Big Sky Country

We couldn't get out of that hotel fast enough! We've been so lucky with hotels but last night neither one of could sleep! Visions of bed bugs and all sorts of nasty thoughts filled our heads. Thank you, Cathy Gordon, for the bed bug spray!

We drove the final hour to reach the Little Bighorn Monument.  Thank goodness we made the decision to stay in Sheridan so we could visit this piece of history. I'll admit that I didn't know much about the battle and didn't care if I visited this park. Jim was the one that didn't want to miss it. I'm so glad he did. I learned so much! It is an important part of history.  

We took a bus tour that had an American Indian tour guide to tell the story from the Indian perspective. The first thing we came across were horses roaming the battlefield. They block the road and we wove our way through them. Eventually they moved aside to let us through. They were just beautiful.

It was a short drive to the other end of the battlefield.  The guide told us the story along the way. There are markers where all of the soldiers and the Indians had fallen. The white markers are for the

soldiers and the brown are for the Indians.

I had always thought that thousands of men lost their lives at Little Bighorn but was surprised to know the numbers weren't that high. The soldiers were outnumbered by so many. Custer had no idea how many Indians were prepared to fight for their land.

There is a even a marker for the horses that died. There have been numerous studies of the area and there are markers all across the acres of battlefield that show where they know men had fallen.

The Indians are sad that the battle had to happen and sorry for the loss of lives but they do not apologize for defending their land. It had been given to them by the government but when gold was discovered there was a change of plans.  That's the story.

Moving along now, we need to make up time and get to St. Mary tonight. It was originally going to be a 6 hour drive. Since we stayed to see Little Bighorn we now have an 8 hour drive. It's 11 AM by the time we're leaving the monument and Glacier Park, here we come!

One of the funny things we've noticed in Wyoming and Montana are the casinos.  It seems like every gas station and liquor store has a casino. They are everywhere! I thought my gambling friends would like to see this. They are about the size of a 7-11. It's pretty funny. I peeked in while Jim was getting gas today and there are about 50 machines at the most. It's crazy!

We were so tired but just kept driving. Montana is such a beautiful state. The eastern side is mostly ranches and farming. The clouds were coming in and it was very windy.

We were so happy to drive in and find our hotel. We had made arrangements through Glacier National Park and got a room just outside the entrance to the park.

The St. Mary Lodge is a wonderful place. Our room is on the third
 floor with a fabulous view.  We couldn't believe how lucky we were to get such a great room at short notice.  After a long drive
J
Jim deserved a beer!

We went down to the dining room and had a lovely prime rib dinner with a dessert of Huckleberry Parfait.  Jim thought we should try the Buffalo Quesadilla. I tried it and it was good but I just had a hard time with it after seeing them at Custer State Park.

 This morning, after a breakfast of French Toast with Huckleberry syrup, we started our drive to The Going-to the-Sun Road. I don't have the words to convey how beautiful this park is.  We had to pull out at every turn out because it is breathtaking and we needed to stop and enjoy every view.


We were concerned about the weather last night but we woke up to a beautiful day. It would have been beautiful even with rain but this was as close to Heaven as I've ever been!

 The photo on the right is of the Jackson Glacier. There is still a lot of snow which means the snow melt is in full force. There are waterfalls every way you look. The water is just running down the side of the mountains and there's an area that our car was showered with run-off.

 We haven't had the car washed since we left and it's beginning to look like a mess!  We had a rock hit our windshield in Texas and have been driving with a crack across the driver's side.  Then Jim hit something he thought was a snake (I thought it might have been a stick) that scratched the passenger door. Since we're practically living out of this car it is getting trashed! Poor thing! It has driven beautifully and is still taking good care of us. We have put over 9,000 miles on it so far. It just needs to hang in a little longer and get us back to Fresno!


Anyway, back to the drive. Logan's Pass is the peak of the drive and the snow is still quite deep. The elevation is 6,682 feet.



 I could have taken photos of the waterfalls and mountains all day but we did need to keep moving.

At the other side of the park we drove along the river until we reached Lake McDonald. Jim kept saying he wanted to touch the water.

We finally found a spot that we
could get to the water. It is so clear that you can see the pebbles in the lake in this picture.  There were hundreds of minnows swimming here. The water was as smooth as glass. What a wonderful day!



At the West entrance to the Park we visited the Apgar Lodge and enjoyed some ice cream. If you've never been to Glacier National Park I highly recommend it. There have been so many beautiful places            
                                                     on this trip but this Park is at the top of my list!

This is the extent of wildlife today! We had high hopes of seeing a bear or an elk...anything! It was not to be but at one of the stops we were visited my this little critter. Jim thinks it's a marmot. Another man at the turn out thought sure it was a ground hog. Whatever he was, he crawled under the man's car and they had to bribe him out with raisins. He was pretty cute.

This has been an amazing day. I know this is a pretty long post and thank you for hanging in there with me. We had no Internet service at our lodge last night so this is two days together. We are looking forward to Yellowstone tomorrow but we are sure looking forward to getting home, too! We miss our family and friends so much. We can't wait to see you!

We finally made it to Mount Rushmore!

We made it!!! The first time we planned a trip to Mount Rushmore our children were toddlers.  It's now 33 years later and we arrived.

Yesterday had been such a long day and we just weren't able to get in what we had planned. So today we thought we'd sight-see in the morning and be on our way to Billings. This is the first day we REALLY didn't plan well.  The day began perfectly with our drive to Mount Rushmore. It is a thrill when you come around the curve and there it is! Just like we've seen in pictures our entire lives.

The funny thing is that after waiting for so many years to see this, we didn't stay very long! We looked for about 10 minutes and that was it! We were both ready to move on.

 The plan was to see the two monuments, go see the Mammoth site and that would be our morning. Wrong! First we found out that the mammoth site was about a 2 hour drive in the wrong direction. We were a bit disappointed but knew we couldn't fit it into our day. A quick trip around the loop of Custer State Park and up to Crazy Horse Monument.

The problem is there's just so much to see and it's all so interesting. You just can't rush this.  We started the loop and it is very slow driving. Most of the time is about 25 mph and you just HAVE to stop at every look-out point.

 This is one of the tunnels in the park and when you come out you can see Mount Rushmore across the canyon. The drive was on a winding road with so much to see.  We came around a curve and there were buffalo, hundreds of them! These were right on the side of the road. It was so hard to stay in the car. I felt like I could walk up and pet them. There are warnings everywhere that they are dangerous so we sat tight and just watched.

 

This was the most exciting wildlife experience I've ever had.  They keep the number of buffalo in the park controlled. They round them up each year. Right now there are about 1,300 in the park.

  We had been told about the wild burros before we came and I had thought people were crazy to be so trusting to feed them by hand. We came to an open area and here they were, just as adorable as they could be.

 They are so tame and just want to be fed. I was still not sure I'd be letting my children get so close but all the kids were loving it. The parents weren't concerned at all. I wouldn't put my hand in front of their mouths though, they're still wild animals!

 After the burros we continued around the loop and on to the Crazy Horse Monument that is still in the works. On the way we encountered road work and had several delays. This made the time in the car even longer!

The drive was worth it because the Crazy Horse story is a wonderful one. This work started in 1948 and is an amazing undertaking. There is an inspirational video with the story of the artist and his family that is continuing his work.

This is the sculpture that shows what the monument will look like when it's completed. It's so hard to imagine that anyone could have the vision to carve this out of the mountain, and with dynamite!

 We really need to get going but there are more road delays. Our next stop is right on the way to Billings and then we'll hit the road. What looks so close on the map takes hours to get to!

The next stop is The Devil's Tower. This was the first National Monument in this country. It was formed 500 Million years ago by volcanic activity. The magma burst up through the layers of earth. When it cooled it formed columns. Erosion eventually left the columns of rock that are there today.

It  was such a great day. To see these marvels and be able to see wild buffalo and burros. Wow, this was really something!

Also in the area is a field of hundreds of prairie dogs. They are so cute and they are everywhere! There are only three major areas where these animals live now. They, too, are very tame and not afraid of people. You are asked to not feed them. They are sure fun to watch.

It's too bad we have made plans for hotels for the next week because we could have stayed here in South Dakota and Wyoming for several more days. It's a wonderful place. However, it's now late afternoon and we still have a 4 hour drive to Billings.

On the way to Billings we want to see the Little Big Horn Battlefield. It is in Montana about an hour before Billings. After driving for two hours we knew there was no way we could make it before the Visitor Center closed. I got on the iPad and started looking for a hotel in Wyoming close to Little Big Horn.

Let me tell you...there are slim pickens' out here in Wyoming! This is the most wide open country I've ever seen! You can drive for miles and not see another car. At one stretch we went 66 miles between exits!  So finding a room isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I was able to get a room and this place is a dive! However, it's a place to sleep and we're happy to have it. This was such a long day and we're so tired but it was a fabulous day.  We'll be up early and on the way to the battlefield. Then we'll have a long drive ahead of us to make up for the time we lost today. Thank goodness we have a couple of wonderful days planned at Glacier and Yellowstone. We need a rest from our vacation!

South Dakota and the Badlands

Getting an early start was important this morning. We had so much to see and a long drive ahead of us. Luckily, we knew we'd be changing time zones today and that would give us another hour. It still wasn't enough time! We never made it to Mount Rushmore today!

The day started with a trip to Sioux Falls.

 This is a beautiful area carved out by a glacier many moons ago. It changed the course of the river.  The city has been built around the Falls and it is right in the downtown area.

We were so glad we needed a place to sleep and this was the city we landed in. It was a beautiful morning. What a great way to start the day!

 There's not a lot to look at in South Dakota. Farm after farm and wide open spaces. They do a wonderful job attracting your attention to road signs and billboards.

From the time we crossed the border we started noticing signs for the "The World's Only Corn Palace".  Thinking that was pretty funny we ignored them for at least a hundred miles.

It was a really long drive and decided to take a break. We knew it would be "corny" but what a nice surprise.  This is a tribute to corn and the agricultural heritage of South Dakota.  Aside from this funny little corn outside it was so interesting! All of the murals on the building are made from corn. Ears of different colored corn are used along with husks and stalks, all parts of the corn are used.

 Each year the walls are stripped down and redesigned by an artist. The murals are completed and the season is celebrated with a festival at the end of harvest.  The murals are incredible. Inside and outside the building is covered with corn.  Unbelievable!  This has been happening since 1892!


Also along the highway, from the very first mile you're in the state, you see signs for Wall Drug. There has to be a billboard every mile. It's in the town of Wall. The town was built around this drug store. They offered travelers free ice water to get them to stop on the way across the state.

After seeing those billboards for 200 miles we were hooked.  The scenic drive through the Badlands comes back to the highway at Wall, South Dakota. We'll check that out, too!

First, the Badlands...after driving through hundreds of miles of corn fields this rock formation arises in the distance. It was a welcome view but we had no idea what was in store for us.

It's so hard to capture the beauty and grandeur of these rocks.  Thousands of years of erosion have created miles of the most interesting formations.

The drive through the park is about 20 miles and we had to stop at each turn out for a different view.

At one turn out there was a traffic jam. Everyone was watching big horn sheep. They were just off the road and there were several adults with offspring.  Of course, this was the time my camera decided to fail me!


I grabbed my cell phone and tried to get a shot.  No luck! This was the second time my camera has failed me.  I took the rest of today's pics by cell phone.

After the drive through the Badlands we arrived at Wall Drug. What began as a small drug store with a soda fountain has turned into a huge store. It is 76,000 square feet!  The Wall family continued to buy spaces adjoining the first Drug Store. It must have 10 different rooms with different items. More things than you could imagine. We bought some Mount Rushmore Animal Crackers for the Grandkids and went on our way.  We are still trying to make it to Mount Rushmore.




 It was 5:00 by the time we arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota. We won't have time today to get there. We are going to check out the downtown area and see what this city is all about. It is called the city of Presidents. On each street corner there is a life sized bronze sculpture of each of the US Presidents except for Obama. He will be honored after his term is over.




The President on the left is John Adams. I was thrilled to see his statue because we had just seen his Presidential Library while in Boston.

Jim found his buddy George H. W. Bush and we thought they looked like a fun pair!

This is a darling mountain city with a hopping downtown. We found an old fire station that has been turned into a Brewery and Grill. I had the most wonderful fish tacos. Jim had a bacon cheeseburger and we both enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.

By now we know my camera is not going to make the rest of the trip. We had to go find a store where I could get another camera to finish the trip.  We found a Sears and we're in business. I have my new camera charging so it will be ready for tomorrow.

We didn't make it to Mount Rushmore today but we had a ball. Stopping along the way to visit the Corn Palace and Wall Drug took several more hours but they were worth it! They made South Dakota a fun visit. The Badlands were a sight to behold and we still have tomorrow to visit Mount Rushmore. Keep your fingers crossed that the new camera will work!