The sign as we enter WY
The open road as we head up I-25 towards New Castle, WY
First thing on Thursday morning 9/5 we crossed the stateline into South Dakota right into the Black Hills. I saw signs for Jewel Cave National Monument and pleaded that we go there. The photos don't do it justice. I would suggest anyone planning a trip to SD stops by the caves - it's amazing. Next we came across Crazy Horse. My family took a trip to this area around 1986/87 and I swear in the past 20 years nothing has changed at Crazy Horse, except the entrance price went up to $20.
We drove onto Mt. Rushmore. A place Michael had wanted to visit after seeing it portrayed in quite a few American movies. He's reaction was - I thought it would be bigger....
(I have to come back to posting the photos from SD, experiencing technical difficulties here)
After the monument we drove north through more Black Hills territory and jumped on the interstate towards WY. Spent the night in Buffalo, WY where the waitress at dinner kept giving me a hard time for asking that my steak be well-done. goodness. On Friday we drove towards Yellowstone and make a quick stop for lunch in Cody, WY. Cute town! As we drove through we saw a true WY cowboy:
Soon we entered Yellowstone National Park. (Haven't been there since July 1989). The park is huge and gorgeous. I think the star moment for both Michael and I on the whole road trip were the 4 black bears we saw! (yes, Moose and Buffalos are great - but, Bears are incredible!)
Here's a shot w/ the momma bear and her cub. Note the people on the other side soon start running up hill and away from bears. (I was standing behind a ranger!)
Mammoth Hot Springs:
Proof that I was there (although I seem more interested in something other than the waterfall):
Yellowstone was great fun to re-visit after so many years. We left there thinking we'd stay in the Grand Tetons area. Sadly, we found out there was a HUGE bike race and all lodges were booked. I had wanted to stop in Jackson Hole for a visit. The only Jackson Hole I saw was driving through it and looking at No Vacancy signs. Darn it! So on we drove for a few hours and we ended up in Afton, WY late at night. Ah, the adventures of unplanned road trips, takes me back to my childhood... Next morning got back on the road and hit Idaho. We truly just drove through and only stopped for a few photo ops. Hit Utah soon after. What a gorgeous state, the drive by the lake was peaceful, the roads took us through a nice forested area. We drove to Green River, UT for the night. A place I'm familiar with due to the drives to California. Next morning we were off to Arches Natl. Monument. Oh gosh, this place is unbelievable. I'm not sure how I'm only going to post a few photos from this area, hard decision..
Michael the mountain man:
Me taking it all in:
An incredible rock formation:
We spent all day at Arches, it was great fun. That night we made it to Grand Junction, CO. Next day time to head back to Denver. We did stop in Vail. I'm debating posting photos since I seem to be in Vail weekly. Nonetheless, Michael loved Vail since it reminded him so much of home. He could drink German beer and eat German food and listen to the tourists around us speaking German, albeit, not his native dialect. Ok, I'll post one photo of Michael in the middle of the village:
And that concludes USA Road Trip 2007. We left Vail and drove to Denver, straight to Anna & Ryan's so that I could get Matisse & Johann! kisses to them!
