Day of Museums

 Well hard to believe this was our last day here.  The time has gone by so quickly.  Today we went to the Wax  Presidential Museum that is across the street from our hotel.  It has wax figures of all the presidents.  It was a nice museum but I have to say there were only a couple that actually looked like the President it was.  I am glad we went.

We had planned to go to a zero gravity house today but it isn’t open on Wednesdays.  Had we realized it before today, we would have planned differently but oh well.  Instead, we went to a museum here.  It used to be the school house.  It was built in the 1800s.  When it opened, it had 163 students.  The last year it operated as a school they had 8 students.  It was a beautiful two story building but it need a lot of maintenance work.  It still has the school bell in the tower.  I got to ring it.  It was pretty fun.  One interesting fact…..Carrie Ingalls Swanzy, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s sister lived here.  The museum had a lot of information on her and several of her things. They also had a lot of pictures of the actors from Little House on the Prairie show. 

They have a chainsaw business here. They sculpt logs using a chainsaw.   They have a lot of bears and a lot of Bigfoot statues.  They are all pretty cool.  I found one bear that had the cutest face. He was way out of my budget so I didn’t buy him but if he was cheaper, I would probably have given in and got him. He was pretty cute. 

After some pretty busy days, it was nice to have a more relaxed day.  The weather has turned and it is pretty chilly out so it feels good to be tucked in. 

Another Fun Full Day

 Today was another full fun day.  We left this morning at 8 and didn’t return until 6:30.

We started out with a nice breakfast.  It was very filling and delicious. Then off to Mt Rushmore. WOW!!  It was so incredible and impressive.  We decided not to walk the path as it had a lot of warnings and it had 457 stair steps.  Yikes!  We have almost half of that just doing the area around.  The steps to the sculptor’s shop was over 150.  Going down the stairs was no problem but coming back up was a bear!  I was surprised with my bad feet and bad knee I could do it.  I didn’t even have to use my inhaler.  We spent a couple hours there.

After we left Mt Rushmore, we headed to the Badlands.  It was a couple hour drive.  BUT we first stopped in the town Wall and went to Wall Drug for lunch.  The place was packed. It definitely isn’t your usual drug store. It is more like a mini shopping mall with a restaurant.  After we had lunch, we walked around a little bit then stopped by the ice cream counter.  Off to the Badlands we went.

The cute ranger at the Badlands gave us a senior season park pass.  She said it would be cheaper than the entry fee.  The funny thing is we were talking about getting one but the season is almost over so we didn’t think it would be worth it. But now we have one…there you have it getting old is paying off.  I was completely unfamiliar with the Badlands and not sure why we would want to drive the loop. Well let me tell you, It left a lasting impression on me and I will be doing more research on the area.  The area used to all be underwater.  That alone surprised me.  In a lot of the areas it was similar to the Grand Canyon for depth but a different color.  I have no words to describe how majestic it really was.  The loop took a couple hours to drive through and we stopped at several of the turn out/stop locations and read up on that particular location.  After looking around the area, I  kept telling Art, I didn’t feel like we were still on Earth.  So glad we went!

It was a little chilly this morning.  I wore my jacket for the first hour but then it warmed up.  The temperature at the Badlands was 90 degrees but it was a really really hot 90.  I like heat …..a lot, but this was almost too hot for even me.  It was weird.  But driving home the temperature drop to 67 degrees and it  started to rain.  We even had thunder and lightning.  We stopped for dinner and it was too chilly to sit outside.  A cold front is definitely moving in. 

We are tired tonight…… I think we will sleep good.  Tomorrow will be another fun day.

Impressive Monuments

 We seemed to have packed a lot in today. This morning seems like days ago. It has been a great day though.

We had the continental breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Devil’s Tower.  To say it is massive is an understatement.  Just the Tower measures 867 feet.  It is overwhelming how massive it really is. The last time Art was there (57 years ago) the path around it was just a dirt path so we decided we wouldn’t go all the way around it we should just go a little way.  But in the 57 years they made some improvements to the path.  We ended up walking around the entire tower. It was 1.6 miles. Some parts were pretty steep but we just keep on going.  We were like energizer bunnies.  I was so proud of us for going all the way around. You can actually climb up the Tower.  No we didn’t do any rock climbing but we saw several climbers on the Tower. It was impressive. After, we drove a few hours to the Crazy Horse Monument.  

Admittedly, I knew very little about the monument.  It is impressive as well. The monument is not finished. Only his head, arm and hand are done.  We watched a movie about it at the visitors center. I have to say I am sad I didn’t know more about it.  It really is an interesting story.  I doubt it will ever be done in my lifetime.  It was started in 1948 and this is all the further they have gotten.  I would really like to see them finish it and I would love to see it finished. 

We drove past Mt Rushmore on our way to our hotel.  I cannot wait to go tomorrow.  It looked pretty awesome.  Speaking of our hotel.  Holy Smokes Myrna!!!! Every place is better than the last.  This place is the best! It is a lovely suite.  It has a nice big living room with a fireplace, kitchenette, huge bathroom and a good sized bedroom.  It is like an apartment.  Art did awesome booking this place. We will be here for a few days.

We went to the funnest place for dinner.  It is called Ruby’s place. The one wall has pictures of Ruby’s friends.  It was just a fun place……the food was good too. 

We went to the pool and hot tub but the hot tub is out of order and the pool was really cold. So we are tucked in our room and that is way good.

500 Miles Later

 We were happy to get up and gone this morning.  Although the hotel was cute, it had some serious issues.  There is absolutely no sound barriers.  We could hear neighbors above and to the side all night long.  Good thing the bed was comfortable. Anyway, it worked out great because we got to the restaurant earlier than planned.  About 10 minutes after we arrived the place was completely packed. Not a table left to be had.  Our food arrived quickly so we could eat and give our table to someone patiently waiting.

Off we went.  It was a great drive! I had hoped to see a bear, antelope, and buffalo.  As luck would have it, we saw a herd of buffalo,  a ton of antelope (and I mean a ton), a mountain goat, deer and a lamb.  But darn it no bear.

We stopped in Dubois at the National Military Vehicle Museum.  I thought  we would spend about an hour there but oh my goodness we spent 2.  We could have easily spent more time there but we really needed to get going.  It was a huge museum and it was really cool. So worth going to.

We had a little picnic in the car before we left.  We had delicious prime rib left over from the night before so we ate it with some fruit.  It hit the spot.

Back on the road we went.  We saw a lot of nothing.  Wyoming has a lot of nothing.  Hay field after hay field.  500 miles later we made it to our next destination.  We are at a hotel just past the Devils Tower.  We will be going to it tomorrow.  I am very excited. The hotel is fairly new and we have a lovely room.  It is definitely better that the last one. 

The town is super small. We asked the hotel clerk (happened to be the owner) where we could get some dinner as it was 7 pm. He said the only place open was the golf course and it might be closed.  I called to make sure they were still open.  They closed at 8 pm so we hurried and went.  It was a really nice place and had an incredible view. It was packed as well. The staff all commented how surprised they were that it was so busy.   I am not surprised though as it was literally the only place open.  Service was exceptional. Art even got a free cocktail.  The food was delicious. Art and I shared a club sandwich with fries.  It was really good and a lot of it.  We were both grateful we shared.

Back at the hotel, we got in the hot tub and the swimming pool.  It was a nice way to relax after a long day of driving. 

Now to bed.  Tomorrow ………Devils Tower.  Wonder of we will have a close encounter of the third kind. (It’s a reference to the movie).  

New Adventure ……Road Trip

 Art and I started a new adventure today.  We have been together for almost 38 years and this is the first road trip we have taken that wasn’t to go see family or friends.  It seems a little weird but fun all at the same time.  

We left this morning.  We had lunch in Pocatello then stopped in Idaho Falls.  We drove by the homestead.  It has changed a lot but that is what happens when someone new takes over. It was a little sad driving to a place I had driven to hundreds if not thousands of times,  and this time, we were not greeted with the usual hugs and kisses.  There was no stew waiting for us on the stove.  All we could do is drive by.  I took a quick picture as we went by.  The neighborhood seemed a little older but all the houses had that familiarity.  It was like trying to find your way home and it all looked right but just couldn’t quite make it. 

We hadn’t planned on stopping but we ended up going to visit a lifelong friend and her family.  I have know this friend 60 years.  It was fun to see her.  She has had some serious medical challenges the past year and I am a little worried about her.  Getting old isn’t easy that is for sure. We had a great visit and I am so happy we stopped.

The rest of the drive was just beautiful!  We stopped for the night in Alpine.  It is a quaint little town.  Art requested a first floor room  so we wouldn’t have to carry our bags up the stairs. We ended up with the handicap room.  It is great.  It is just a hotel room but it is all covered in knotty pine.  It is so cabiny . I just love it. 

I stayed awake for the whole entire drive.  I even shocked myself.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant/bar.  The tables were beat to a pulp.  They looked like old poker tables but padding was ripped up and had big holes all over.  The stools were way too tall for the tables.  The services was probably the worst we have ever received.  BUT it didn’t matter….. the food made up for it all.  The food was absolutely delicious!!! We had prime rib that was cooked to perfection.  So the rest really didn’t matter at all.   We would go back in a heartbeat.   

Back at the room relaxing and listening to Art play his guitar.  So soothing …….what a great ending to a great day!