July 17

On our way to Mt. Rushmore, we stopped at Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, what a fantastic site.    The tower is an astounding geologic feature that protrudes out of the prairie surrounded by the Black Hills.  Hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America. This 870-foot stone monument is thought to have been created from the remains of a volcano and the center of many Indian religious ceremonies.  We did the 2-mile hike around the base of the tower all the time staring at it in total amazement.  Being able to see it in person was a real thrill.

And of course, we all know it as a place where the aliens arrived in the movie Close Encounters of a Third Kind.

We arrived at the Rafter J Campground in Hill City, South Dakota which is 10 miles from Mt. Rushmore.  With it being a evening arrival because of our stop in Wyoming it was to late to be check out the area so we made plans to go to Mt. Rushmore first thing in the morning to catch it with the morning sun.  (google says that is the best time to take pictures of the four dudes, google is always right, right?)

This time google was spot on.  We arrived about 8am, the crowds were moderate and the view was amazing.   You walk up the grand terrace which is lined with flags from every state then “Tada” there they are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, bigger than life.  We of course snapped all sorts of pictures and then headed for the Presidents trail.  The trail is a .6-mile trail with 422 steps that provides changing views of Mt. Rushmore as you walk among the granite outcrops and through the ponderosa pines.  There is also a museum and theater that gives you the entire Mt. Rushmore story.  So glad we did this!!!!

Crazy Horse Memorial was just another 17 miles down the road so of course we leave no stone unturned and head over to see it.  It’s construction began in 1948, 77 years ago and is projected to be completed in 2037.  Come to find out, Crazy Horse is not a National Park or Memorial, and I believe has not received or would except any federal funds.  It is being supported by its non-profit foundation (Guess that is why it is taking so long to complete)

The monument once completed will be amazing but right now it is a construction zone so you can’t get close to it, you are only able to see it from the terrace of the Indian museum co-located on the property.  It troubles us to say but we were very disappointed considering all the hype.  Who knows maybe in 12 years when it is completed it will be a totally different experience.

With disappointment we figured a hardy lunch was in order.  We found a café in the town of Custer.  Just as we started looking at the menu, Walter says “I can see or read anything out of my left eye” Me, say what?  A panic started to set in and I began to look for a Ophthalmologist that would take a same day or walk in patient.  It took 4 phone calls to finally get a clinic in Rapid City that would see him.  What a blessing, the doctor did all the normal optical exams but when she took images of his retina we were able to figure out what was causing his loss of sight.  He had a macular separation (hole) happening and it was progressing quickly.  The doctor was able to get us referred to the Black Hills Eye Institute that day, a Friday at 5pm.  We dashed over to the Institute and were greeted right away.  Enter Dr. Abraham, our angel.  She did some diagnosing and told us that Walter needed emergency (outpatient) eye surgery to be able to save his vision before his retina totally detached.  Surgery went well and Walter should regain his full vision but we wont know for sure till all the healing is done.  We will know more in 8-10 weeks but there is a long-term healing process of 12 months.  Asked the doctor how and why this happened.  There is no answer, it happens to about 2% of the population, many are seniors.  We came home that night with a pirate patch and very specific instructions on how Walter was to be positioning his head both during the day and at night to help with the healing process.  We did a follow up the next morning and will do another before we leave South Dakota, then a follow up in South Carolina when we get home.  Walter feels fine just can’t see worth a crap. this changes a few things that we might see on our journey and I will be doing all the driving at least for now. We are counting our blessings that we reacted so quickly instead of rubbing dirt in it and calling it a day.  We were told that if we waited until the following morning Walter more than likely would of completely lost vision on the left eye.

Day two of living with a pirate (ha-ha).  We decided to experience a drive on the Needles Highway, a 14-mile scenic drive through Custer State Park.  Known for its unique granite spires and winding roads.  The highway features narrow tunnels and hairpin turns, requiring careful driving (I drove).  Well, this was a little bit of a white-knuckle drive, especially in a GMC truck!  I survived and even got a T-shirt that says so.  Once we were off the needles highway and on a somewhat normal road in the park we got to see some of the parks wildlife.  All Walter wanted to see since we were in Yellowstone was a heard of Bison (aka fluffy cows) up close, well he got his wish.  There were so many Bison that they were crossing the road right next to us.  

Eureka, we found the largest Bison.

 

 July 9

News update, Grandson is on the road to recovery although a long road he will be fine.  We were able to spend quality time with him and the entire family even got to celebrate other grandson’s  Ryder 9^th birthday  with him.  Knowing all is going to be ok we decided to hit the road again and head for Idaho.

We had heard of Shoshone Falls, it is supposed to be the Niagara of the west.  Let’s just say that it did not disappoint, absolutely beautiful.  The Falls are fed from the Snake River. The Snake River starts on the southern border of Yellowstone National Park at about 9200 ft above sea level in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming where it flows all the way to the Columbia River in Washington state.

Found a off the beaten path landmark, the Evel Knievel Snake River Canyon Jump Site.  Even though his jump was not successful in 1974 he has a small monument to honor him and his attempt.

No matter where you go you see parts of the Snake River in Twin Falls so we seeked out a restaurant for dinner that had a perfect view of the river and the Perrine Bridge.  Come to find out the Perrine Bridge is a popular destination for BASE jumpers from all over the world.  It is one of the few structure’s jumpers can use without a special permit from the city.  Next day we crossed over the Perrine Bridge a few times and decided to stop at it’s viewpoint and walked a path under the bridge.  Our timing was perfect as we were snapping pictures of the bridge we noticed 2 Base Jumpers getting ready to leap off, caught one in midair.  In case you were wondering, they successfully landed on the ground.

Next day we visited the Shoshone Ice Caves.  Thank goodness we still had warm jackets with us. The tour starts on a path to a depth of 90 feet under the lava cave into a world of volcanic wonder and ice.  The cave is three blocks long, 30 feet wide and 40 feet high.  The Ice Cave is a natural refrigerator, creating a living glacier in an arid lava desert.  Over 20,000 tons of ice stretch 1000 feet long and varies from eight to 30 feet in depth.  No matter the temperature outside the inside of the cave is always freezing.  Temperatures vary from 28 to 33 degrees.  The cave is an expansion compression of its airflow.  Making it work on the same principles that a modern refrigerator does.  In the late 1930’s the cave was used as a source of ice for the surrounding towns in the area. 

The tunnels where the ice was forming were the result of lava tubes from a volcanic eruptions from about 2 thousand years ago.  It was a chilly experience but so cool (ha-ha) at the same time.

On the Ice cave property, they had a 30 foot high, 10 ton statue of Chief Washakie, Chief of the Shoshone Tribe.  Finding him is like finding the larges ball of twine. 

After the caves we headed for the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.  The ancestral lands of the Shoshonean people encompasses the vast lava fields of Craters of the Moon.  Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush.  These eruptions occurred in eight major periods between 15,000 and 2000 years ago.  We spent hours walking the paths in awe, it felt as if we were on another planet.

The last stop of the day was to the Minidoka National Historic Site, a Japanese internment camp.  In 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, ultimately depriving over 120,000 Japanese Americans of their civil rights.  Two thirds were American citizens.  Despite never being charged with a crime, many were forcibly removed from their homes and excluded from the West Coast.  They boarded trains  and buses first to temporary detention centers and later to incarceration centers .  For the remainder of WWII, most Nikkei people of Japanese ancestry, would remain behind barbed wire.  Over 13,000 people were incarcerated in Idaho at Minidoka Relocation Center, known locally as Hunt Camp.  Now it is a historic site to ensure this never happens again.

Few of the buildings remain of the center but the stories of those incarcerated have been preserved in the museum at the site.  Touring this historic site was a somber visit, reminds you that we have many lessons to learn from our past.  We are glad we got to have this experience. 

July 12

Yellowstone here we come, but not before we make a stop at the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot Idaho, yes potato museum, it has been on my list since day one of our trip.  As soon as you pull up you know you have arrived by the huge baked potato out in from of the building.  When you enter you are greeted with a package of instant potatoes as your souvenir (free taters for out of staters).   We learned about the life of the potato, did you know that they originally came from Peru (and we thought potatoes were a American delicacy).  This was a fun stop, at the end of the tour there is a potato café, were we had potato fries, potato soup and a baked potato with the works.  With full bellies we resumed the trek to Yellowstone.

We arrived early enough in the day that we were able to drop the trailer and head for the park.  With so many miles to cover in the park we wanted to get started.  There are so tons of Hot Springs, Geysers, Travertine Terraces, Fumaroles, water falls, lakes and rivers and Mud pots that we just started in one direction in the park adn pulled in at every site we came across.  On day one of course we found ourselves at one of the most famous geysers “Old Faithful” who erupts every 90 minutes, give or take 10 minutes they say. We pulled up a bench and waited. She spit, spattered and blow smoke until it totally erupted (about 10 minutes early).  Amazing to think that all this chaotic activity is going on under our feet all the time deep in the earth.  We spent the next three days driving the nearly 370 miles of paved road seeing everything we could from the volcanic activity to all the wild life.  We had planned to hike some of the 1000 miles of trails but just not enough time, we will have to venture back one day. 

 

Note: Yellowstone National Park was established by the U.S. Congress, with the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872.   This act designated the area as a public park, the first of its kind in the United States and the world.