In my last post, I forgot to include this quick video snippet I took while at the overlook for the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone–it gives you my view and I thought it was pretty spectacular!

I’ve said repeatedly that we saw a lot of bison. And while we were there they were having babies left in right. It seemed like overnight there were dozens of baby animals everywhere we looked!

On the first morning in June we saw a spectacular sight–a herd of bison with a bunch of babies were frolicking in the valley beneath the road we were driving on. There was a small crowd and we made friends with some of the other lookie-loos. They told us that they were veteran animal photographers and that seeing a bison herd of this size moving rather quickly across the land was unusual.

Bison are pretty spectacular animals–the largest mammals in North America, I think. Anyway, they were making a lot of noise and grunting away across the plain.

Of course this was especially exciting because of all the baby bison that were herding with them. They are so cute! And they jump around their mommies in a very funny way, bucking and playing.

Wait for me, mommy!They were moving from one end of the valley to the other, through a marsh area.

They would move a smidge and then pause to drink.

The babies stuck close to their mothers.

An overview of the valley.

And another area, with mountains in the background.

I took a quick video of the bison as they passed.

After our bison encounter we were hopping to spot some otters in the wild. We hiked up a very, very steep hill (oy) and came to this pretty spot, Trout Lake. We’d heard this was a popular spot for otters but we didn’t see any. Otters were the one animal we really wanted to see in the wild that we did not see.

On our way back down–notice the slope, people!–we stopped so Dale could take this pretty picture (and so I could catch my breath).

Later that day, we spotted this gorgeous waterfall.

It’s hard to tell how spectacular this waterfall is–but Dale has helpfully created a way! Hee! That tiny white blur above the waterfall? It’s a car driving by on a road far above it.

I should have been worried when this guy chased us out of town… Seriously, staged shoot-outs scare the crap out of me.

The Presidents glowed their stoic approval of our trip in the early morning sun…

We also spotted two wolves running through a field. They were eating…something…heard our car and took off. But I got a quick shot of them before they disappeared. I am a ninja with a camera, seriously.

And finally! Welcome to Wyoming…ah. I kinda loved Wyoming. It was just so expansive and the  sky really does go on forever there.

First side trip of day…Devil’s Tower. You know I grew up watching a lot of movies so this iconic set piece from Close Encounters of the Third Kind was pretty cool to see in person. From where this photo was taken we were still 30 minutes away from it.

We’re getting closer! It’s pretty odd. They think it was formed by a volcano or something? I dunno but it was pretty gigantic.

How gigantic you ask?

So big that the blue dot you see on the side of it? That’s a climber. There are actually several climbers on there if you click on it to view it larger you might see more.

For some reason, I really enjoyed driving across Wyoming. I think it was a combination of the ridiculously expansive sky, scattered with endless popcorn clouds and the green fields that go on forever in both directions. It just feels very much like the rest of the world doesn’t even exist.

But then, after quite a long while of driving, the world comes back! In the form of the Bighorn National Forest. Pretty spectacular sight.

After what felt like quite a long time driving (a couple of hours)? We got to Bighorn.

I love these old signs! And from here we pretty much drove straight UP the mountain! Did I mention I’m prone to car sickness and slightly afraid of driving near steep drop-offs? It was going to be a long day, is what I’m saying…

Near the top of Bighorn the sky was a dark blue and the mountain was covered with some pretty serious snow! Wow!

Dale was very excited that Betty made it up to close to 10,000 feet. I was excited I didn’t pass out on the way up or down.

Coming off the other side of the mountain was pretty spectacular. There is the Bighorn Basin. It goes on for miles in every direction and makes you feel like the insignificant little flea you are in the face of Mother Nature. I loved it.

Next thing I knew we were in Montana! We were headed to the Beartooth Highway and Beartooth Pass, considered one of the most scenic drives in America–and the most beautiful entrance to Yellowtone.

From wikipedia:

The Beartooth Highway is the section of U.S. Highway 212 between Red Lodge, Montana and Cooke City, Montana. It traces a series of steep zigzags and switchbacks, along the Montana-Wyoming border to the 10,947 ft (3,337 m) high Beartooth Pass. The approximate elevation rise is from 5,200 ft (1,600 m) to 8,000 ft (2,400 m) in 12 mi (19 km) in the most daring landscapes. (My tummy was not amused).

Along the way we came across the Smith Mine Disaster site–where 74 men died. Interesting that they leave the mine there, slowly decaying, in memory of the men who died there in 1943.

We drove up a perilously winding and narrow road for what felt like the rest of my life. I was woozy to say the least.

When we got to the very top of the mountain there was a sign my mind would not process. I asked the ski bums hanging out what we need to do. They were going to stay until the road opened–they were just here to ski. We had to turn around and backtrack all the way back down the mountain and cut over, across Wyoming to Cody in order to go to a completely different entrance to the park. We’d already been in the car for about 12 hours. We were within two hours of our hotel–if the road had been open. So we had to turn around (I cried, I’m only a little ashamed to admit it). I took this photo at 7:10 p.m. We got to our hotel around 1:30 a.m.

Here’s a quick video of me on the way back down the mountain. I was feeling a little sorry for myself and pukey. It’s embarrassing. You can also hear Dale start to laugh openly at me. Hee!

We did stop and have the best fish and chips of our lives in Cody, Wyoming, and had an awesome bartender named Clay listen to our sob story. Once we got into Yellowstone–in the dead of night–two more roads were closed creating further delays.

At least a cute bear was waiting for us in our room…

Once we got to South Dakota and got that whole Mt. Rushmore thing out of the way we had a few other things to see! In fact, we want to go back to this area because we missed so much! Our next big stop was the Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy indeed!

I wish I could express to you how big this damn thing is! It’s just SO DAMN BIG. Allegedly, you could put all of Mt. Rushmore on Crazy Horse’s face. And they aren’t even close to finished. It’s pretty spectacular but you can’t really get that close to it unless you want to pay a second entrance fee to take a bus up to the base. Since we had a lot to see (and had already paid for parking and admission) we were iffy on it. I also felt that the whole thing was run but the wacky white dude’s family that was the original sculptor. And I was like: Um, where are the actual Native Americans in this scenario? They seemed to be there but not in charge.

To give you some idea of the size? That is a guy and some major equipment at the base of the front of the sculpture. It’s pretty nutty.

This is the life-size rendering of the sculpture representing what it will look like when complete. Pretty spectacular.

From Crazy Horse we headed back into town for lunch. Sadly, we didn’t have time to hang out at Bedrock City–the Flinstones-themed park–but we for sure drove up and checked it out. OMG I LOVE DINO SO MUCH. *ahem* I have scads of pictures of the gift shop that I’ll post on my stupid Roadside Curiosities blog someday! Anyway, I just thought it was pretty awesome.

Seriously, how cute is this? I know, right?

So we weren’t 100% sure how we wanted to spend the afternoon. Dale decided he wanted to go to Custer State Park because they have the largest roaming bison heard in the United States. And I must admit I figured the animals would all be out of view and the whole thing would be lame since we didn’t even pack a lunch or anything. I was totes wrong. We didn’t just spot a few bison–we had to get out of their way. It was amazing. They were molting so they they felt a little embarrassed at the state of their coats.

Custer State Park was quite lovely, despite the cloud coverage–and even that was pretty lovely.

We also got very lucky to get up close and personal with an antelope. He was quite friendly, grazing along the side of the roadway in the park. We saw lots of antelope but none was this cozy!

Even more exciting was the fact we  went so early in the season that all of the animals were busy having lots and lots of babies. And is there anything cuter than baby animals? Hell no! Here is a one of the most adorable baby animals in the world: A baby bison with mommy. This little guy was so cute. He would nuzzle his mommy and then he would do this adorable jumping/bucking thing in circles around her as she stood there, totally stoic. You know she was all beaming and proud on the inside though.

Dale took this awesome shot of a bison enjoying a little mid-day snack.

To give you some idea how close these giant animals were to us? I took a quick shot out the car window. This is what’s known as a “bison jam”–all the park visitors pull over to get a view of the animals. You always know to pull over when you see more than two cars pulled over–something (or someone) is there to see!

After an afternoon at Custer State Park we went to one of the top places to see: Rapid City Dino Park. I’ve wanted to go here for as long as I can remember and it was so worth it. This spectacular cement dino sits at the highest point in the city so you can see it from all around town. I love it so much OMG.

These guys were created in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, a program meant to put people to work. The city really embraced these guys and have kept them in incredible shape, painted and repaired regularly!

I mean, seriously. HOW GOOD IS THIS? I was so excited I fell and skinned my knee and was excited to have skinned my knee at this classic place.

God, I love South Dakota. I really do.

Here is one such example of Mt. Rushmore through the trees.

And this is the view of Mt. Rushmore from the entrance of the park. It’s quite lovely.

And here’s a close-up of the faces! That’s George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

Once you leave the park, you can drive behind it and get a quick peak at George Washington from the ground.

We were lucky enough to spot a mountain goat sipping running water from a rock on the backside of Mt. Rushmore. Apparently, the molting mountain goats like to hang out back there.

He was quite close to the road–so close that slipped right into the middle of it. Startled by his own slip into the street he stopped and looked at all us tourists looking at him but then promptly went right back to drinking.

That’s our hotel! The Roosevelt Inn. The morning after visiting Rushmore we opted to take a flight in a helicopter (our first helicopter ride) and see Mt. Rushmore from the air!

I’m not the best with heights but I did well! And we got a great view of the entire park!

Bird’s eye view of Mt. Rushmore!

We also flew around the perimeter and saw the Black Hills.

Dale sat in front because he was less squeamish than me and had a great view for photos.

Self-portrait in a helicopter!

This is us in front of the helicopter. Our pilot was a 20-year-old girl. We trusted her with our lives!

As a warning? I took most of these (Dale was driving!) so this post will likely not have the high-quality photos you’ve come to expect from our blog. Heh.

AND IT BEGINS…

We stayed in the Wisconsin Dells the first night–just three hours from home–and then drove across Minnesota and South Dakota to end up in Keystone (took about 12-14 hours).

We made sure to stop quite a few times along the way to South Dakota. Luckily for me (not so much for Dale) there are tons of roadside attractions (which I will probably go into more depth on over on my dumb roadside curiosities blog). Illinois and Wisconsin were quickly dispensed and we came to the lovely state of Minnesota…I tried to get pictures of all the state signs (wait till you see the Idaho sign).

For you NPR fans? Garrison Keillor gets a shout-out on the Minnesota sign. Dale loves him some raspy-voiced NPR folk heroes.

Let me just start by saying that one of my greatest regrets about this trip was that we didn’t have time (and Dale was solidly against it, honestly) to see the Spam Museum. It’s still on my list of places to go before I die. But we did see this AWESOME statue of the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, Minnesota. First of all, how great is the name Blue Earth for a city? Pretty great, in my opinion. Secondly, why can’t Oak Park have a giant Jolly Green Giant statue? WHY?

Minnesota was lovely–and we even stopped to see the Mississippi River on our way in. I really want to spend more time in Minnesota but we were on a mission so we kept on VW-ing on into South Dakota, which is now one of my favorite states!

Great Faces. Great Places. INDEED.

We knew we were going to like South Dakota when we stopped at the first rest area and found that it was filled with adorable midcentury modern architectural details in pristine condition. South Dakota was immediately up our alley. Dale took this photo! Guest appearance by Dale!

Obviously poor Dale was just the driver/patient co-traveler for the first day. It was all roadside America and I was in my element. (Big props to Roadside America‘s iPhone app–I saw SO MANY AWESOME THINGS because I had that handy app on my phone on our long driving days! It was really worth the rather pricey application). For those of you who haven’t spent the last few years dreaming about going to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota? It’s pretty awesome. It’s a building covered in giant pieces of art made entirely from multi-colored corn. Yep, all that art on the building? It’s corn!!!!

The man on the Segway? CORN! The ship at sea? CORN. The biker at sunset? STILL CORN! It’s quite seriously one of the greatest, most bizarre buildings on earth–and there’s more art (and a gigantic gift shop) inside. I’ll be highlighting that on my other blog later because it really deserves its own post. <—LOSER.

We kept on moving, stopping only for homemade pie with cinnamon ice cream, until we finally–finally!–got to Wall Drug.

Wall, South Dakota, was a little town without much doin’! But a couple who owned the drug store had a dream. They decided to offer free water to all who came and when cars had no A/C that was quite the gift–actually not really. Everybody offered free water. But they decided to promote it with signs all along the highway. And slowly turn their small town drug store into a major tourist attraction that takes up most of downtown Wall. As you drive through South Dakota you will see a sign promoting the mysterious tourist trap/drug store known as Wall Drug every 50 feet or so. And how do you know you’ve arrived?

There’s an 80-foot dinosaur to let you know to pull off at this exit!

And this was just the first of about 10 cement dinosaurs we saw in South Dakota. Seriously. How great is that state? Pretty great.

Next up? Mount Rushmore and Crazy (seriously crazy) Horse.

A gorgeous shot taken from the balcony of their condo rental!

Dale, Chase & Chris took a drive through the mountains and jumped out to get a photo near the Loveland Pass.

Dale and Chase and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture marker.

Someone is holding Dale’s camera. He’s very comfortable with that, obviously. Chase, Chris and Dale met up with another of their nearest and dearest (and the Best Man at our wedding) Greg! He was working on a snowboarding event at Copper Mountain.

Mountains everywhere! Even grocery runs have spectacular scenery in Colorado.

A wintry view from the ski lift. I imagine the weekend went just like the one in that movie Hot Tub Time Machine.

Chase & Chris posing politely for Dale.

Colorado is just rotten with mountains, I guess.

Skiing!

A little snow hut along Copper Mountain.

Gearing up for more extreme winter sports! My guess is that they came home a lot more sore than they would have 15 years ago.

Dale had a GREAT time and wants to take up skiing again. He also enjoyed the generosity of his good friend Chase, who made much of the weekend possible! Thanks, Chase!

This is a shot of Chase & Dale at the Painted Desert. Dale said it was a little late to get the full effect at sunrise but this gives you the flavor!

This amazing place is where a meteor hit the earth! Look at the size of that crater! It’s crazy! Dale says it is 3/4 of a mile across and 800 feet deep!

Dale cracked me up by providing his first impressions of Phoenix (Dale is not a big fan of very hot climates):

Phoenix is a god forsaken land of dirt with a smattering a foliage just scraping by to exist; seriously it feels like God is in the sky trying to burn all the people on the ground with a magnifying glass. No human was ever meant to live here; for example the houses have industrial air conditioners mounted on the roof. It appears to be a constant battle between the bastard burning sun and a desire to live.

The Royal dining room! It took three hours to set the table! The used a ruler to measure each place setting. This is where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip entertained many dignitaries, including Ron and Nancy Reagan.

When it is necessary for the Royals to come into shore from the Brittania, they would take this hot little number right here! Additionally, there is a vintage Rolls that is stowed away on the deck of the yacht. They would have to slide it in sideways into it’s little garage make it fit–Queenie has to have proper transport, don’tcha know? They used a crane to get the Rolls on shore as necessary.

There were several bars on board, including this one. As I recall, this is the officer’s bar. The royals had their own, of course, and then one for guests. But I might be getting confused. At any rate, excellent use of space. Ha!

This is a lounge area where guests would congregate. It’s next to the long dining room. Corporations now rent out the yacht for private parties. I believe you can even rent it out for weddings and such.

For more on Brittania you can check out this link. Most Americans seem to like the fact that Princess Diana and Prince Charles took their honeymoon on the yacht. Famously, Diana broke royal protocol and, after a prolonged absence from her children, greeted them with motherly hugs and kisses in front of the press onboard Britannia and not the cool handshake usually reserved for royal children. ]]> http://www.dale-murray.com/oakpark/2006/12/spotlight-brittania.html/feed 0