'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.

Welcome to Yellowstone!

Welcome to Yellowstone! Don't feed the bears!

Not far from the entrance, we had our first encounter with the animals. 

These two buffalo were blocking traffic. 

This is not a rare occurrence at the park. Though this particular incident has a story behind it. You see, these two buffalo were waiting (patiently) for their young one to decide that they also wanted to cross. So...we waited (patiently) as well.

And then they went on their merry way. As did we.

Next we stopped and had breakfast at the Roosevelt Lodge. The food was good, but pricey (which was to be expected).

Near this Lodge was the 'Petrified Forest'. At one time when the park was first formed, there were many more of these trees. 

Unfortunately, due to tourists feeling the need to 'take a piece of the park' home with them, there is but one left. This is why it is fenced off from prying hands.

We toured around a bit more and came across the village (yes a real live village in the middle of the park) of Mammoth Hot Springs. 

In this village the Elk walk freely amongst the visitors. And lay and rest...wherever they choose.

It appears to be family day...

Just along side the town of Mammoth Hot Springs is an actual Mammoth Hot Spring...coincidence? I think not...

Dormant geyser near Mammoth Hot Springs

The most famous feature at the springs is the Minerva Terrace - a series of travertine terraces which have been created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate. (Yeah I read that somewhere.)

Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world! (Which is very smelly might I add...)

Though this appears to be 'flowing' it's actually hardened.

Climbing to the top of this area you can overlook the town of Mammoth Hot Springs. Great view!

Our next stop was a grouping of hot springs (we had many to choose from).

Steam bath anyone?

The changing colors were very pretty!

Hot springs a bubblin'!

On our way to our next area, we came across this elk lazing about.

Hey there lil' fella!

We also came to a spot where many people were pulled over to one side of the road and others were seen running to this area and down the embankment. Further up the road, we saw some officials of the park trying to get people to come back to their cars. There appeared to be a small bear cub out and about. Yeah, don't wanna be the one coming across that mad momma when she finds all those people around her baby! So, needless to say, we didn't stop for pictures at that point.

Next, we traveled over a rather large bridge area and, looking below, saw beautiful Gibbon Falls (80 feet of cascading falls). So we pulled off and took a further glance (and picture).

Our next stop was the infamous Old Faithful. Contrary to popular belief, Old Faithful is not actually the largest geyser in the park (that would be Steamboat Geyser). It has become a popular destination (so it is told) because it erupts more frequently (every 60-90 minutes) than any of the other big geysers. This has become pretty predictable (which I suppose would be how it received it's name). 

People lined up to view the event!

And it begins...

If you look close, you can see the water rising through the steam. We were only allowed to be a distance away (no telling what Mother Nature may do!).

Our next two finds were a bit accidental. We decided to take an alternate route out of the park. It was getting late and we needed to find a place to stay for the night (outside of the pricey park). 

First, we came across Tower Falls (exceptionally well named at 132 feet). The trail heading to the base of this waterfall was closed for repair, but we were able to get a little bit of a view from across the way.

Moving on to our last stop of the tour, (Hey! Maybe I should have been a guide! Or not...) we come to what is known as the 'Mini Grand Canyon'. This is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This canyon is 900 feet deep and 1/2 a mile wide (in comparison to The Grand Canyon located in AZ which is 277 miles long, 6000 feet deep and ranges 4-18 miles in width). (Another little bit of info I read up on.)