a lot of people to the region and is truly one of the things that help put this beautiful park on the map. I think that this park is truly my favorite.

                                                              Old Faithful

Yellowstone National Park


Overall I enjoyed this region. I didn't see to many people but I saw a lot of the landscape of America. Which is something that I really enjoyed seeing. I will return to this region soon I think.