Art

We've passed this artwork almost daily...more than once per day, but never took the time to really look at it. So, in our last days here in Billings, Devin grabbed the camera so we could bring a little piece of it home with us. Some really talented work here...although some may not think so.

Who's Bad?

After spending a great weekend celebrating my dad's 50th birthday, Devin and I set out to explore a few more roads in South Dakota before returning to MT for our last week of work.


We drove around late Saturday evening into the wee hours of Sunday morning looking for a place to camp. Do we see a pattern here? Note to self (and others who choose): You're NOT going to find a well sheltered camping spot in the middle of desert land...duh! Now that we have that clear, lets move on. 


We crossed into The Badlands, SD and slept an hour or so in the car. But, at least we woke to a beautiful sunrise!

I love this picture of a lone tree in the desert with a little birdie perched on the tip top!

Devin was a little disappointed to find that this area was made of clay.

The Badlands' name came from Sioux Indians who called it 'mako sica', meaning 'lands bad'. It is more commonly said that the Native Americans couldn't harvest it or plant anything on it.

All this? Yup...clay.

Once the sun starting spreading its rays, we took off through the back roads of The Badlands to see what we could discover. Hitting one of the high points we found this look out. 

And then we found our new friend Leonard. Leonard had a bum leg and was trying to keep up with his family. We gave him a ride and dropped him off a little further down the road. I hope he writes...he was such a nice character.

 Hi Leonard's family!

Just after dropping Leonard off, we came across our next high point. This is what I think The Badlands...are really known for. 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the US.

After taking in the amazing views, we waved far-the-well to our tour guide and puttered along the road to our next adventure.

Here comes the sun...

It didn't take long for us to find our next stop. Literally just over the hill from the desert conditions of The Badlands of South Dakota we stumbled upon this beautiful farm of sunflowers. Sunflowers growing as far as the eye could see!

Free cup of ice water...

On our cross-country trip headed west to Billings, Devin and I came across hundreds of billboards along Interstate 90. Now, of course most highways have billboards (too many if you ask me and good ol' Theo Roosevelt. But these billboards in particular caught our attention. 'Free Ice Water', '5 Cent Hot Coffee', Take Your Picture With A Buffalo!' Where can you find all this?! Why...Wall, SD of course!

Our landlords had clued us in on this tourist spot. The history of this once small drug store located in a 231 person town referred to as 'the middle of nowhere' is actually very interesting, and apparently world-renown! 

Business was slow for Ted and Dorothy Hustead in 1931...and it continued to struggle for five more years until Dorothy got the idea to advertise 'free ice water' to the dried out travelers heading on the interstate. (Mount Rushmore monument had just opened to the west of them). From that moment on, the rest (as they say) was history. It is actually said that by the time Ted got back from posting the sign at the highway, tourists were lined up for their free ice water!

To this day, Wall Drug has grown dramatically and now is the home of a western art museum, a chapel, an 80 foot dinosaur (including Dinosaur Park and Dinosaur World), and of course...a buffalo or two.

It is also said they have over 500 miles of billboards on Interstate 90, stretching from Minnesota to Billings, MT. 


Another fun fact is that customers of Wall Drug have returned home (traveling from anywhere around the world) erecting signs announcing the miles between Wall Drug, SD and their hometown. They also give away bumper stickers which ask 'Where is Wall Drug'? At least today...a few more people can answer that question.


So...how many free cups of water DO they give away per day? Doing a little research, I found that (in 1981), they claimed to be giving away 20,000 cups of water during peak tourist season (Memorial Day - Labor Day), and during the hottest days of the summer. That was almost thirty years ago. Can you imagine the numbers today?


Oh, and by the way...we got that picture with a buffalo :-)...

Vroooom!

On our way back to Billings from the great weekend we had in SD, we took a side trip through Sturgis. All I have to say is...what a different world! I've heard of ghost towns...but WOW! It's crazy to see the pics and hear the stories of how wild Sturgis is during their motorcycle rallies, only to find everything closed up in the off season! It's almost like riding around inside the fair grounds in the winter! So, after checking out a few of the roads, the most exciting thing I came across was 'Chip'...he's a buffalo who seems to be a permanent fixture to the town (so to speak).

'We were four guys...'

'We were four guys...that's all' (John Lennon speaking to Jann Wenner).


We met back up with the family to celebrate Dad's 50th birthday weekend in South Dakota! Our first stop was Mount Rushmore, to check out these four guys...

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and lastly Abraham Lincoln.

Upon entering the park, you follow a long pathway that leads to Mount Rushmore. This pathway is known as the Avenue of Flags. 56 Flags representing 50 states, three territories, the district of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Northern Mariana Islands.

The Avenue of Flags leads to a viewing balcony. This viewing area is referred to as the Grand View Terrace.

From the Grand View Terrace, you can take what I like to call 'postcard pictures'. Sad to say, I traveled this far...and got the same picture everyone can with a postcard! But they really are mine...mine, mine, mine...all mine! (And yours to enjoy.)

If you walk down the path leading around the mountain, you see a few other views of the heads...including this side profile of George.

Gutzon Borglum, the man who created the sculptings of the presidents.

As we were leaving the park, we came face-to-face with some other visitors...

Driving away from the park, we caught of glimpse of the mountain again. A side view of George...do we see a pattern here??

Crazy...

Little did I know...they have been making a memorial for Crazy Horse in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The monument, carved into a mountain (much like Mount Rushmore), is a sculpture begun by Korczak Ziółkowski in 1948. When completed, it will be 641 ft wide and 563 ft high. It is still incomplete because of funding constraints.
I remember hearing of Crazy Horse in history class, the role he played in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but it was nice to get more of the story, told (mostly) but the heritage that lived it...the real story.
Crazy Horse (Lakota: Tȟašúŋke Witkó (in Standard Lakota Orthography), literally "His-Horse-is-Crazy") was a respected war leader of the Oglala Lakota, who fought against the U.S. federal government in an effort to preserve the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life and participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. He later died in a scuffle against soldiers when captured.


Crazy Horse's memorial statue depicts him pointing out toward his land in the Black Hills. His famous quote is "my lands are where my dead lie buried."

Another piece of history we thought was interesting that we found in the museum at this site was this unique stage coach made in NH!

If any of you are in the area for a brief travel, head over to view this site and drop a dollar (or more) in the jar. I think it's more than worth it.

Lions and Tigers and Bears?! Oh my!

The next stop we made in South Dakota was a small park called Bear Country USA. This was an area (250 acres) that was the home to various wildlife (black bear, elk, reindeer, deer, cougars, bobcats, rocky mountain goats, bighorn sheep, dall sheep and buffalo to name a few). Though I'm not a fan of keeping animals encaged, I have to say that this family run business was well maintained and given the acreage, the animals had more than enough stomping ground to leave their mark!

Elk

This one was shy...

White wolves

Rams

DAAAA Bears!

This one seems to be having a bad hair day...

Party time!!

They enjoyed climbing the tree and knocking each other off the limbs.

Content baby cheetah.

Alive @ 5

Diann introduced us to The Clintons Band. (Well, not really INTRODUCED us...but that would have been nice!) According to Ms Diann, since we were exploring the west, this was THE band to see. Billings had a concert ever Thursday evening at 5 pm. They would close down some streets and let the party (and beer) do as it may. The Clintons Band performed just before we left MT. How lucky for us?!

John and A.J.

The Clintons Band (John, A.J., Levi, Josh)

John (for Ms Diann)

This fan was really getting into it!

Crossing a Continental Divide...or two

We received word from my Dad while we were traveling around Yellowstone that their flight got delayed and discombobulated (yeah, it's a word). So, we had to change our plans a bit.


After leaving the park, we went in search of possibly another camping site, or a hotel to stay at. Of course it was getting late, and towns are few and far between in the wild west. So, this was obviously going to be our next adventure.


While traveling around, we saw many of these signs...

This one happens to be the one passing through Yellowstone.

Their plane was going to be landing in Jackson Hole, WY. We headed in that direction with hopes that we could find a place nearby so we could meet their plane and explore the town. We traveled around Wyoming...and headed to Idaho (having a small stop to scoop a picture of the Snake River).

We decided (since we couldn't find anything in Wyoming, why not add Idaho to the list of states we've visited?! So we entered Idaho (this picture was actually taken the next day). By the time we got there, it was about 2 am and we were worn out from the long day.

We spent the night in the first town we came across and headed out early the next morning to meet the family at the airport.

Helloooooo Wyoming!

After entering Wyoming and traveling through the mountains to the airport, we saw signs of the many wildfires surrounding us.

We finally made it to the airport. We didn't realize that the Grand Teton Mountains were...right beside the airport.

We found this truck in the parking lot. We thought this may fit right in back in the Adirondack Mountains!

We watched out the windows and finally saw their plane land!

Just outside Jackson Hole is a National Elk Refuge...so I'm sure all these antlers were gathered naturally...

After spending a great day exploring Jackson Hole with the family, we headed back to MT to another fun filled work week, with plans to meet up with them again during their travels.