Home Again

Leaving the Black Hills area we traveled southwestward into Wyoming and visited Fort Laramie. This was a military fort, part of the country’s western expansion, and is now a national park.  We were surprised that it was built over such a large area and was more like a city than a fort because it did not have a wall like most forts have.    It served as a resupplying stop or starting place for covered wagon trains heading west along the Oregon Trail.   We had not planned on stopping here, but it was right along our route so we were pleased that we did.  It is worth the time if you happen to be in the area.

That night, we stopped in Cheyenne, WY.  Due to end of season ball tournaments, we had difficulty finding a room for the night.  We drove around the city some and saw LOTS of railroad tracks.  We didn’t realize (or did we just forget?) that Cheyenne is the capitol of the state. It is a rather small city (about 60,000) and almost not even “in” the state (only about 10 miles from Colorado). We realized that most of us think geography is the primary consideration for the location of a state capitol; but in Wyoming that was not the case.  We learned that Cheyenne is the most populous city in the state; and that, plus the railroad’s location here, probably made it a logical choice as the capitol. 

We continued south on I-25 toward our next major destination, Estes Park, CO.  We wanted to visit Rocky Mountain NP. This park was high on our list of parks to see; and in previous travels, we had not had the opportunity to visit it.  Estes Park is about 30 miles west of I-25.  We arrived in Estes Park in time to check into our motel and still visit Rocky Mountain NP that afternoon. Just a little out of town, we noticed a large crowd gathering around an area beside the road, and we knew it usually means wildlife is nearby. Sure enough, it was a large elk, with enormous antlers, leisurely grazing away right beside the road. We stopped and watched for several minutes and took a few nice photos. Then, we made a rather short loop drive through part of the park, and returned to town; knowing we would do a longer drive the next day. The setting here – town immediately adjacent to a national park – was reminiscent of another similar setting: that of Gatlinburg, TN and the Smoky Mountains NP, which was close to Oak Ridge, TN where we grew up. We love the Smoky Mountains, but Rocky Mt NP sure is beautiful.  It is at higher elevation with many more rugged, much sharper peaks above the timber line.

 

We had intended to stay a few days longer, enjoy the park, and visit friends here; but we began to realize that this trip was simply wearing us out (old age, perhaps) so we decided to cut it short and head toward home. We did, however, manage to stop through our old stomping grounds in Albuquerque, NM and meet several of our friends for dinner in Old Town for some great Mexican food. Just one more travel day to Tucson, beautiful sunsets, and home!

This chapter completes the summer 2013 portion of this blog.  In the future, we’ll post photos and ideas that we find interesting.  Hope you will join us once again.

 

Heading Home

Leaving Oshkosh we turned toward home (Tucson, AZ).  But, we had many miles and many more adventures yet to come. Our first day’s travel took us to the extreme western side of Wisconsin, to La Crosse on the banks of the Mississippi River. We visited a lovely city park beside the river and then drove up the bluffs for a terrific overview of the surrounding area.



Walking along beside the Mississippi River

 We only stayed one night and then drove across the river into Minnesota. We had no specific destination in mind for Minnesota, so we just kept on driving along I-90 until reaching South Dakota and stopped in Sioux Falls. We stayed in our 5^th B&B with host Chris, a very active young man who we hardly saw. We took a city bus tour and visited the Falls of the Big Sioux River.

Continuing west, we passed through the town of Mitchell where we visited the famous Corn Palace. Next stop: a rest area where I-90 crosses the Missouri River. There we were amazed at a wonderful exhibit of the Lewis & Clark expedition, which traveled up this river in 1804 exploring the Louisiana Purchase. In addition to the exhibit, the view of the river and surrounding area was magnificent.

 

 

We reached our destination town of Wall, S.D. that evening and, of course, stopped in at the WORLD FAMOUS Wall Drug Store!!! For those who don’t know, this is possibly the largest drug store in the world and is advertised for miles and miles along the highway (5 cent coffee and free ice water) and occupies an entire city block. It started as one building, then grew by purchasing adjacent buildings and connecting them with enclosed passage ways. It is a sight not to be missed. On our first trip thru here many years before, we stopped for the 5 cent coffee/free ice water and John purchased a pair of cowboy boots, which he still wears today. Our lodging for the night was at an old, old, 40’s style motel with spotlessly clean little individual cabins and parking right at the front door. We spent the day touring thru the Badlands National Park. This park is the quintessential national park of western movie lore, where you can imagine, around every bend in the road, the bad guys holding up the stage coach, or Indians on the warpath ready to attack.

 

As we traveled further west we began to see more and more motorcycles on the road. We had noticed this before reaching Wall, but now there were MANY more – first dozens more, then hundreds, then it seemed like thousands – and we realized what was going on. It was that time of year – early August, and time for the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D. We had been warned not to be anywhere near Sturgis at this time, and actually considered skipping this Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore part of our travels; but decided “we’re here, so let’s do it”. That decision proved correct, but all those thousands (or was it millions) of bikers certainly detracted from our enjoyment. Anyway, we located our B&B in Rapid City (about 30 miles from Sturgis) and met our charming Host Jil.  We strategized how to enjoy the area in spite of all the motorcycles. We decided on a Grey Line tour rather than us doing the driving, and this turned out exceptionally well. The driver was very knowledgeable of the local countryside and history and provided excellent narrative. Our tour began at Mt. Rushmore (with breakfast there), on to Crazy horse monument and  Custer State Park;  and included some surprises – George Washington’s profile, a thru-the-tunnel view of the presidents, and a steam engine train ride. The only disappointment was not finding the herds of buffalos normally seen in Custer SP– our driver blamed noise from the bikers for scaring them away from the roads where they usually congregate.

The Crazy horse Monument is far from finished even after some 60 years work and may never be finished – the work is being carried on by the children of the original sculptor, and the grand children will probably have to decide whether or not to finish it. Surprisingly, the entire project is financed by private funds, no government money.