South Dakota

We are bunked in here in Rapid City, SD and spent the last two days roaming the Black Hills. The area is noted for Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer, Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, and Harley Davison Rallies. The carvings of both the presidents and Crazy Horse, which we saw yesterday, were very impressive and we can now cross it off our list of things to see. Today, we toured Ft. Meade, and walked the streets of Sturgis and Deadwood. In Deadwood we took a tour of the area and heard all about the early days and how Hickock died in a Saloon in Deadwood and about Calamity Jane's request to be buried next to her friend.
The trip continues tomorrow as we cross SD and circle our wagon in Sioux Falls for the night. All is well with the girls. Krystal is driving home from her visit with Todd's parents in Oregon. Maverick got an A for traveling! Heather is chasing Ethan around the house as he is a mad crawler now. Well, time to mosey on...g'd night.

South Dakota Bound

It was hard leaving Jackson and our friends there, but we headed out yesterday to cross WY and today we crossed over into SD. There are a lot of stories that could be told about our WY experience, but you would have had to be there for it to make much sense. I will let the pictures tell another story. We will use the rest of the day in Rapid City to wash the truck, restock at Wall Mart, and hopefully get pictures down loaded and the blog up to date.

Jackson, WY

The reception is poor here and I had to hold off writing. There is just too much to be doing out doors to play computer geek. We are staying with Atlanta friends in their son's second home. It is a beautiful cabin nestled in the woods up against the Grand Teton's. The moose and elk visit us regularly. We drove into Yellowstone to once again view Old Faithful and the Painted Pots. On a daring buffalo finding mission the girls managed to get stuck in the mud on a long dirt road and had to call the men to some pull us out. Yesterday, the girls were heading out to meet the boys for dinner after their golf game and we had a flat tire. Once again...the men to the rescue. Well, when we weren't getting into mischief, we managed to shop and take walks and we have a pretty mean jigsaw puzzle going on Route 66. We are cooking in or going out to some great restaurants. We are just resting and having fun. Yesterday was our 41st anniversary and when we went to bed we found rose petals spread over our bed and a vase of roses and a card from the gang! We got a big laugh over that. We do love it here.

Good afternoon from Salt Lake City. Yesterday started off with us looking forward to a short drive into SLC. Unfortunately, we ran into a stopped line of cars and trucks for a bad wreck to clear. We sat or crept by the south end of the Great Salt Lake for three hours. We enjoyed a car picnic of snicker bars and Jin's beef jerky and later the bottle of complimentary wine given to us by Hotel Monaco on our arrival. The hotel restaurant was very good and we turned in early. Sunday, Mike and I walked up to Temple Square and enjoyed the Sunday performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir being recorded for radio and TV. The campus tour took an hour and we followed that up with brunch. There is not much to do in the city and the thought of climbing back into the truck led us to the decision to rest for the day and then attend an early dinner and a play across the street at the Capitol Theatre this evening. We saw in the news that a climber fell to his death off of Half Dome in Yosemite yesterday in the rain and hail on the slippery surface. They escorted the rest of the hikers on the trail back down. That is so sad, but that would never have been us, as we rarely left the turnouts or the easy paths. We have turned east now and are on the second leg of our trip. We look forward to visiting our friends on this last four weeks of our travels back to Atlanta. Tomorrow....Jackson WY for a two week respite!

Yosemite

Thursday we were on our way again and after a few stops to take pictures, Mike and I lunched in Carson City at Reds 395 Grill. We opted to stay at the Eldorado Casino in Reno, NV for the night and saw a performance of "Menopause the Musical". Friday we backtracked a little to visit Virginia City. It was touristy, but the original town was intact and we went in a museum about the Comstock Mines and the city. Mark Twain started his writing career here. On the Road Again (we sing that a lot), it was a long shot to the little town of Elko. The scenery varied from the flat Great Basin to the high desert terrain .We lucked up for dinner at a Basque family restaurant called Toke Ona (A Nice Place). We just wanted a steak and potato and they kept bringing out food (bread, salad, soup, vegetables, rice, and spaghetti). It was all very good, but we couldn't eat most of it. Tomorrow, Salt Lake City! It is taking too long to down load pictures here so I'll send them later.

We are behind on the blog because we did not have a signal in Yosemite. We stayed outside of the park by a fast moving river just off our balcony. We spent all day Wednesday in the park. So many beautiful vista's and lots of picture taking, which took up the entire day. As we were leaving the next day to drive across the Sierra/Nevada Mountains we realized we had taken 360 degree pictures of the Half Dome. Bridal Veil, Ribbon, and Yosemite Falls where majestic. We drove up to Glacier Point at the end of the day to take pictures over the whole valley. We bought a bag lunch and had a picnic in the park. For dinner we ate back at the Yosemite View Lodge and put our feet up on our balcony and enjoyed a bottle of wine before turning in for the night.

We are leaving Sequoia this morning. We have an easy ride to Yosemite so are hanging out in the main lodge where we have connections. We got two easy hikes in yesterday and enjoyed the Land of the Big Trees. Still missing little Maverick and his family. What's going on in your world...weary travelers want to know. The truck is loaded...see you in Yosemite!

Still in LA.

We are still in LA enjoying our grandson and his family. We have been mostly hanging around their apartment but tonight we are going to a restaurant that has some unusual dishes ie: grasshoppers, scorpions,ants and sea worms. Some of us will try the "strange" dishes along with a more traditional Chinese fare. Sunday morning we leave for Sequoia National Park which is about 4 1/2 hours north of LA. Today's picture of Maverick shows you how much he is enjoying our visit!

Visiting with Maverick

The day we arrived at Krystal's we met with a cranky Maverick. The next day we showed up to a happy Maverick. Mike even got a long string of belly laughs out of him. He thinks Mike is the funniest thing...none of us get that, but glad he and Maverick have bonded. Mav is a little high maintenance as he doesn't just fuss when he needs to move on to something else...he screams and then settles down when you are meeting his current need. If all else fails he is swaddled and put down in a quite room and he drops off to sleep. Babbling this morning. We babysat for him yesterday while Krystal went on a job interview. She did not get it, but it is early still for her to leave Maverick. This was in the writing dept. of a new show with great hours. I am sure something else will turn up later. Today we are off to the Dr.'s and lunch. Maverick has an ingrown toe nail! We will have lunch and stroll down the shopping area of Beverly Hills if Maverick lets us. Mike plays with him during the happy times and I get feeding and cranky Maverick. Todd has been promoted to principal of a sister school to his old job. He likes it very much. Enjoy the pictures of Mike and his mini me and MY Bonnie!