Bear Country, USA

This is a drive-thru park, which means you're on your own. What a treat! Over 50 bears, some mountain lions, elk and much more.
Note: This may be our last blog entry for a couple of days, if we're without internet access. See you soon!

Mt. Rushmore Lighting Ceremony

This ceremony happens every evening and is regularly attended by over 1000 people. The program is informative and very patriotic, giving the history and backgrounds of each of the 4 presidents. Well done!

Badlands Natl Park

The Badlands is a sight to behold. The strangest formations of sandstone covering an area of 244,300 acres. Really a Kodak moment!

Wall Drug - Wall, SD

We could've spent 2 days here! This is the most well-known landmark on Highway 90 in SD. Quite an interesting "family" story connected to this huge drug store success!

Deadwood, SD

Deadwood is a small Las Vegas, full of bars, casinos, dancers, but no high-risers. This is the town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed. So glad we took the time to visit! (A piece of history.)

Sturgis, SD Harley Museum

This '49 Harley Sundance motorcycle was the most expensive bike in its time and was owned by a Texas oil man. (All chrome and very little paint!)

Sturgis/Spearfish/Pactola Lake

This was one of the most (unexpected) scenic drives we've experienced! It's called the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Bypass and is approximately 20 miles long. On the way we passed 3 different waterfalls and Pactola Lake, which was a highly recommended "tourist go-see". Max liked it, too. The weather, again, was a little "iffy", but we only had a couple of sprinkles.

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse is a tribute monument to the Indians of the territory. Started in 1948 by sculptor Korezak Ziolkowski and will be completed ????. Although he died in 1982 his family is still continuing the work. It will be the largest carving (even larger than Mt Rushmore upon completion)in the world. The small sculptor is what it is supposed to look like when finished.

Custer State Park - Wind Cave

We were up and out by 8:00 this morning, mainly because people told to go early for our visit at Custer State Park. Little did we know what to expect. First of all, this whole area was very pretty throughout. Soon after entering the park we peaked a hill and came across this hugh herd of buffalo....literally 100s. They blocked traffic and made it known to everyone there that we were invading their turf. Entertaining to say the least! The volunteer in charge told us some interesting facts. Buffalo can run up to 35 mph and outrun many horses. Also, they can jump with ease over the fence where Wil was standing, and the males weigh up to and often more than a ton!
A little further up the road turned out to be hilarious! There were several donkeys being fed by people in cars and were, consequently, being very friendly. One of them approached our car and, out of curiosity, Max found himself nose to nose with one of them. "Put your face that close to me and you get a kiss!"
Later, we spotted deer, antelope, and prairie dogs as well. It was also published to be coyote and mountain lion territory. Wil said, "thanks, but no thanks."
This reminded us both of the "very" wild animals we encountered during our Alaska trip.
A good adventure, and we strongly recommend this!















From Custer State Park we drove down the road a bit to Wind Cave National Park. Neither of us knew much about this, so we bought tickets and within minutes found ourselves part of a tour group. The tour we went on was 1.5 hrs long, 300 stairs DOWN (or 20 stories underground). A little crazy and nothing like any cave or cavern we've been in. Thankfully we rode an elevator out!!! Quite a history and glad we did this.

Mt. Rushmore

Here we are at Mt. Rushmore. WOW! A very spectacular, massive, unbelievable carving in solid granite and the largest monument in the world. We visited the Borglum Museum, who was the sculptor, together with 400 workers, who created the faces of 4 presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. It was completed in 1941, 6 months after Borglum died. Absolutely incredible!!! We were honored to meet one of the original drillers, Nick Clifford, while there.
Much more to see and do this week! See you later!

Cheyenne - Scottsbluff NB - Hermosa SD

From Cheyenne we drove through a small portion of Nebraska and experienced a beautiful countryside of rolling hills and farms. A real "change of scenery", except.... we caught the tail-end of a passing storm. No problem though. We ended up at a Wal Mart Super Center in Scottsbluff and spent the night. (Some thunder and lightning, which Max didn't like, but luckily it didn't develop into anything.)
We got an early start the next morning and encountered more threatening, dark clouds. But, again nothing happened. We arrived 2 hours later at our campground in Hermosa, where we will be staying for a full week. It's very nice and located close to Mt. Rushmore.

Cheyenne WY

Our tours through Cheyenne resulted in a whole day's worth. First of all, we toured both the original governor's mansion. Then, we had a guided 'private' tour (we were the only ones at the time) of the current governor's mansion, which is a sprawling ranch built in the 1970s. Both were beautiful in their own rights.
After lunch, we bought tickets for an afternoon 1.5 hour bus tour of Cheyenne that was really interesting and informative!! This took us to most of the historic places and the information of each. Our tour guide was extremely entertaining and talked non-stop. All in all, a great time!

Vernal UT to Cheyenne WY

The Flaming gorge is 70% in Wyoming and a huge lake. The dam is in Utah.

Along I-80 is this tree which grows in the rock. Quite a specticle........ Tomorrow we plan on visiting sights in Cheyenne.

Ashley Ntl Forest/Dinosaur Ntl Monument

Hope all you fathers had a great day! Ours started from Price, Utah, driving through Ashley National Forest. Wow!! What a trip! One of those experiences that you can't capture by camera. Anyway, we arrived in Vernal, Utah late morning. Found a Walmart Super Center and settled in (along with several other RVs). After lunch, we drove approx 41 miles to the Dinosaur National Monument. (Wil's really into history!) We took the driving tour through the "park" and saw more unbelieveable scenery! After spending a few hours touring this area, we drove back to the RV, and Wil was treated to a Father's Day dinner. All in all, great fun.

Price/Helper UT

In Helper we toured the coal mine/railroad museum. Very impressive!! Many workers were killed in the early mine operations.
While in Helper we also took in a car show. The picture of this Ford P/U and it's owner was made in memorial to 9/11. What a guy to do this!!

San Rafael Museum-Castle Dale

During our second day in Castle Dale we visited the San Rafael Museum to get information on different points of interest. While there we enjoyed the display of prehistoric animal skeletons and a very impressive diorama of the area's natural beauty and wildlife. Very nice!

Our next endeavor was quite an unexpected venture! We HIKED 1 mile (with Max) to and from what is known as the Rochester Creek Art Panel. As you can see in the pictures, we had some much unneeded exposure to heights. Again, Max took my breath away!!! Anyway, this is a one of the most unusual pictograph sites in the state. Quite interesting and worth the challenging trek to get there.

Castle Dale Utah

 
The next two days, while dry camping in Castle Dale UT, we first visited what is called The Wedge Overlook. It is Utah's little grand canyon. The Overlook was spectacular but, with a 2000 foot drop, no guardrail, and a curious Max, it was a challenge for Judy to enjoy the beauty. Along the drive we spotted an Antelope and she got the picture.

Las Vegas is still alive!!

 
Our first night out was in North Las Vegas at the Elk's Lodge. Hot!! Couldn't wait until morning to head for higher country. While there we found Costco, but it was a Costco Business Center (geared for businesses) no polish dog. Dissapointed..........