8-22-07

Greetings compadres. The trek continued through Idaho Falls on Monday. I've come to realize that if a town has "Falls" in its name, then it probably has falls in the area. This place was no exception, as evidenced by this goose condo. Canada geese are the bird of choice in the park on the Snake River that runs beside this Merman Temple.
I left Idaho Falls Tuesday, and ended up in Payson, Utah; a small town on IH-15 about 12 mi's south of Provo. I got out today, and drove through the Uinta National Forest. It's in the southern area of the Wasatch Range. There are a few lakes scattered through the park with this being one of the Payson Lakes. A lot of the beech, I believe, trees along this trail have been carved on like this one. This was one time I wished I had a knife on me. "Texasippi O" would'a worked.
One of the main things I didn't want to happen on this trip, happened today. I pulled over to an overlook off the park road, parked, took some pic's, got back in my car, backed up, turned the wheels to get away from some parking posts on the passenger's side, gassed it, and WHAM! Hit a rock on the driver's side. It sounded a lot worse than it was, nothing to keep me sidelined, so.....undaunted, our hero plunged ahead. This last picture is of Mt. Nebo, tallest peak in the Wasatch. It looks to me like the top is above the tree line, which I imagine is a certain elev., but I don't know what that elevation is. Go figure.
My next stop is going to be around Zion Nat'l Park. I'll catch y'all later with more. G'day mates.

8-18-07 #2

These are pictures from that ride from Red Lodge to Cooke. There isn't a whole lot of pointing out, explaining, describing, or anything needed. This is a 60 mi. trip one way through Custer National Forest, and Shoshone National Forest. I'm ready now to get into the Rockies. The self portrait is at the highest point in the Shoshone. I felt completely at home as I had on my shorts, t-shirt, and Key West hat as the wind was whipping around in 50 degree weather on a mountain top with mist and rain off and on. I DO know how to dress. I'll get with y'all later. Aloha.

8-18-07 #1

This first pic is between Broadus and Ashland, Montana on Hwy. 212. BOOORING! This is the typical landscape on the eastern half of the "Treasure State". Somewhere along this ride, I got my 10,000th mi. on my trip. Now that's some kind'a summer vacation. I got into Billings yesterday afternoon, and after finding my exit under construction, eventually got to the hotel 1/2 hr. later. Today, I tooled on down to Red Lodge, a town at the foothills of the Beartooth Mtn.s. This plaque is on the original bank building in town. I was chuckling as I read it because I kept thinking about the Butch & Sundance movie.
After a little time in Red Lodge, I headed on out to this other little town near the top of the mtn.s. This is Cooke, Montana, a town that caters to the biker crowd, if you couldn't guess. This one little bar, "Hoosiers", tells me there were gold hunters from everywhere out here at one time. I bet this was one wild place about 150 yr.s back.
Check out today's second blog for some scenery between these two towns. Awesome!

8-15- 07 #2

It's a long trip from Rapid City to the Wounded Knee site, but I thought it was worth the drive. I went through the Badlands. I see where this area gets its name. There is a little info center where the North end of the park meets the South end. I had been driving for an hour or so, and wasn't sure if seeing the site was worth another forty mi.s. The ranger at the center said I had an option, 21 mi.s of gravel road. I opted for the paved route. The site is not very distinguishable from the rest of the region, but I was now in the grasslands, so I shouldn't have expected anything out of the ordinary. In the first picture is the actual Wounded Knee site, with the visitor's center at the bottom. That tree line in the background is the Wounded Knee River. The massacre site is between the visitor's center and the river. There were three of the natives at the center, who told me a lot, showed old pictures, and pointed out various landmarks. This guy, Elmer, had lived within a mile of the site his whole life. He was there when there was that government stand-off in 1972/1973. I haven't googled that yet, but he said it had something to do with the Sheriff and his "goon squad". I'll get to that later.
This is the monument at the mass grave site. Elmer said it only had room for 41 names on it, so I assume there were more dead. If you zoom in, you can read some of the names. Very interesting names, at that. On the trip out, and back, I got a few pic's of the badlands and the grasslands. It ended up being an informative day, and it was nice to have the individual attention, as I was the only visitor at the time. This is the last day in South Dak., so tomorrow I'm off to Montana. I'll catch y'all later. Ciao, bellas.

8-15-07 #1

I took a trip out to Deadwood and Lead on Wed. Betty, I asked around but there isn't any place in Deadwood that has anything to do with the T.V. show. It's a typical tourist town, with shops, restaurants, and casinos. The casinos out here are in strip malls, residential areas, and just generally hanging around like convenience stores. I didn't go in any, so I had as much money when I left town as I did when I got there. It's kind of strange walking around because the new buildings are built to resemble the old ones. Don't know which is which, but I got a few pics of ones that appeared to be authentic. This "Oldest Bar" didn't appear to have a name, except for "Buffalo". What gives? After touring around for a while, I headed on out to Lead, Deadwood's sister city. I particularly wanted to be there for a late lunch, so I could say "I ate Lead in South Dakota", but as I found out, the town is pronounced leed, not led. Well damnitall, I'm sticking to my guns. I ate Led. This is the Stampmill Inn, where I had lunch. It looks old, huh? Anyway, I'll talk to Y'all again. The scenery out here is great, but I have yet to spot a buffalo herd. I know they're here. Ta ta gang.

8-14-07 #2

This is a mighty fine area of South Dak. From Mt. Rushmore, about 15 mi.s to the sculpture in progress of Crazy Horse. There was no walking allowed inside the blasting area, but there is a bus tour to the base of the sculpture. From this view you can really get an idea of the size of the work. When it's finished, another decade or so, the Rushmore faces will fit inside it. This next shot is from the visitor's area a mile away. Also in this area is a scale model of the finished product, with the mountain in the background. There's a drawing overlaying the existing mountain to show how much of the rock needs to be removed. Inside the artist's area, there is a pile of softball sized rocks from the mountain. The guides encourage everyone to take a few. I think it's their way of dumping some of the excess from the site. Clever? There are other sculptures around, and my favorite was this bronze of fighting stallions. I was more impressed by Crazy Horse, even in this unfinished state, than by Rushmore. I've been in this coffee shop for a while now, once more my hotel doesn't have wi-fi, so I think I'll run on now, and see what else I can scare up in this area. Deadwood, maybe? I'll tell 'em Betty says hi. Later gators.

8-14-07 #1

Greetings from the land of giant heads. Made it out to Rushmore yesterday, and after finally finding my way out of the parking area, started roaming the grounds. This is the walk of flags as you enter the viewing area. Here they are, the four lads from America. There is a trail that gets you around to the base of the mountain. There are spots along the trail that were put there for more, and different, angles of the monument. The one I really liked was from this crack in the rocks. The spot only had room for one person at a time, so everyone was lining up for one picture, then got the hell out of the way. There was another good spot at the bottom for a pic, so I got that, did some wandering through the artist's studio, gift shop, etc. This was an awe inspiring site. I spent a lot more time here than the pic's would indicate. After Mt. Rushmore, I headed downn to the Crazy Horse Monument. More to come!
P.S. I guess you can give most any monkey a golf club and eventually they'll hit it straight. Congrats on the hole-in-one Curtis.......skill? HAH! You claiming it was a sand wedge?

8-13-07 #2

If you look back at the view from the side of the Palace, you'll notice these blank panels lining the building. These are the cob by numbers areas for next year's theme, which is going to be the American Worker. If this panel for next year is confusing, then join the crowd. Inside the building, which is like a giant open gym, are the artist's renditions of the panels. This one with the rays of sunshine is the one from outside. I see it now. (the straight edge is there for effect)
Inside the building there are pictures of all the different themes through the years. The first picture is of the original building. All but one of the pictures have a simple plaque for the year it was shown. This second picture is the exception to the rule, with a disclaimer saying this one area is an Indian peace symbol. Yep, the Nazipache tribe. There are also replicas of past windowed areas, with this picture of the Indians catching my eye. There is a ton more of stuff, but I was on the road, and ready to get back to it. My next travel pictures will be coming from the Black Hills. Al veidersein???

8-13-07 #1

Aaaalllll righty then. Here you go David, the Corn Palace. By the way, it's not on the Interstate, it's up into Mitchell a couple of miles, but plenty of signage. As you can see, this is one hell of a building. The corn cobs are used on the pictures, and these swath's of grain are on the walls. What can I say about this that isn't obvious from the snaps? The theme does change from year to year. I went inside, after walking around, for some past info on the building. Those pic's wil be on the next blog. Keep up!

8-11-07

Yikes! I'm starting to scare myself. Here's another town that turned out to be a surprise as far as parks, scenery, and ambience in general is concerned. I'm still just picking out places along my wandering route that are convenient to stop for the night, or a couple of nights. Today was Sioux Falls, S. Dak. Reading another brochure in the hotel got me interested in Palisades State Park which is about 15 mi.s east of town. The Split Rock river runs through the park, and between these bluffs of quartzite rock. The bluffs are 50' to 60' high, and have rock climbers crawling around like ants. I eventually got used to following trails, turning a corner, and running into an ant group. In that second picture, if you look at the very bottom, there's a climber in the white helmet at the bottom of the crack in the bluff. I got bird feet watching them. It's not a big park, didn't take long to walk around, so I took a round-about way back to town. That's where I spotted this old barn which has been renovated into a house. I loved it.
Eventually I got back to town, and drove over to see Falls Park. It amazed me when I drove up to see this series of falls over the rock outcroppings, which I think is the same quartzite that was in the other park. It just struck me seeing a park like this in "downtown". Congratulations to Sioux Falls! This building is part of the old electric power station. It's been turned into a nice restaurant.
Siuox Falls is another town I would urge anyone to make time for if you're traveling through. Well, off for a Sunday drive tomorrow heading for Rapid City. I'll keep in touch. Catch ya' on the flip flop.