Wyoming - Grand Tetons, Yellowstone & Grandkids

July 2010
From South Dakota we headed to Wyoming to meet our Grandkids, Ryan and Annie from Pittsburgh. We are busy seeing Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, then heading through Montana and Idaho to Cove Palisades State Park near Prineville, Oregon.

We are having so much fun there isn't time to blog but I will catch up after we are done.

South Dakota Surprise

June 2010
(Pictures soon)
The Black Hills of South Dakota were a wonderful surprise for us. They are so beautiful and full of national parks and monuments. We stayed at the Big Pines Campground in Custer, SD. The name describes it well. The weather was very warm and it was great to be surrounded by huge pine trees. The biggest surprise was how much we enjoyed Mt Rushmore. It is so moving to see it in person and close up. In the historic artist’s studio a ranger gave a fascinating talk on how the carving was done from a 1:12 scale model. Every inch of the model translated to a foot of carving on the mountain. There is a short hike around the bottom that gave many different views of each face. We enjoyed it so much we went back at 7:30 one morning to see it in the early light. The scenic drives through Custer State Park are fabulous and there are several places where the tunnels on the road frame the faces of the Monument. We want to go back to Custer State Park when we can camp there and enjoy all the hiking and biking trails for an extended stay. While in the area we toured Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, and Badlands National Park. We saw herds of buffalo in both Wind Cave and Custer. The nursing babies were the cutest

In my Father's Footsteps

June 24 & 25
My favorite experience was in Western Nebraska. I knew my Dad had been in the CCC near Crawford and talked to a ranger at Scottbluff about where they were and what they did. He said Fort Robinson was where most CCCers in the area started. When we went to Chimney Rock nearby I saw a book in the bookstore about the Fort. There was a chapter on the CCC with pictures and I swear one had my Dad in it. (on the right with hat)
So I got the information on the book and picture and set off on an investigation. I called the Fort Robinson museum curator and left a message about my quest. The next day we went to the Fort & Museum & met with him. How fun. He had tons of information on Dads regiment. Then we found a picture and the roster attached had Dad's signature on it. Very exciting when we found him in the picture.
(Second from right, top row showing)

He will be so excited to know he is in a museum. The curator made a copy for me and John took a photograph of the picture in the Museum display. The barracks that Dad was in was still there and the picture was taken in front of it so off we went. John took a picture of me standing in the same spot that Dad stood in the picture.



Then we went upstairs to the big hall where they all slept. It was a great day. It was shortly before my Dad's 94th birthday and my gift to him will be a copy of the book and pictures. I plan to call and tell him the whole story. Pretty cool huh?

Loveland, CO and Scottsbluff, NE

June 2010
After we left Rocky Mtn National Park we headed to Loveland CO which is just east of the park about 50 miles. After ‘dry’ camping in the park it was great to have electricity, water, sewer and internet. We like dry camping for a few days but miss our comforts after a while. Loveland is a great little town. We spent one morning on a bike ride along the path that goes around the lake in town. The second day we hiked the Devil’s Backbone which was scenic and some good exercise.

Scottsbluff Nebraska on the North Platte River
After so much spectacular scenery, Western Nebraska is a quiet kind of pretty. We drove through the grasslands on our way to Scottsbluff which is fun to see (for a short while ;-). Our campsite was right on the North Platte River with a nice long bike path that ran through the campground. The National Monument at Scottsbluff was historic and also scenic