Back to South Dakota for catch up

It's a little past time for an update so here goes. While in South Dakota we decided it was time to to look a little harder for a Class A motorhome. We found to our liking four units, one in Tennessee, one in Ohio and two in Texas. After one of the ones we liked in Texas was sold we decided not to try for the other one. So we called the owners, Jim and Sue in Tennessee and told them we should be there within the week.

We headed toward Tennessee, it was only 1400 miles away. We traveled about 300 miles per day and arrived on Thursday. We contacted the owners and to make a long story short we had to travel to Alabama to see the rig. It was a great trip getting to know a wonderful couple and did get to see the rig. It is a very nice motorhome and we are considering making an offer but first we have to take a look at the unit in Ohio. Tomorrow we go to Ohio and will get a chance to take a look at that one. So at this time we have not made any decisions. Whatever we do, our big concern is how to dispose of our 5th wheel and truck. So time will tell.

We are now in Indiana and still heading for Goshen and the Montana Rally.

So let's backtrack and here are some pictures we took in South Dakota prior to our marathon trip.

We guess we don't need to tell you where our first day trip was to. How exciting to finally be here to see what we have been looking at in pictures for years. What was most interesting was that 95% of the carving was done with dynamite. Holes drilled to a specific depth in a close pattern and then the surface blasted away.

I guess no one was around to pick up all the loose rocks.


A close up view on a bright sunny day, sharing this view with hundreds of people there.

At the base of the mountain a mock-up of the statues was made and then measurements taken taken from the model, multiplied by 12 and relayed to the mountain.

A close up to give a better idea of what one face looks like. This was taken after leaving the park and is the only face that can be seen from this location.

How can you go to South Dakota without seeing the Badlands, and let us tell you they are B-A-D. No way could you get out if you ever got into them.

Sorry about the shadow but you get what you can.

Jackie finally got to see mountain goats before leaving the park (We have looked for them in several places over the last 28 months.).

On the way home we had to stop at Wall Drug. It takes up about 2 city blocks of maybe a 5 city block town of Wall. Had lunch, purchased post cards and headed home.

Ran across this big guy so had him pose, took the shot and off we went before he decided Dick should not be there.

Back at the park the wild turkeys took over the place. Are they just waiting for dinner?

To be continued...

A little of this and a little of that...

The last we spoke we had left the area of Dick's great grandfather's homestead in northern Colorado and made our way north into Wyoming where we found our way to Glendo State Park. The park surrounds an 800,000 acre reservoir. There are around 12 campgrounds around the reservoir with spaces for over 300 camp sites. They had a bad flood this past spring and much of the park close to the water is currently being renovated. As we checked out the area, we were only able to find two other campsites being used. However, as we left the park the ranger told us that the reservation part of the park would be full for the holiday weekend.

We picked a site on a point overlooking the reservoir and set up camp, including the generator as this is all dry camping here. We had planned on staying 3 nights but because of continued problems with the generator we hooked up a day early and headed out.

Before we left we did check out some of the area and took this picture from across the reservoir.

If you look closely at the above picture you can see our rig sitting on the bluff, or you can scroll down and see us a little easier with a zoom lens. Looks like we had the place to ourselves, right? And we did. It was so nice and quiet, we hated to leave.

We did get to Fort Laramie, and spent part of the day there with plans to go back the next day but because of the generator problems we will have to do that on another trip.

We headed this time to NE Wyoming to the little town of Sundance. The town that the Sundance Kid took his name from(and spent some time in the local jail). That's about all the history for this town.

One day we found a back country dirt road and just went for a drive to see what the area was like.

We found this sign out in the middle of nothing and as you can see it is nothing. Not sure what Meadowdale is as we could not see a thing except cattle and grazing land.

On another day we made the trip to Devils Tower National Monument. This is the first National Monument.

Most of the ranches have completed the haying for this year and a view looking across a ranch toward Devils Tower.

There is a trail about 1 1/2 mile long that we took around the base of the tower. Nice trail in the woods with lots of views of the tower with lots of people trying to scale the sides.

On the way into the park there is a very large field full of holes with little heads looking up all around.

The prairie dogs posed for some pictures.

Just down the road we ran across a fawn that had just about lost it's spots but still had a few (mom wasn't far away).


A few miles down the road from Sundance was a place called Vore's Buffalo Jump. We had to see what this was all about. There is quite a large sinkhole that has been here for thousands of years and the Indians would stampede the Buffalo, run them off the edge of the hole. The story goes that they would run over 700 buffalo, slaughter them and take all the butchered pieces to a camp about 2 miles away, process it for future meals, etc.

The building in the hole is to protect the diggings that have been uncovered. They dug a hole about 25' deep and determined that the "jump" would have been done about every 15 years. This whole thing was discovered in 1970 when the feds were getting ready to put I-90 in, and this site was right in the path.

Looking at a very small piece of the excavation inside the building showing hundreds of bones.

Dick figured it was time to do some rock hounding so out into the wilderness again to a spot he had found on the Internet. The only problem is once we got there and started up the dry river bed was he was not sure what he was looking for!

We walked about a 1/2 mile up the bed and picked up a bag of rocks; still not sure if it was what we should have found. It was a nice trip and we did find...

this old truck out in a pasture. Looks like it is need of a little restoration.

Not sure of the age of this old log home but would guess that it and the one in the distance on the right could date back to the late 1800s. We have seen a lot in these few short days so just wanted to share a little of it with you.

And finally, Dick started wire wrapping some of the petrified wood we found in Arizona. A different twist with the added glass beads. It measures 3 1/8" tall and 1 5/8" wide and it could be yours for only $85.00. It took 6 weeks to polish the stone and 2 evenings to wrap with all sterling silver wire.

We're off to the Rapid City, SD area for six days before starting our trek to Indiana for the Montana Owners Rally.

To be continued...

Rocky Mountain National Park

We arrived with reservations for 3 nights at the Park, set up camp including the generator so we could keep the batteries charged up. Dick's CPAP machine takes about 6% of the battery and then using the lights, water pump and refrigerator we need to charge them up in the morning.

We headed up and over the mountain and as usual took the narrow dirt road to the top at over 14,000 feet. Here is looking back down the valley, and we are only half way up the side.
What incredible views! We did find that we were a little light-headed when we arrived at the Visitor Center.


For some strange reason the park is full of what they call wild animals. We pulled over to watch a moose in the stream (of course he wouldn't turn around, so Dick got another "butt shot"). Just before we got there a bicyclist was watching the Moose as he came around the corner and just rode his bike off the road into a tree. All turned out well after the aid car came.

This scraggly guy kept watching us as he walked (or ran) away.

The elk herds came down into our part of the park every day and we lost count at about 80. One evening some walked right up to some people. Kind of scary. And you should see the cars blocking the road, just stopped to take pictures!

This is one of the two bucks that are feeding together.

Just before sunset with the haze of the evening hanging over the mountains.

Took another ride one day and found this campground. It is a rather nice Forest Service campground on a creek with lots of trails around. We talked about going there, maybe as hosts, but unfortunately there is no cell service. Guess it is not for us.

We are now in Wyoming for the first time after spending 3 days in the little town of Walden Colorado where Dick's great grandfather homesteaded. We came away with lots of family details dating back to 1882 and again met several very helpful friendly folks. Walked the 1882 homestead and that was kind of cool. Their museum is great.

To be continued...

Three for the price of one...

Our two weeks is about up here in Monument Colorado. The park where we are staying is very nice with lots of trees and fills up on the weekend with lots of kids so it keep us thinking about our grand kids that we miss.

We have spent a lot of time seeing the area and at the same time doing some family research, mostly Dick's side of the family but still looking for details on Jackie's grandfather who was born in Boulder Colorado before they registered births. Without a birth certificate or listing we can't find his parents details. We met a wonderful lady in Castle Rock (yes, Castle Rock, CO) at the historical library who, as an archivist, was a terrific help to us regarding Dick's family. We even went back a second time and she helped us find even more. Thank you, Johanna.

We have had several days with afternoon thunder storms so do most of our site-seeting before the rain starts. We have been to over 14,000' high and to 1,000' underground in a couple of days. One day we went on a tour of a gold mine and they took us down 1,000' to the main drift saw a lot of equipment both old and newer, still working. Newer being early 1900s. The tour was great but the pictures are not, so have not posted pictures of this trip. Did see some gold in the rock that they plan to take out another day.

1) The trip to 14,110' was via a Cog Rail Road that took us to the very top of Pikes Peak. We could have driven up but they wanted $12.00 per person to drive your own vehicle to the top. We thought it would be a lot more fun taking the train. When we got to the top the temperature was 42 deg. but with the wind chill it was right around freezing.

We finally reached the top in this train with a maximum grade of 25%. It looked like straight up but looked worse when going down. Glad the brake system works.

A little hazy but you could see 5 States from the top.

Again a view looking off in another direction. Notice that what looks like a third rail down the center of the track is just the Cog strip used for pulling us up and taking us down. Also notice that we are above the tree line and the top of this mountain is all rock.

Just a little proof that we did it. No running at this elevation and glad we brought sweaters with us.

2) This day trip was at a more normal elevation. As normal as you get here in Colorado. Between the freeway and the base of the mountains is the Air Force Academy with a nice visitors center and self guided tours of the property. Hiking a trail we got a look at the student lodging, class area and the chapel. The chapel can be seen from all over town; it's quite a landmark.

The chapel is built primarily of aluminum and stained glass and is a beautiful structure with room for several denominations using it at the same time.

This view just shouted Black and White so why not?

There are several areas around the academy where they have historical airplanes mounted on raised platforms but nothing bigger than this B-52. Wow, what a monster.

3) Back underground but not far, just under the edge of the cliff is the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and Museum. They have done a great job bringing it back to a condition where you could wander through the buildings. This is about half the width of the Dwelling with the other half extending off the the left.

I think the handrails were added later.

You can see that they had several floors just like what we have now. Very interesting and glad we took the time to see it.

There is so much to see in this area, we are sure we will be back again. And in spite of the thunderstorms, the weather has been great.

We are off to the Rocky Mountain National Park so not sure if we will have Internet or telephone.

To be continued...

Hanging out and having fun in Colorado

We have been staying at Blue Mesa Ranch Resort, a Western Horizon resort in Gunnison Colorado. Fancy name for a large RV park. Every Saturday those that want can set up and sell products they have made or purchased for resale.

We set up a table like many others and tried to sell some of Dick's jewelry and polished stones. The first item that he sold was his first wire wrapped project that he made. The next Saturday he sold a pair of earrings. Not the best place to sell higher cost jewelry. We did have fun and while sitting there he made some more pieces to sell and Jackie made some cards (not ready to sell them yet).

Another day we packed up and headed to town for a river rafting trip down the Gunnison river. Kind of mild but it was a great day until it started to rain. It cooled down fast and we got a little wet but had a great time.

Found some more places where the wild flowers came out in bloom and just had to stop and get some shots of them. This was just a small garden at the RV park but with carefully adjusted shot he was able to not get the road or fence in the picture.

Back doing family research Dick found that his Great Great Grandmother was buried in a very small mountain town in 1883. On the trip up the mountain we found a beautiful reservoir. This is in the Taylor Park area near the town of Tin Cup or Tincup.

The cemetery at Tin Cup is several knolls, each for different groups (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish). The only information we had was that she was buried in the Protestant cemetery, the grave was in the second row near the middle and at one time it had picket fence and a wood grave marker that are now gone.

You have to cross the bridge to get to the cemetery.

The trees have grown up throughout the area and it was very difficult to determine what the rows are. Based on what little information we had this was the grave site we picked to be hers. We put flowers on the grave and departed in the rain.

Hope we got the right one, but will never know for sure.

A few miles away, the family settled in an area called Union Park on 20 acres in the middle of this valley and extending into the forest on the right.

This building was there about the time that the gold mining was going strong in the area and is still used as a cow camp.

Hope to go back another time now that we know the exact location of the Texas Placer mine and see if there is any indication of a home where she died.

Another day another trip up into the mountains. This time it was to an historical RR tunnel at the end of a road. The road to Alpine tunnel is the old narrow gauge track bed that gains several thousand feet up the side of the mountain.

This is a view down the valley at only about half way to the top.

The rock retaining wall was put in around 1880 and still holds the road in place. That clear strip on the right is the same road.

Not sure what is around the corner but glad no one was there when we went around the bend. Notice it is straight down with room for only one vehicle.

On the way up there is a restored water tank. One of several but the only one that has been restored.

Half way up the mountain some of the track still stand, but this is a siding where a town once stood. If there was not a sign here one would have no idea of what was here over 100 years ago.

Finally at the top the remains of several buildings and the restored station and one other building. While there we found two people working on restoring the large stone building on the left.

The tunnel is still there but a rock slide has closed it off at both ends. It was only in use from 1881-1910. Must have cost thousands of dollars to build the tunnel and the RR to only be in service for that short time.

Did we mention that it took us 1 1/2 hours to travel the 10 miles to the tunnel?

On the way back home we ran across the Indian in the side of the hill.

Looks like he is looking over a ranch and the valley.

Stay tuned for more of our travels.

To be continued...