The Rockies Again

Saturday we traveled again to Ennis, MT. We left I90 at Bozeman, MT and took US 191 through Bozeman and picked up MT 84. This road is exiting to drive, especially in a motor home. It is hilly and windy and narrow. We made it alright and overnighted in Ennis.

While there we drove over to Virginia City, Mt and saw a city stuck in the 1800's. There are wooden side walks and the town looks as it might have during that time, except for the paved instead of dirt street.The buildings were old and if the cars weren't on the street, you could imagine you were 110 years in the past. We got there a little late in the day, so a lot of things were already closed for the day.

We moved onto Island Park, ID on Sunday after attending church in Ennis. Valley view park was like we remembered except there seem to be more rules than before. We are on the first row next to the highway and road noise is something of a problem.
The Internet air card is dial-up speed, so I will update this post with pictures when we have faster speed.

Monday we went down to see Mesa upper and lower falls, about 40 miles south of the CG. The falls are on Henry's Fork of the Snake River. This fork also forms Henry's lake, which is up by the campground. The sight was spectacular it was well worth the drive. The vistas are awe inspiring. There was an old lodge. built around 1910 and has been restored and maintained by the US Forest Service. It was built for guests to see and enjoy the falls.There were animal pelts of many of the native fauna of this area and hooves and legs of different animals. There was an aquarium with fish from river and set up as a natural habitat. A really nice hands on display.
When we were here 2 years ago there was a wildfire just outside the East gate of the park and the East gate area was a staging area for the firefighters. It was closed to traffic then, so the Rogers missed that area of the park.
Yesterday we went to see that part of the lower loop. It had changed so much since we had seen it back in the early 90's. That area had been burned badly in the '88 wild fire. The Lodge Pole Pine pine cones need fire for the cones to open end expel the seeds. The new trees are getting quite large after 21 years and the change is very noticeable.
So now the Rogers have seen the entire park that can be seen from the road.
The traffic through the park is quite heavy this time of year. This is the most visited National Park in this country.

Ted and Donna have decided to cut there time here short and are leaving here on Sunday. We are staying until the 10th of August as we are heading further west to meet the kids.
We have been with the Rogers for almost 2 months, and this has been such a wonderful trip. We have seen and done so much since this trip has begun, but all good things must come to an end.
This was the breakup point anyway, but we will miss them.

Ta ta for now

Little Big Horn Batlefield

Wednesday was a travel day as we headed further west. It was one of the longest driving days, something over 300 miles.
We got to Rapid City and the Rogers were going to Walmart to pick up some meds for Ted. He has developed a cold and wanted some relief. As they were exit ting, our coach started handling funny. I was sure we had a flat in the rear as I had to completely fill the outside left rear tire that morning. It turned out to be the left front tire and it was @ 40#. It is supposed to be @85#. I watched it drop another 10# in just a few moments but then it stopped leaking after we stopped in this restaurant's parking lot..

Brenda tried to get AAA to come to our rescue, but they seemed confused and were unable to help us with our problem.

We have had lots of trouble with these tires since we put them on 2 years ago. It has always been the valve stem that was leaking. This episode was no exception. I filled the tire with the compressor that we carry, checked several times to see if any air was lost then proceeded to Flying J to see if there was help available. Brenda was given directions to a tire shop that was totally inaccurate. While she was getting directions I added more air to the tire. It did not lose any more air.

Due to the poor directions to the tire shop, we did not find it. I checked the tire one more time without any loss of air, so we decided to proceed on towards the flying J in Gillette, WY.
There we met up with Ted & Donna as they had gone ahead and waited for us in Gillette.
I checked the tire again there in Gillette with no more loss of air, so we proceeded onto Garryowen, Mt.

We arrived in 7th Ranch Campground which is just south of the Little Big Horn Battlefield.
The park was nice, no shade as it was in the high 90's. We had had heat on that morning as it was 39 degrees in Custer, SD.
It was in a great location on the Crow Indian Reservation, but this is deeded land, and the Crow have no claim to it.

Thursday we drove over to The Custer Battlefield and took the driving tour. The campground lent us a CD that narrates the tour, tells you when to stop and point out areas of interest. It also tells the story leading up to and to the conclusion of the demise of George Custer and his regiment.

It seems that Col. Custer was not only arrogant, but was stupid as well. The archaeological evidence of the battle proves that Custer was not a victim of this debacle, but was the aggressor. He under estimated his enemy, not only in their numbers, but also their determination not to change their way of life.
The battle took less than 2 hours, not the 2 or 3 days that has been told to us for so many years.
This is such an interesting place to visit. We have learned so much about our history during this trip.

After we left the battleground, we went to the Big Horn County Museum. It is a cluster of buildings and exhibits spread over several acres. We had a picnic lunch under a large tree. It was hot in the sun but cool under that tree. (Very little humidity).
There is a railway station with track and a caboose. There is couple of cabins from the 1940's or 50's. complete with old fridge, bed, old time stove. There is a barn with old cars, 2 stage coaches, old tractors and all kinds of old farm equipment. a very interesting time and a great price, FREE.

Today was another travel day. We stopped in Billings, MT for a Walmart run. We are going to be away from any appreciable size grocery store for the next 15 or 16 days, so we needed to stock up.
I have not had a haircut since leaving Memphis on June 10th, so Brenda, Donna and I got haircuts. We all look and feel a lot better.

We are in Reed Point, MT tonight and will head for Ennis, MT in the morning. It is about 80 miles from Valley View RV park where we will spend the next 2 weeks. There is a Catholic church in Ennis and we can go to mass there tomorrow night. As much traveling as we have done, we don't feel that we can skip mass because of distance.


Ta ta for now

1880 Train Ride

We have been so busy that I forgot about the train ride from Hill City to Keystone.

Here are a few pictures that we took on the train.

The ride is about 15 miles and takes right at an hour to go one way. We saw some deer on the way and we saw Jackalope dens all over the place, but no active Jackalopes. We only saw stuffed ones in stores.

We spent about 3 hours in Keystone, which is the town associated with Mt. Rushmore. It is a nice little town with many shops and friendly people.

We went into one shop and the lady asked Ted if he was a veteran. He said no but I was. This nice lady was so appreciative of the service that veterans have given, that she gave me a hat that read 'Vietnam Veteran and proud of it'. That was so very nice of her. She asks every man who comes into her shop if they are veterans. The people of South Dakota are so friendly and patriotic that the rest of the country could take lessons.

While we in Keystone, Ted and I found knives for really good price. I have been looking for a good knife since we have been on this trip and I finally found one for the price I wanted to pay. The price was so good and the quality was so good that I bought 2 and Ted bought 3.

The ride back to Hill city was much less crowded that the trip up, but that was the last train of the day.

We really enjoyed the trip.

Ta ta for now

Mammoth Archeological Dig

This is Mammoth archaeological dig in Hot Springs, SD.
About 27,000 years ago a deep cave collapsed in this area and formed a large sink hole. The hot spring that was beneath it filled the sink hole with warm water. It was so warm that it never froze in the winter and grass grew around the edge of the water several feet from the top of the hole. Th sides were very steep and both Colombian Mammoths and Woolly Mammoths went into the sink hole only to find that they were unable to get out. They died here from exhaustion or drowning. This went on for 300 to 700 years when it filled with silt, covering the remains of the animals in the hole. It became a hill and was covered with grass.

In 1974 a developer was going to build a subdivision at this site. A heavy equipment operator uncovered some bones and the site was determined to be an important archaeological and paleontology site.
They site has been an active dig for 35 yrs. They actually dig only 6 weeks a year, and find enough to study for the rest of the year.
There have been 58 Mammoths uncovered here and the dig continues.
There is a building over the site with a laboratory gift shop and museum enclosing the site.

This has been a very busy week for us and today is a day of rest, laundry and house cleaning.
Tomorrow we leave for one of our longest driving days, about 300 miles. It will take us 4 days to get to Island Park.


Ta ta for now

View from Custer State Park

Yesterday we went over to Hot Springs to visit Mammoth dig site.
On our way home, we went through the park and stopped at one of the lookouts. It is one of the Highest points in the park and looks east.
We were able to see all the way to the Badlands, which is a about 100 miles away.
The view was breath taking. I only wish these pictures did it justice.

Ta ta for now

Deadwood & Patriotism is still alive in the Black Hills

This morning we decided to go to Deadwood. What a disappointment They can't make up their minds if they want to be an old west town or a gambling mecca. In my opinion, they haven't done well with either. There are parking meters everywhere. They even have meters at the visitors center. They nickle & dime you to death.
Brenda really wanted to gamble, and she had some luck. Ted also won a few dollars. Donna and I weren't so lucky and we even had to pay to park to gamble.

Tonight, after we went home for supper, we decided to go to the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore. Another thing off of our bucket list.
It was a moving experience to say the least. Patriotism is still alive here in SD.
Since we have been on this trip, I have been recognized as a veteran on several different occasions. This one had to be the best so far.
After the presidents were lit, the national anthem was played and sung by the huge crowd present for the ceremony. All of the active duty personnel in the armed services and the veterans of all of the branches of the services were called to the stage of the amphitheater. There was a boy scout troop from Oregon there and they took part in the lowering of colors (lowering the flag). All of the people on stage turned to face the flag pole and removed their hats if they were wearing one. The boys did a great job. They folded the flag in a triangle and handed it to the park ranger. Then the ranger went down the ranks and asked us to place our right hand on the flag and give our name and branch of service.It was quite a moving experience for me.
This whole thing is quite different from when I returned from Vietnam. I am so glad to see patriotism alive and well in this country.
The US Park Service has done a remarkable job with this whole ceremony. The theme was FREEDOM, and honoring our service people, both past and present, is an important part of the lighting ceremony.

Ta ta for now.

Tour of the Black Hills

Thursday evening we made reservations for the Fort Hays Black Hills tour. From the brochure it looked like a good tour.
There are 7 scenic loops through the Black Hills, and after reading about our planned tour, we drove one of the loops called the wildlife loop. The road was built in the 30's so that the wildlife can be seen up close and personal.
We saw the herd of buffalo that resides in Custer State Park. We are told that it is the core for all of the herds of buffalo in the US. The herd consists of about 1500 head who roam about the 71,000 acre park all summer and rounded up and culled to about 1000 head in the fall. There isn't enough food in the park to sustain a herd larger than that in the winter.We also saw wild donkeys on the loop. They are the only animals allowed to be fed by the visitors. The donkeys are the direct descendants of the donkeys the miners brought when gold was discovered here in the 1800's.
There are Prong Horn Antelope all over this area. they are one of the fastest land animals in the world reaching speeds up to 60 mph. They are fascinating to see.
Today we took the Fort Hays tour. The headquarters for the tour is about 40 miles from here, so we left about 6:40am to arrive for our breakfast buffet and tour. Some of the set from Dancing with Wolves is on the property.
We met the owner and he told us about the tours and all of the things he has on the property.
He has several antique cars. Some restored some not. He has hands on antique tools, drill presses, grinding wheel, belt driven tools, a real hands on experience.The narrated tour was 9 hours long with a driver, who was dressed in 1890's cowboy costume, named Matt. We saw Mt. Rushmore in the morning when the sun makes the rock appear white.
We drove on the Iron Mountain Loop, which is windy, hilly and has many small tunnels in it. It also has what is called pigtail bridges. They are bridges on roads that are circular like a pigs tail. It was very interesting to see him drive that 54 passenger bus on and around those roads and bridges. We went through a tunnel that was only 4 inches wider than the bus, what an experience. There was a crowd on the other end watching to see if we would make it through the tunnel. He even stopped in the middle and put on his emergency flashers, what a hoot. He does this route everyday , so he is experienced.We stopped in several different places for "an out of bus experience". The sites up here are so beautiful and the weather has been 'chamber of commerce' perfect, low 40's to low 70's with clear skies as if you could see forever.
The last stop on the tour was the Crazy Horse Monument. It is quite an operation. There is a huge museum and gift shop, with the family's home open to the public.
There is work going on on the mountain everyday year round. Matt thinks it will be completed in 30 years. He says he has talked with some of the workers on the project and they say they might finish in 15 years if all goes right and they get everything that they need to complete it. We then returned to Fort Hays to a great evening dinner and a cowboy band entertained us for a finale to a wonderful day. The tour was well worth the money spent.
There is still a lot to see and do here. We still have 4 days left and a lot to do. We just need to decide when we are going to do these things.



Ta ta for now