Day 5, Wednesday June 24th, Cody and Old Faithful

On Wednesday we headed out to explore the Buffalo Bill Center of the West museum in Cody, WY.  This museum is a collection of everything Wild West, including the country's largest collecton of guns, a tribute to Buffalo Bill and his traveling show, and our favorite was the collection of animals native to the Yellowstone ecosystem.

After the museum we traveled on to Yellowstone National Park, passing by the Yellowstone River and then ending up at Old Faithful.  Our timing was superb since the geyser erupted about 15 minutes after we arrived.  We enjoyed some yogurt from the Yellowstone Inn and then packed it up to make our way to the Grand Teton National Park and our campground, Colter Bay.  

It's worth mentioning that upon arrival at our campground, the girls immediately found some friends to play with while we finally detatched the truck from the camper after five days.

Let me take this opportunity to educate you on the finer points of camping with an RV.  You have a couple of options when camping, one is to camp with a full hook up.  This means that you park your camper and hook up to electric and water giving the chance to turn on your lights, AC and use the sink, etc. if you are not at a hook-up site, then you need a generator to run these things.  Option C is to not have any of the above and then you're stuck without lights, AC and water use.  Most National Parks do not have hook-ups or are very limited.   The ones that are available are booked a year in advance.  So, before making this trip we anticipated this challenge and purchased a generator. There were two loops available when we arrived at our campground and we rode through both and chose loop L.  After parking and setting up, the dad of the girls' new friends, informed us that we were in a no generator loop.  Since it was too late to move we decided to just tough it out.  To our benefit the night temps were around high 40's, so at least didn't need the generator for air.  I would be lying if I didn't confess that it kind of stunk.

Cody,WY

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone River

Old Faithful

Cow Elk

 This was the view from our first campsite.  It was nice while it lasted.

Crazy Horse Monument

Begun in 1948, the Crazy Horse monument is a testament to a promise kept and perseverance.  Chief Henry Standing Bear asked Korczak Ziolkowski, a Polish-American sculpter, to build for them a monument honoring one of their people.  Korczak thought the Tetons would be better carving material, but Standing Bear insisted on the Black Hills since it was sacred territory to their people.  

It is a privately funded national monument and when finished it will stand 563 feet high and 641 feet long.

Korczak married and had 10 children.  His wife died only last year and several of his children are still involved in the project to see what their father begun, on his own, until completion.  Korczak died 34 years after starting.

I was really moved by the keeping of a promise that would have been so easy to give up on, and I was inspired by the family involvement to ensure it was finished and done so properly.

The area will also house the first American Indian University and Medical Center.

We really enjoyed this stop in SD and I would recommend it for anyone who is out that way.

We watched a movie at the beginning of the tour and one of my favorite quotes from his wife was, "When you are responsible for other people lives then you need to have the wherewithal to look ahead to their next year and the year after that."

Sweat Lodge

Portrait of Korczak and Standing Bear

Korczak's sculpture of the completed project.

The compresser Korczak used on the mountain.

Day 4: Driving into Wyoming

Total miles traveled: 2,230

Miles traveled on Day 4: 326

Our morning was leisurely and we needed that.  It was nice to just sit with our coffee and let the girls roam the campground, chase bunnies, and explore.  We ate breakfast in the campground at the Chuckwagon Restaurant, which consisted of an outdoor kitchen, manned by one cook, and picnic tables.  I really don't care what he put in it since it came out tasting delicious, but I'm pretty sure it included a lot of butter and grease based on the scent surrounding the kitchen.

Afterwards, we packed up and headed over to the Crazy Horse Monument.  I'll post about it in the next blog installment.

After leaving the Crazy Horse Monument we headed to Wyoming.  Along the way, we rode beside a train and when we caught up with the engine Katie Jo rolled down the window and motioned for the driver to blow the whilstle.  He did and Katie Jo was completely delighted with herself.  

We entered WY and were soon greeted with lots of landscape changes.  I'll have to say this was the most interesting day to look out the window.  The changing landscapes were amazing as flat land developed into hills, mountains, canyons and then became flat again. You can go forever without  seeing a speck of civilization and then just when you think you'll never make it out alive, you being to see houses and enter a small town. Wyoming is very beautiful!

We also found our first patch of snow and to say the girls were excited would be a major understatement.

Day 3: Driving across South Dakota

Total miles traveled: 1,904

Miles traveled on Day 3: 636

After spending the night in the gas station parking lot in Iowa we awoke to another sunny day and got ready for another day in the car.  Our goal was to arrive at Mount Rushmore by late afternoon, and we would soon find out that that goal was a lofty one.

As we walked across the parking lot I commented to Katie Jo that never in my lifetime did I think I would sleep in a gas station parking lot and shower in a truck stop.  She replied that it felt like we were homeless!  I will say that the Iowa truck stop had heated toilet seats and the shower facilities were amazingly clean.

Our day consisted of driving across South Dakota.  There is not much else to say about it except that SD is flat, green and on that prticular day, windy!  Like 25 mph windy.  It was a 80 mph zone and sadly we never averaged more than about 60 mph, due to the wind.

We drove for hours without nary a house to be seen.  I also realized later that we rarely saw power lines.

Our one interesting stop, prior to Mr. Rushmore, was Wall Drug.  I had learned of this stop when reading The Walk series of books.  Sure enough what the author said was true, there was a wall drug sign about every minle for a hundred miles leading up the store.  Once there we roamed the multiple aisles of Wall drug and got the usual souvieners.  That was a good stop and gave us the push to make it the rest of the way.

After Mt. Rushmore that evening we made our way to our KOA campground, which I'll have to say has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the entire trip.  Each campground has been clean, friendly, and provided all the amenities we needed.  Upon arrival and and exiting the truck we were greeted with several bunny eyes.  I'm not kidding, there were like 5 or 6 bunnies scattered around our campsite and could mostly be spotted by  the outline of their bunny ears.  Needless to say the next morning Georgia and Katie Jo were in heaven chasing the bunnies and trying to pet them.  Who knows why there were so many that inhabited the campgound , but it was interesting.

Our first of many Wall Drug signs.  Later I would realize the irony of these words, because by the time we finally arrived we were all about to bust.

Lot of randomness in SD like this structure.  It was a field of metal structures. 

Like I said, flat and green.

This was a scenic stop near the Badlands.

Starting to see some landscape change once we entered the Badlands on our way to the Black Hills.

A road that stretches into eternity.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore gets its own post because it had that big of an impact.

Yesterday after driving FOREVER we were hungery, tired, and each person present in our vehicle was on the very brink of a meltdown.  Our campground was 25 minutes from Mt. Rushmore and it was getting late.  Our plan was to view Rushmore and then stay for the 9 o'clock illumination show.  It was 7:30 and we finally decided to scrap going to the campground first and head over to check an item off our bucket list.

Upward we went towards our destination and upon arriving were blessed to step out into low 60 temps which almost immediately changed our attitudes. Like high giving, fist pumping kind of change.  We changed clothes in the camper, packed cameras and were on our way.  Seeing the first glimpse of the four presidents carved into the mountain was an awe-inspiring moment.  This structure, the one you've seen countless times on tv, ads, movies, is now in front  of you, in person, and it is grand.  We snapped a few quick pics and a nice lady took a few family photos for us.  We quickly made our way over to the cafe for a much needed meal and enjoyed the view of the presidents looking down on us while we ate.  It was during these moments that I felt drowed in emotion.  Maybe it was the altitude, gratefulness to fianlly be eating, current events in Charleston or just gratitude to be an American, but I got quite teary.  It just seems that people, in their lifetime, don't  get the chance to see this magnificent site, and I was feeling very blessed to be someone that was receiving the opportunity.  After eating we walked through the avenue of flags and found a spot to stand for the lighting ceremony.  A park ranger came out on the stage before the 100's seated in the amplitheater and proceeded to give an amazing overview of the building of Mt. Rushmore.  I am very grateful to the 400 men that fulfilled the role of helping to create this important emblem of American History.  

After the the park ranger finished we watched a movie that depicted the carving of Mount Rushmore and walked through each of the presidents represented, and their contribution to America.  Finally, the faces of the presidents were illuminated and we were entertained with some patriotic music.  To cap off the evening the ranger called forward all present veterans and had each one share their name and branch of service.  We left feeling very full-filled.

If you have a chance, visit Mount Rushmore.  It is a grerat reminder of the foundations of our country and government.  God Bless America!