Georgia to Montana

Rick and I are back with our travel blog.  We hadn't intended to post anything from the time we left Florida on April 21 until we got to Alaska but we've seen so many interesting places and such beautiful scenery that we wanted to share it with you.

After leaving Florida we went to south GA to see my brother Bruce, my niece Leslie and her family and other family members.  From there we went home for about a week to see Eric (our son) and Ellen (Rick's mom) and to check on the house.  Thankfully all was well with the exception of a minor issue with one of the motor home slides.  So we had to make an unplanned trip to Red Bay AL to have the motor on the slide replaced...unfortunately that didn't solve the problem so Rick is still dealing with that.

We had to revise our schedule and eliminate a couple of planned stops.  One was in Veblen SD to visit the area Rick's parents are from and the other was to the Badlands in SD.  With these changes we've been able to keep pretty much to our original schedule.  

After leaving AL we traveled through TN, KY and IL on our way to Moscow IA (for more planned repairs on the motor home).  Iowa is a beautiful state.  The grass was so lush and green that it looked like thick green carpet.  We also loved seeing all the old barns and grain silos.  Some of the barns have been restored and are in use today but others were dilapidated as to be expected since some of them are over 100 years old.  Unfortunately we don't have any pictures because it's not easy to find a place to pull a 40' motor home with a tow car off the side of the road.

From there we went to Hidden Hills Campground, Spring Grove MN where we met a military buddy of Rick's from their days in Wilder ID in the mid 70's.   This was my first time meeting Dwight and his wife Jeannie. They were the perfect hosts for the weekend and I'm glad that I finally got to meet them.   We visited Bily Clock Museum and Antonin Dvorak Exhibit in Spillville IA.  Bachelor brothers Frank and Joseph Bily (pronounced bee-lee) hand carved the most exquisite wooden clocks every winter for over 50 years.  Some of the clocks are over 100 years old, most of them are huge (some over 9') and fully animated with wooden figures and built in music boxes. During the tour they wind each of the clocks that have music boxes so you hear the music and see the figurines move. In the early 1900's Henry Ford offered them $1m for one of the clocks but they refused to sell it. None of the clocks were ever sold and according to their will they must remain in Spillville. This is a must see if you're ever in the northeastern corner of IA.  Unfortunately they don't allow photos but you can see some of them on the following website. Bily Clock Museum photos

After that we went to Rapid City SD where we stayed at Ellsworth FamCamp which is on the Air Force base. The first morning we were there I looked out the window and saw 20 deer grazing in and around our site. 

While in Rapid City we went to Crazy Horse Mountain and Museum.  Polish descendant sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski was contacted by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to carve a mountain for the Indians so that the white man would know that the red man has great heroes too. Korczak accepted and began work in 1948.   When he married in 1950 his wife joined him in the work and later so did their 10 children.  Both Korczak and his wife Ruth have passed away and now 6 of their children and several grandchildren carry on the work.  Crazy Horse is not a state or federal funded project and is primarily financed by admission fees.  Korczak originally worked on Mt. Rushmore.   

 

  This is how the monument will look when finished. 

Teepee replica in the VERY large Crazy Horse Museum.

Crazy Horse Museum

Crazy Horse Museum

Amazing quilt work.

We also visited Mt. Rushmore.  Sculptor Gutzon Borglum started carving the memorial in 1927 and with the help of over 400 workers and several politicians the work was completed in 1941. Over 3 million visitors each year have the opportunity to enjoy ice cream made from a recipe created by Thomas Jefferson . When we were there it was a foggy, rainy day so at times you couldn't see the faces on the monument but it was still a nice hike up the trail.

Every State has their flag flying at the Visitor Center

The fog cleared for just a few minutes.

Found this little guy munching along the trail to the base of the monument.

On the trail looking at the amphitheater.

Only 250 steps and .4 miles to the base of the monument.

After we left Mt. Rushmore we took a nice drive thru Custer State Park.  We saw a few buffalo and donkeys.  The donkeys would come right up to the car.  

 

While we were in Rapid City we had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with Rick's cousin Jerry and his wife Sandy.  It's been over 20 years since we've seen them so it was great to see them and hear some of the family history. They took us to Hill City which is the oldest existing town in Pennington County SD.  As of the 2010 census the population was 948.  They treated us to lunch at Alpine Inn. It's a restaurant originally owned and operated by a German lady.  It's now owned and operated by her daughter but she still stops by to say hello to the customers.  The German potato salad was delicious.  After that we went to a candy store called Turtletown for dessert.  Naturally we had to try several different types. 

 
After leaving Rapid City we went to Devils Tower WY which is located about 40 miles west of Sturgis SD. Sturgis is where they hold the huge Harley Davidson motorcycle rally every August.  This year will be the 75th anniversary.  We stayed at Devils Tower KOA campground near the base of Devils Tower National Monument.  In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument under the Antiquities Act. The tower is 867 feet from it base and stands 1,267 feet above the river and 5,112 feet above sea level.  We hiked around the monument where we saw numerous colored cloths tied in the trees.  These are prayer cloths that the Native Americans hung when they stopped to say a prayer.  There are over 200 routes to the top and approximately 5,000 climbers make their way to the top of the tower every year - we actually saw several during our hike.  The month June has a spiritual significance to the Native Americans so climbers are asked to voluntarily refrain from climbing.  As you would expect there are always some that don't comply.

Devil's Tower from about four miles away.

There is someone climbing the tower in this photo. Look just above the bushes at the bottom of the tower.

Here's the climber

Prayer cloth

Prayer cloth

Prayer cloth

From Devils Tower we moved on to Buffalo WY which is an 1880's western town with lots of charm.  We celebrated Rick's birthday a couple of days early by having a steak dinner (best we've ever had) in the restaurant in the Historic Occidental Hotel.  It was founded in 1880 and quickly became one of the most renowned hotels in WY.  It's located near the Bozeman Trail at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains.  Among those to enjoy the hotels hospitality in the early days were Buffalo Bill Cody, Teddy Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Calamity Jane, Hemingway, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  The hotel is still open for business with 18 suites...now with HVAC and plumbing. In addition to the hotel and restaurant, there is a cafe and saloon also open for business.We stayed at the Buffalo KOA. Our site was right beside a neat little creek.  

Creek next to our site at the KOA campground in Buffalo, WY

KOA Campground

KOA Campground

Occidental Hotel

Hotel Lobby

Hotel Lobby

Hotel Lobby

Hotel Lobby

This old radio was playing an old radio show. Complete with static, pops and whistles.

A really unique child's trike.

Occidental Saloon. Original bar.

Occidental Saloon. Original bar.

A peek into the restaurant where we had a awesome steak dinner. 

Sign in the front window of the Occidental Hotel.

Your pick?

Our next stop was Buffalo Bill State Park which is 12 miles west of Cody WY.  On the drive from Buffalo to Cody we saw our first snow on the surrounding mountains. We even had some rain/sleet/snow mix on our way to the summit which was 9,980 feet.  Definitely not something we see in GA.  

Bighorn National Forest. View from front windshield.

Our site

View from our site.

View from our site.

View from our site.

Shoshone River runs through Buffalo Bill State Park. 

Shoshone River runs through Buffalo Bill State Park. 

While there we had the opportunity to visit the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center which is located between Cody and Powell WY. Heart Mountain is where 14,025 Japanese Americans were confined during WWII. On February 19, 1942 six weeks after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Exec. Order 9066 which led to the forced removal of all Japanese Americans from the West Coast.  They were forced to leave behind their homes, businesses, and all personal possessions that could not be placed in one suitcase per person.  Heart Mountain is one of 10 of these camps.  When they were released on November 10, 1945, they were given a train ticket and $25 to start their new lives. If you're a history buff you might want to check out:  Heart Mountain Japanese Interment Camp

Only three buildings remain of the original camp. This is the boiler room for the hospital.

One of two remaining warehouses.

This is all that remains of the original camp.

This is a replica of the room a family of four was given. The family received up to four beds, a coal fired potbellied stove and one electric light hanging from the ceiling. The room measured 20X20 feet. A family of six would get a room 20X30 feet.

We arrived in Yellowstone on Saturday May 30. We'll be here until Wednesday June 10. We'll post about Yellowstone soon.

Next stop Great Falls, MT to officially start our trip to Alaska!