Day 09 - Bad Lands, Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore

Today we spend the whole day in the Black Hills area, first going on an optional trip to the Bad Lands.  Earlier others went to Bear Country and we begin by going to pick them up.  When we arrived, we see some elk.

We also saw several black bears in the drive through pen.

We stop at the first overlook in the Bad Lands National Park and view the topography of the area.

We take several pictures at the overlook.

We stop again and this time we get to hike through the grounds along the Door Trail.  The trail begins on a boardwalk, and then descends into the rugged terrain.

The landscape is indescribable.  As you walk along the trail through the undulating landscape that is ancient fossil beds, looking like the set of a science-fiction movie.

As we travel along the park, we see the erosion of the hills that gives the Bad Lands their names.

The terrain is very interesting here.  On one side of the road we have the rugged hills and on the other side of the road there is flat grasslands and in this case a pronghorn antelope.

We drive by a prairie dog city and stop to take some pictures.  Carmen says they are cute.

Someone spots a mountain goat, up on the hill, near the road and Ching slows the bus down.

Then we see another just below the coach on the other side of the road.

And another below the coach.

We see another and fortunately, we are at a pull-off and are able to pull the bus into so we get off to get a closer and better view of another mountain goat.

While watching one mountain goat, another came up the hill and started to feed just a little way from us.

Continuing we see more of the Bad Lands.

Along the road, the vistas are fantastic.

It is difficult to get a picture that truly portrays the landscape, especially from inside the window tinted coach.

After leaving the Bad Lands, we stop in Hall at Hall Drug.  We have seen road signs for miles and miles to stop at Hall Drug and so we do.  After having lunch, we browse the store and the Hall Drug attractions before heading back to the coach.

After returning to the hotel, we pick up those that did not go on the Bad Lands trip and head to the Crazy Horse memorial.

I am able to take a picture with the scaled statue depicting the finished product and the mountain under construction in the background.  This way you can see just how far along the project is.  Just a note, the project started in 1948, so in 2012, it has been under construction for 64 years.

While we were there some Indian children were demonstrating several dances, one of them by this young lady.

We left and then drove to Mt. Rushmore. 

For those of you who have not been to Mt. Rushmore, every State and Territory flag is on display along the walk way to the viewing platform and amphitheater.

Tomorrow we head to Denver.  Now it is time to put the doggies to bed, Bob and Carmen.

Day 08 – To Rapid City

We leave Montana today and head to Rapid City South Dakota following I‑90 with stops at the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana and Deadwood in South Dakota. 

The landscape has changed to more of rolling hills then the stark spires of the mountains we have passed through the last several days.

The Battle of Little Big Horn is only about 50 miles outside of Billings, Montana and we are there shortly before 9:00 AM.

Looking over the battlefield you can feel the sense of defeat by the Calvary as you can see for miles, but only the tops of the little hill crests.  It is easy to see how the Indians could sneak up to attack without even exposing themselves.

Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho surrounded the approximately 41 men with Lt. Col. Custer on the hill when he ordered them to shoot their horses to act as breastworks and fight to the death. 

We spent some time looking over the hill with the markers for the 7^th Calvary where the slain troopers were found and originally buried.  The soldier’s remains are not located here now, but reinterred to other cemeteries years ago.

Custer’s marker has a black background around the lettering and is easily distinguished from the others.

On the other side of Last Stand Hill from the 7^th Calvary is the Indians memorial.  The Indian memorial was erected to honor the Native American participation in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  Also, in 1991, Congress changed the name from Custer Battlefield National Monument to Little Bighorn National Monument to commemorate all those who fought and died here. 

Reference to and names of Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, U.S, Crow Scouts, and U.S. Arikara Scouts who fought and died during the battle are presented on plaques in a semi-circle opposite the sculpture.  It is difficult to name or count the Indians that may have died, because they were returned to their camp.

Just beyond the Last Stand Hill and the memorials is a National Cemetery.  While looking at the markers and taking pictures of the Cemetery, I found a marker for a Maine man (Carmen and I lived in Maine) that died in 1875 and was in the 7^th infantry.

Before Carmen and I left Last Stand Hill where the markers are for the 7^th Calvary, we see a rabbit.  Did I mention that we have seen many animals on this trip so far?

We continued our trip and passed ranches with cows, horses, sheep, llamas, and the occasional pronghorn antelope.

And of course deer, these were silhouetted nicely on the hill top as we were driving by.

The country side has remained the same for most of the trip today.

Passing grasslands and rolling hills spotted with trees.

We even pass an open coal mine where the stripped coal rides on a conveyer belt to a processing plant on the opposite side of the highway.

About 33 miles from South Dakota, we pass near Devils Tower.  Now when I say near, I mean about 20 miles from I-90, on which we are driving.  Even so, we are able to take a picture, albeit, not a good one.

We make a short stop in Deadwood, South Dakota.  Deadwood is where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed in the Number 10 saloon while playing poker with his back to a door.  Here is a reenactment of the incident.  The people at the poker table are tourists chosen for the parts.

Wild Bill Hickok, seen here,  wanted to sit in a seat that another player was already sitting and that person said no.  So he decided to sit in the only seat available with his back to a door.  He was holding a hand with two pairs, Aces and eights, now known as the dead man’s hand in poker. 

After arriving at our hotel, we pile back into the bus for a trip for dinner and the evening program at Mt. Rushmore. 

After the program, we headed back to the bus for the drive back to the hotel. 

Until tomorrow, Bob and Carmen.

Day 07 - To Cody and Billings

Today we head to Billings, Montana by way of Cody, Wyoming.  We had a shock this morning when we left the lodge for breakfast.  It was snowing!  The weather channel said it was to get to 26 degrees overnight, but snow on June 6^th?  What a difference from the upper 90’s when we left Las Vegas six days ago.

So, we are heading out the east gate.  To get there we will pass through Hayden valley again.  This is the area that we saw all of the bison.  Bison are once again in the area where we have been seeing them and see a couple of male bison butting heads while another is swimming across the river. 

We see deer (sorry, no picture) right away and hope we get to see a bear before we leave the park.  Instead, we get another picture of bison hanging around hot springs, even though we have already taken plenty of pictures of bison.

We see exceptional views of the Park on the way out. 

But, one thing no one ever expected was to see a snow plow driving down the road.

We were disappointed that we did not see any bear in Yellowstone, but just after leaving the park and before getting to Buffalo Bill’s hunting lodge, Carmen, who was sitting in the front seat with the tour director because of the curvy road, spied a grizzly and here cub on the hill side.

Ching, the bus driver, stopped the bus on the side of the road and we were able to take pictures from inside the bus.  (With the windows heavily tinted, most pictures have a slight blur and are not as clear as if we were outside.)

The cub kept standing on its hind legs and looking over the mother.

After watching the bears for about 5 minutes, the mother bear stood up on its hind legs as if it sensed something and was trying to see or smell the thing that troubled it.  Shortly it fled up the hill with the cub in tow and we continued on our way.  A great sighting and it allowed us to check off our last animal sighting.

On this trip, we were able to see all of the big animals we wanted to see including deer, elk, moose, coyote, fox, wolf, and finally bear.

We stopped at Buffalo Bill’s hunting lodge before leaving the area.

The countryside is very nice with rocky hills and spires along the road. 

The scenery has made the journey between stopped locations easier to deal with.

When we arrived in Cody, we visited the Buffalo Bill museum.  The museum had different sections, including art, Native Americans, Buffalo Bill, and Firearms. 

There were several bronze statues in the museum that were very nice.

We arrived at our hotel in Billings and almost immediately are back on the bus to our optional Cowboy Dinner excursion.  As we nearly get to the location, we are “attacked” by robbers on horseback and shooting guns in the air.  Of course, it is part of the dinner show, but everyone is excited when “Happy Pappy” comes on the coach.

We have dinner, cooked cowboy style, consisting of beef, beans, potato salad, and fried bread.  Everything was very good.  While we ate, we were entertained with songs by Norrine the Outlaw Queen and Happy Pappy. 

After dinner, Happy Pappy entertains us, again, while we sit around a camp fire.

Later while being entertained, a person in traditional Indian garb rides by on the other side of the river where the campfire is located.

Carmen and I, of course, don our cowboy hats for a picture before heading into the sunset as we leave and head to the hotel.  Giddy up, "so long until we meet again", as Roy Rogers would say.