Vacation 2010 - Days 8 and 9

Scale Model of Crazy Horse Memorial

Crazy Horse Memorial (as it is today)

Mount Rushmore

Us in front of Mount Rushmore

Wow.............we just got back from the Mount Rushmore Lighting Show tonight - it was very cool! They had a ranger that gave a short talk, then a 20-minute video about the history of the US and the presidents whose faces are carved into Mount Rushmore - and the mountain was being lit up more and more as the presentation went on. They called all veterans up to the stage and there were a bunch of them - it was awesome to see them recognized in this setting - it really made you think about what our country has been through.

To backtrack a little - we went to Mount Rushmore yesterday afternoon and went to the museum, looked at the mountain and read and heard about the history of Mount Rushmore. It was very interesting - and we learned a lot!

Today we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial - also a carving in a mountain. But this one isn't finished yet. There was a lot to see there also. A museum and many Native American vendors selling their wares. We bought a really cool hand-woven llama hair blanket - it's very soft and warm!!

Tomorrow we're planning to drive to some of the caves - Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave Monument. Can't wait to see what those are like!

It's hard to believe we'll be heading home in a few days - we need to go on vacation more often!

See you soon...............

album 06\30\2010 (140 photos), by Allison Christy

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
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Vacation 2010 - Days 5, 6 and 7

Sunday - We went into the park again and traveled North to the Norris geyser Basin (named after one of my ancestors, I'm sure). We saw several more geysers there then headed farther north to Mammoth Hot Springs. We saw some pretty interesting sights and bought some gifts and souvenirs then headed back to the campground for the evening.

Monday - OMG!!!!! We had THE most awesome day today!!! We actually saw a sow grizzly bear with her two cubs!!! It was so unexpected...................we traveled up to see a waterfall called Tower Fall and on the way back we stopped off near the top of Mount Washburn at a "pull-out" to have a picnic lunch and admire the beautiful scenery. Just as we were in the middle of our sandwiches we heard a woman say something about a bear............so, we grabbed the camera and headed out to where the other people were looking. Sure enough - there was the sow bear with her two cubs!!! We just watched in awe as they crossed over a huge rock, then headed toward the ever-growing group of people watching them. They kept coming closer and closer and the growing group of people kept backing up toward the cars (except for a few people who stayed way too close!!). The bears finally crossed the highway and headed up a hill. A ranger was watching through a scope from a station at the top of the mountain and radioed to another ranger who showed up to direct traffic and make sure the on-lookers backed away from the bears. We heard a man behind us say that he had been to Yellowstone many times and this was "the best bear sighting he had ever had!!" Wow..........and we just happened to be there too!!!! We estimated that we were about 50 yards away from the bears, which is actually way too close. The literature we got says that it is illegal to be within 100 yards of the bears - oops! It was just so exciting!!!!

After the excitement of seeing the bears we headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We weren't sure what to expect and when we got there and found that the trail was 3/8 mile long and a 600 foot drop we were a little hesitant but decided to go for it anyway. Boy, was it worth it!!!!! The view of the falls with the rainbow above it and the canyon was SPECTACULAR!!!!!! The walk back UP the trail was agonizing (Bob's word) but we're glad we did it. I'm sure the pictures won't do the view justice, but we tried - you'll have to go there yourself sometime.

We had planned to go to Yellowstone Lake just to see the sights but, after spending so much time watching the bears we decided to go ahead and head back to the campground. We had already had a pretty full day.

Today (Tuesday) - We headed out early (for us) at 8:00 am. We drove to Bozeman, Montana - that's where I lived during my junior and senior years in high school. Wow! It sure has grown! We drove by my old high school and house - the high school looked about the same as far as I can remember but the house looked quite a bit different (more mature trees and a different color). It was neat to go back to a place I haven't been to in 31 years (yes, I graduated from high school in 1979). Thank you, Bob, for taking me there!!

After we left Bozeman we made the rest of the almost 12 hour trek to Custer, South Dakota. Bob was SO-O-O-O tired of driving up and then down the mountains, but it was better than driving through Yellowstone Park with the trailer. Anyway, we're here at the Custer KOA - we barely have any phone signal, no tv channels and the internet is intermittent (keeps disconnecting me). So, I'm not sure we'll be able to load any pictures, but I'll try (the bear pictures are the best!!)

See you soon!!

album 06\26\2010 (101 photos), by Allison Christy

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Vacation 2010 - Days 3 and 4

Greetings!

Yesterday we slept in a little and just relaxed awhile before heading into town (West Yellowstone) to see the sights. We did a little shopping and had dinner in a little cafe. Then we came "home" and watched Miami Medical (old habits die hard!)

Today we headed back into Yellowstone Park (without the travel trailer, thank goodness) and saw the sights from the West Entrance to Old Faithful and everywhere in between. I only took about 150 pictures today (Bob thought it was more like 400!) The weather was beautiful today - it only got up to 69 degrees, and that was as we were heading back to the campground. It was in the low 60's most of the time that we were walking around outside - sure glad I had my new orange Yellowstone jacket! Bob even got a little chilly!! We heard it's pretty hot back home.........sorry!

We saw a herd of buffalo - up close and personal!! The babies are so cute! I got LOTS of pictures of them. We also saw tons of ground squirrels, a moose and a heron. No bears yet! We arrived at Old Faithful about 30 minutes before it was predicted to erupt, so we sat down with all of the other millions of people and waited. Right before the predicted time a ranger came up to where we were sitting and gave a little talk about geysers and just as he finished she blew!! It was pretty cool to see - it's supposed to go about 130 feet up in the air.

We came home and grilled a bunch of hamburgers, hot dogs and bratwursts - we'll have plenty to eat for the next several days.

I'm hoping to get the pictures put on Snapfish again, so you can see all of them, but I'll attempt to get a couple put on here too.

See you soon!

Vacation 2010 (56 photos), by Allison Christy

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

2010 Vacation - Days 1 and 2

We're FINALLY here!! It's been a long two days (mostly for Bob)! We left at 8:20 am on Wednesday and headed for the North Fort Collins/Wellington KOA Campground (Colorado) - we arrived there around 9:00 pm (our time). It was a pretty uneventful drive, just very long. We pretty much just set up camp, ate a little dinner and went to bed. The campground at Fort Collins was very nice and quiet, even though it's right by the highway.

We didn't leave Thursday until after 10:00 am. It was 66 degrees when we left - very nice! We entered Wyoming (Cheyenne, Wyoming!) just 20 minutes after we left Colorado. Is there always lots of construction along the highways when you're trying to travel?? Once we got about halfway through Wyoming we started seeing snow-covered mountains in the distance. We drove through the Medicine Bow National Forest,Shoshone National Forest, Bridger-Teton National Forest, then through the Grand Teton National Park and finally Yellowstone National Park.

We're still trying to figure out how to get the pictures put on the way we want - we'll put more on later.

More later............