Tag Archives: Mount Rushmore

Memory Lane

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Memory Lane

It’s a rainy Saturday morning. The weather folks say we’re getting a nor’easter with snow in the mountains. Seems like the perfect day to continue with my trip down Memory Lane. Last week we talked about Key Largo, Colonial Williamsburg, The Grand Canyon, and Maui. Let me see…where else have I been?

Airport CowboyJackson Hole Wyoming- 2017

My trip to Jackson Hole was a top 10 trip even though I almost got snowed in the day I was leaving. Located on the southern end of Grand Teton National Park the views are extraordinary. The Teton range rises from the valley floor with nary a foothill. Like a dragon spine the mountains are just there! Tall, jagged and majestic.  Throw in the wildlife and the history and you truly get a taste of the old  west.

 

 

A pair of Bull elk

Majestic Bull Elk in the Elk Reserve

Bear Up a tree

Black Bear

Jackson hole is not far from another amazing place. Yellowstone National Park.

Before the Charge

2 Grumpy Bison

Yellowstone National Park- 2017

Filled with geysers, mud pots and majestic mountains, Welcome to America’s First National Park.  This, like the Grand Canyon, should be on everyone’s must see bucket list. There is no place like it. This is also where I thought I was going to become a statistic- DOA in Yellowstone when 2 Bison decided my little rental car was challenging them. That was one scary moment! 

Old Faithful Erupts

Old Faithful

 

Besides the Bison I was lucky enough to see Grizzly 399 , the most famous grizzly bear mother in the world. This was a real high for me. I just wish she’d turned around for a frontal picture.

3 bears out for a stroll

Grizzly 399 and cubs

As long as we’re talking about wildlife, I can’t forget the trip to South Dakota that I took with my sister. 

Mount Rushmore

South Dakota -2010

When Sandy said let’s go to South Dakota I was puzzled. What’s in South Dakota? But it turned out to be a great trip. Besides the huge stone monuments of Mount Rushmore and Sitting Bull there were National Parks, wildlife, cave systems and the amazing scenery of the Badlands! We even got to see wild horses and visit a dinosaur dig!

 

 

Race the wind

Wild Horses

Badlands

That’s about all I have time for today so we’ll say goodbye with my little prairie dog friend. This is the iconic photo from the South Dakota trip. 

 

Prairie Dog with Flower

The #1 Vacation

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It’s so hard to chose one vacation as the best. Every vacation has a high point, a sight or event that makes it special. Some have several but as I sit back and review the places I’ve been so far I keep going back to one particular vacation. It may come as a surprise to you when I tell you that my #1, absolute favorite vacation so far was our trip to South Dakota.

Maybe it was because I had no expectations for it so it couldn’t fail to live up to anything.

 As Sandy and I prepared for the trip my friends all asked me, What’s in South Dakota? What could I say at that point? Mount Rushmore? I really had no idea.

 We stayed in Rapid City. I remember that even though we were tired from the time zone changes and plane travel, I insisted we start exploring right away. We were burning daylight and thus started a jaw dropping adventure where each day was better than the one before.

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 Our first view of the Badlands was as an afternoon sun was dropping toward the horizon. The lower angle brought out the colors and made the whole scene surreal. Throw in some animals, deer, rabbits, pronghorns and it was magical.

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Wait, was that a Unicorn?

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The vacation continued like that.

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Buffalo herds in Custer State Park along with some silly wild “beggin'” burros.

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More pronghorns, prairie dogs, wild horses, big horn sheep even dinosaurs.

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prarie-dog-with-flower

We laughed ourselves silly on what we named “the longest dirt road in the world” when we got lost on the reservation looking for a Pow Wow.

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We passed through beautiful land and saw more animals and very few people.

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We road an 1880’s steam train and went deep underground in Wind Cave National Park.

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And oh yes, we did see Mount Rushmore. That was pretty awesome too but not the main event by any means.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

So you see, I get excited just reliving that vacation. Even though I love Hawaii and Florida and so many other places I’ve been,  this one is still the #1 Vacation.

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” Flash Back” – South Dakota

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To the Lakota Sioux it was the malo shika, “the bad lands”. To the French-Canadian fur trappers it was Les Mauvaises a traverser, ” bad lands to travel across”. In the book 1000 Places To See Before You Die, it’s “Nature’s High Drama”. Whatever you chose to call Badlands National Park in South Dakota it all comes back to spectacular.

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Yes, I’ve been to South Dakota and I’m ashamed to say that when my sister suggested a vacation there my first response was “What’s in South Dakota”. Her answer was  “Mount Rushmore”. 488 copy

Although that’s true and Mount Rushmore is certainly awe inspiring, there was so much more to our South Dakota vacation and we only explored the area from Rapid City to Pine Ridge. That’s just the southwestern corner of the state.063a

This rates as one of the best vacations I’ve taken. We flew into Rapid City in the afternoon. After checking in and getting dinner it was still light out so I wanted to begin exploring right away. Yes we were tired but why waste good light?  We turned our rental to interstate 90 and headed east about 80 miles to a turn off for Badlands National Park. What a way to start the vacation! In the golden light of the late afternoon we got our first look at the canyons and rock formations of the Bad Lands. It took my breath away. The amazing vistas are exceeded only by places like the Grand Canyon. And we saw animals!

071aRabbits and Mule Deer and a glimpse of some pronghorn.

058a copy

Over the rest of the week we explored Custer State Park where the buffalo, pronghorn, and prairie dogs are an everyday wonder.  (Where the deer and the antelope roam.) The wild “begging” burros  of the park had no shame in their quest for handouts!

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After a critter jam of buffalo we entered Wind Cave National Park  following a ranger to a depth of 200 ft. below the surface.

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We drove the winding Iron Mountain Road from Custer State Park to Mount Rushmore, twisting and turning on the horse shoe turns and “pig tails”, not a road for the faint of heart.485 copy

We rode the 1880 train round trip from Hill City to Keystone and watched a family of Mountain sheep cross the road as we headed to the station. On the train ride we learned about the history of the black hills and saw “summer cows”…”Some are white, some are brown”….

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I’m still following the Wild Horse Sanctuary.

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What a day that was! But it didn’t end with wild horses, it ended with Mammoths at a dig in Hot Springs.

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We went to the Pine Ridge Reservation  but got lost on “the longest dirt road in the world” (our name for  it) and never found the PowWow.

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And there was more but I’m running out of room. We never got to Deadwood, or Sturgis , and only saw Crazy Horse from the road. The Corn Palace is farther to the east in Mitchell, but we did go to Wall Drug Store where we had dinner and bought some mementos. And South Dakota is where I “met” Scout..my little prairie dog with the flower. Totally unexpected and so sweet looking. Glad I caught this moment in time.

PD flower

Yes, I can count South Dakota as a YES on the countdown, but I’d like to go back again. The count now stands at 16 / 25

7 Wonders of the United States

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I love traveling but so far I’ve stuck to US travel. I figure as much as I would like to see some of the sights in Europe and Asia and South America or go on a Safari in Africa, I want to know my own country first.

So I was tooling around the internet and stumbled on the Seven Wonders of the United States so I wondered if I’d seen any of them.

Well, here’s the list:

1.      Brooklyn Bridge – Crosses the east river at Park Row, Manhattan to Adams St, Brooklyn. Work started in 1870 and the bridge officially opened in 1883. It still has the 44th longest main span among the world’s suspension bridges. Today the bridge is a National Historic Landmark.-–I’ve driven over it but did not know it was a “wonder”. I need to go back again and appreciate it.

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2.      Empire State Building – 350 5th Ave. NY,NY.  The iconic building has seen its share of cinematic fame , from King Cong to Ghostbusters. It was a marvel of depression era building, a work of determination and pride. Construction began in March of 1930. This is also a National Historic Landmark. —I’ve been there too but so long agao that I don’t remember much about it. I think it was a high school trip. Will have to make a day of it and go back again.

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3.      Golden Gate Bridge – Located on US highway 101 in San Francisco, CA. One of the most photographed landmarks in America I have yet to visit San Francisco or see the Golden Gate Bridge. Construction began in 1933 and the Golden gate bridge welcomed its first visitor in 1937. To everyone’s surprise it opened under budget and ahead of schedule.—Once I finally take my California vacation this will be on my bucket list.

4.      Hoover Dam—Located 30 miles south east of Las Vegas on US Highway 93. (Nevada-Arizona Border) t took over 60 years from the time Maj. John Wesley Powell began to conduct geological studies of the Colorado River in 1869, to the concrete being poured in 1933, for Hoover Dam to be materialized. During this time the 7 basin states had to go through lengthy negotiations on how the water would be distributed, and of course, there were bidding wars on what construction company would get the job. In the end, a group called Six Companies was awarded the contract — the winning bid was over $48 million. Despite the long years of bids, planning, site inspections and more, it took just five years to complete the mammoth structure. Today, the dam is a testament to the dedication of the country’s ability to construct such a structure, especially during the years of the Depression. Hoover Dam is also a National Historic Landmark.—Been there, been there, been there. Great Experience. I highly recommend it.

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5.      Mount Rushmore- Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota along Highway 244-Mount Rushmore has a truly interesting history. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the enormous sculpture after he abandoned the Stone Mountain, GA relief under a cloud of suspicion and accusations of fiscal mismanagement. Sculptor Borglum arrived in 1925 to begin carving.  The monument was officially completed on Oct. 31, 1941. Today, Mount Rushmore sees over 2.6 million visitors per year….I’ve been there. Amazing monument.

6.      Seattle Space Needle-  located 219 4th Avenue N, Seattle, WA
Designed for the 1962 World’s Fair by Edward E. Carlson, this 605-foot-tall structure was to represent the future but quickly became a symbol for the city of Seattle. The structure is designed to withstand winds of 200 miles per hour, but earth tremors and storms have caused the structure to sway occasionally and close for a day or two. Today, the Space Needle is getting a face-lift as the city of Seattle begins to revitalize the entire centerpiece, including the observation deck, restaurant and surrounding grounds.—I was there in 2013 and it quickly became my favorite place to photograph the city of Seattle and Mount Rainier.

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7.      Washington Monument – 15th St SW Washington DC… It  doesn’t matter what part of the world people come from, one sight of this obelisk design and they know they’re in America. Similar to other memorials such as the Taj Mahal or the Great Pyramids, the Washington Monument is a celebration of 1 person’s life or legacy — in this case, the life of America’s first president, George Washington. Work on the monument began in 1843, and was completed in 1884. It is 555 feet tall and contains over 36,000 blocks. …I was there a long time ago. I want to go back during the cherry blossoms in the spring.

So how many have you been to?

(Thank you Travel Channel)

South Dakota

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To the Lakota Sioux it was the malo shika, “the bad lands”. To the French-Canadian fur trappers it was Les Mauvaises a traverser, ” bad lands to travel across”. In the book 1000 Places To See Before You Die, it’s “Nature’s High Drama”. Whatever you chose to call Badlands National Park in South Dakota it all comes back to spectacular.

072a copy

040a

008

Yes, I’ve been to South Dakota and I’m ashamed to say that when my sister suggested a vacation there my first response was “What’s in South Dakota”. Her answer was  “Mount Rushmore”. 488 copy

Although that’s true and Mount Rushmore is certainly awe inspiring, there was so much more to our South Dakota vacation and we only explored the area from Rapid City to Pine Ridge. That’s just the southwestern corner of the state.063a

This rates as one of the best vacations I’ve taken. We flew into Rapid City in the afternoon. After checking in and getting dinner it was still light out so I wanted to begin exploring right away. Yes we were tired but why waste good light?  We turned our rental to interstate 90 and headed east about 80 miles to a turn off for Badlands National Park. What a way to start the vacation! In the golden light of the late afternoon we got our first look at the canyons and rock formations of the Bad Lands. It took my breath away. The amazing vistas are exceeded only by places like the Grand Canyon. And we saw animals!

071aRabbits and Mule Deer and a glimpse of some pronghorn.

058a copy

Over the rest of the week we explored Custer State Park where the buffalo, pronghorn, and prairie dogs are an everyday wonder.  (Where the deer and the antelope roam.) The wild “begging” burros  of the park had no shame in their quest for handouts!

141

After a critter jam of buffalo we entered Wind Cave National Park  following a ranger to a depth of 200 ft. below the surface.

113 copy

We drove the winding Iron Mountain Road from Custer State Park to Mount Rushmore, twisting and turning on the horse shoe turns and “pig tails”, not a road for the faint of heart.485 copy

We rode the 1880 train round trip from Hill City to Keystone and watched a family of Mountain sheep cross the road as we headed to the station. On the train ride we learned about the history of the black hills and saw “summer cows”…”Some are white, some are brown”….

241 copy

I’m still following the Wild Horse Sanctuary.

456 copy

What a day that was! But it didn’t end with wild horses, it ended with Mammoths at a dig in Hot Springs.

186a

We went to the Pine Ridge Reservation  but got lost on “the longest dirt road in the world” (our name for  it) and never found the PowWow.

005 copy

And there was more but I’m running out of room. We never got to Deadwood, or Sturgis , and only saw Crazy Horse from the road. The Corn Palace is farther to the east in Mitchell, but we did go to Wall Drug Store where we had dinner and bought some mementos. And South Dakota is where I “met” Scout..my little prairie dog with the flower. Totally unexpected and so sweet looking. Glad I caught this moment in time.

PD flower

Yes, I can count South Dakota as a YES on the countdown, but I’d like to go back again. The count now stands at 16 / 25