Arriving at the Big Sioux River

We weren't in Sioux Falls an hour when Joan announced it was her new favorite place!  We drove into the city (through what looked like Bellerose Village and Dilworth) and went to Falls Park.

It was a great place to walk around.  Just downstream from the falls, there were flat rocks that we could walk on and sit looking up at the falls.  We discussed how much the Burton boys would love all the rocks and could climb around till their hearts were content.

We took a long hike up one bank of the river, crossed over and walked back on the other.  There was a 5-story observation tower that provided a super view of the entire park.

We also jumped on the trolley and got an overview of the downtown area.  Tomorrow we plan to return and explore the museums and the famous sculpture walk.

Washout in Pierre

The day dawned wet and stayed that way.  Our initial plans to take a river walk on the Missouri River and visit LaFramboise Island ended abruptly when we learned at the tourist office that neither option was open to us due to a recent flood.

We instead drove to the state capitol, parked in the circular driveway in front of the rotunda and walked right in.  AAA had rated this a "gem" and they were absolutely correct.  We had a self-guided tour and, as in previous states, we found the furnishings and decor all fancy -- marble grand staircase, terrazzo tile floors, etc.  We saw the State Supreme Court, Senate and House Chambers, and were again surprised there was no security.

We chatted with a nice woman in the gift shop who was so bored with the lack of visitors she came out from behind her counter and gave us quite a history of the intricacies of the building. 

Joan's favorite was the display of miniature First Ladies' inaugural gowns with family photos.

Our next stop was at the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center.  Rodeo is South Dakota's most popular sport -- both past and present.

Mr. Tibbs was a world-class bronco horse rider who won many national and world championships under his big belt and they all were on display.

There was a wall of brandings which was cool to see.

There was also a fun interactive bronc room and, of course, I had to "give a go" to the 8-second ride which is memorialized in the photo below -- man vs. beast struggle!  I am afraid the camera cannot possibly show the intensity and strength it took to stay mounted!

Roses and the River -- Dinner View

Today we traveled through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, driving from Rapid City to Pierre.  Now bear in mind, those lands did not do anything wrong to earn this label, nor are they inherently evil.  They do, however, have no positive attributes.  Average annual precipitation is a whopping 16 inches.....that's called arid.

The indians wanted no part of it either and opted for the Black Hills to the west to call their home.

Having passed through this barren wasteland, we arrived in Pierre.  It did not take long for us to learn proper pronunciation of this city.  So as our audience will be prepared if they ever visit SD, it's not pronounced "pee-air" as we thought, but actually "peer."  Do that and they will think you are a native.

Tonight we dined at the Cattleman's Club Steakhouse, 5 miles out of town, at the suggestion of the hotel front desk person.  What a treat!  It's privately owned by a former rancher and his family and was full of "locals."

The steaks were delicious and the ambiance, from the sawdust on the floor to the rose/Missouri River view, was fabulous.

Memorial Day 2012

God Bless America and all our military -- present and veterans!  Happy Memorial Day to all.

We started the day by taking a ride on an old steam train through the Black Hills.  While it wasn't as good as the Durango to Silverton train we took weeks ago, it was still enjoyable.

We then visited Bear Country USA where we drove slowly through a park filled with elk, goats, buffalo, wolves, reindeer and the requisite bears......all loose!  After we finished the safari trail, we visited "baby land" which had confined cubs of different animals.  The cutest were a bunch of bear cubs playing around and wrestling with one another.

Finally, we visited Fort Hayes Chuckwagon Dinner & Show for supper and entertainment.  Fort Hayes was part of the movie, "Dances with Wolves" and we could see part of the sets.

Super was so-so, but the show was very enjoyable....especially for Joan who was the hit of the night.  Very early in the show, one of the performers singled out the lady in teal in the front row (Joan) and created a blue balloon teddy bear for her.

Later in the show, after he got her name, favorite color and favorite dessert, the same gentleman proceeded to sing a song dedicated to Joan, the lady in teal, who loves chocolate ice cream.  It was a very emotional ballad.  But that was nothing compared to what happened next. 

After a few more songs, he came out dressed as Elvis and proceeded to come down into the audience and sing, "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" directly to Joan.  It was hysterical!!!  At all the shows in Branson, Missouri, people were chosen from the audiences for various types of audience participation.  Joan avoided that like the plague; but tonight they got her good!

 

 

 

The Black Hills

This patch of ancient mountains in South Dakota and Wyoming was sacred to the Lakota people who sought guidance from their ancestors buried here.  Today, it is a hub for tourists including the Comerfords of SC.

We first visited Mount Rushmore along with what seemed like half the population of the USA, what with the line of cars waiting to enter.  It was a perfect storm.  Yesterday there was a lot of fog and people were given passes to return today, along with this being Memorial Day weekend and a spectacularly gorgeous sunny day......if a tad windy.

Even so, we thoroughly enjoyed the visit.  We learned a lot.  What you see now is not what was originally planned by the architect and sculptor, Gutzon Borglum.  He intended to portray the 4 presidents down to their waists, but died before completion, leaving only the heads which we now see.  Nevertheless, it is still awesome as each face is 60 feet high.  We took a trail which went along the base of the sculpture and looked up at them.  Actually, Washington must have a cold because his nose looked a little stuffed.  I'm sorry, I just realized I had not mentioned the names of the four men and the achievements they represent in the history of the country.

George Washington (birth)
Thomas Jefferson (growth)
Abraham  Lincoln (preservation)
Theodore Roosevelt (development)

Moving on to another of the Black Hills, we came to the Crazy Horse Memorial which is still a work in progress.  It is not funded by the government but rather by private sources, including Indians.

At the present time, the only part that can be seen is the head of Crazy Horse which is nine stories high.  When complete, it will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long, the largest statue in the world.  You will see a rendering of the planned completed carving at the end.

I found it interesting that both of these constructions are mostly done by specific, precision dynamite explosions. 

Blue Star Memorial Highway

Heading east on US 18 from Wyoming to South Dakota, we didn't realize we were on anything special.  We thought it was just another 2-lane road through the vast wasteland of the Great Plains.

We did pass about 5 coal trains heading south from Wyoming.  These were amazing.  They each had 2 engines in the front and 2 in the back and were very long.  I counted the cars on one train while Joan was driving and it added up to 140 cars -- unbelievable!

Crossing into South Dakota, we ran into another batch of fog (always fun) and finally pulled in to Rapid City.
We went to mass at Blessed Sacrament Church and out for a delicious dinner.......that's about it for today!

Wyoming Adieu

From the time we took a sidetrip from Colorado to visit Cheyenne, the capitol, last month until our last day in Casper, we have found Wyoming to be one of the most beautiful, adventurous, enjoyable and downright fantastic states on our journey.

All Roads Lead to Casper

We went to the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center today.  The Center features 7 galleries, each relating stories of the trails emigrants, as well as the natives who lived here before the settlers arrived.

There were displays for the Oregon, California, Morman and Pony Express Trails.  There were scenarios of Indian life and a great movie about traveling across the country in covered wagons.....along with live vignettes.  We both agree that those folks were of hearty stock to have endured the long walk, terrible weather and the loss of so many family and friends along the way.

We sat in a stagecoach for a simulated ride with the scenery passing the windows.  And we also took a simulated ride in a covered wagon crossing the North Platte River.  It was extremely bumpy and uncomfortable......but we did it for the Blog!

We took a drive up to Casper Mountain through the fog on this rainy and windy day. 

Casper (not the friendly ghost) Wyoming

Driving down to Casper (the city, not the ghost) we encountered roads very similar to other places -- nothing there.  The terrain was flat with the occasional oil well or cows on the empty land.

Approaching Casper, the sky turned black and the rain came down.

We toured downtown a little bit and were pleasantly surprised to find it larger than our last 3 stops..............Joan said, "Yahoo!"

As the weather did not lend itself to hiking or such things, we decided to take in a movie -- "The Hunger Games" -- and enjoyed it.  Molly, Sean and Eileen:  Joan finished the book and couldn't wait to take in the film.  Thanks all for the recommendation!

Dinner at a local Italian Restaurant was fantastically delicious.

Devils Tower

It stood all alone on the horizon of the Wyoming Plains as we approached, as if the state was giving us a thumbs up for our visit.  Well, right back atcha!

Devil's Tower is the first national monument and Yellowstone is the first national park.....and we got to see them both -- Cool!

It stands 867 feet tall and stood out in the 1978 movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."  It is also the subject of an old Indian legend.  It seems that a long long time ago, 7 young girls were playing in the field when they were chased by a bear, ran away and jumped on a 3 foot rock while they prayed for the rock to save them.  The rock heard their pleas and began to elongate itself upwards and out of the reach of the bear.  The bear kept clawing its way up leaving long grooves in  the stone as the rock got higher.  Eventually, the 7 girls were pushed up to the sky and became the stars of the big dipper.  Who's to say it ain't so?

Now, back to our day.  When we first arrived, we saw a warning to beware of prairie dogs and snakes while walking on the trails.  Obviously, Joan refused to leave the car.  I proceeded to follow a path around the base of the tower taking some awesome shots of the tower and the surrounding countryside. 

Now you may wonder why there are only 2 pictures above, when I took so many.  That is an excellent question.  Here is what happened.   As I was driving back to the hotel, Joan (bless her heart) was trying to clear out some old pictures to free up some space and inadvertantly erased all but two.  But I still love her.

By the way, I was considering climbing the mountain but I remembered seeing the sign that one had to register with the Park Service before attempting.  As I did not have a lot of time, I decided to pass.  But if my son-in-law, George, is ever out this way, I think he could be a good candidate for the task!

Gillette, Wyoming

We left Billings with about 1/4 tank of gas.  Joan wanted to fill up immediately, but I figured we'd be on Route I-90 East the whole way and we could stop later.  Now I would like all of you to look at a map of the United States and focus on the lower right corner of Montana and the upper right corner of Wyoming.  That's where we drove today and if it looks like there is nothing there, you would be correct.

Actually, the Wyoming portion of I-90 is entirely within the Crow Indian Reservation and the three exits we passed had no services.  I don't get it....casinos, but no gas stations? 

The gas pump light was now lit up on the dashboard, and Joan was preparing to dial Triple A for service;  I tried to shield it from her because I'm the guy, right?  I dropped the speed and kept the RPM's low and hoped for the best.  We were lucky to cross into Wyoming away from the reservation and drove into the only gas station on fumes!

Arriving in Gillette, we did some exploring of the downtown area  It had one tall building -- a bank -- and a Main Street of small shops.  Although I did get a chance to have a little chat with our 16th President.

We then drove out of the city to see the coal operations we had heard about and then drove to the Rock Pile Museum to see two interesting videos on the coal operations in the area.  Strip Mining at its best!  We were impressed by the size of the equipment used.