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

Fathers Day Weekend at Rocky Mountain

June 20th- Rocky Mountain National Park was a spectacular place and made even more spectacular for us because LeAnne (oldest daughter) met us there for Father's Day Weekend. We had a great campsite right in the park with a lovely view. The hike to Bear, Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lakes was full of amazing scenery and the final lake was over 10K feet high. We made it with minimal huffing and puffing.

Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs

June 14th - The drive from Black Canyon to Colorado Springs includes a trip over Monarch Pass which is over 11,000 feet high. Once you get over the pass and quit shaking (only partially kidding here) the drive is so pretty. You follow the Arkansas River through canyons and gorges and along pine and aspen forests. We arrived at Mountaindale RV park and felt like we were camping in a forest campground. Very Nice.

There is so much to do in Colorado Springs that it is hard to know what to do first. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a bucket list of places to see someday. Our first day we explored the Pikes Peak area. The Garden of the Gods is a free regional park that has wonderful sandstone rock formations interspersed with a park like setting of pine trees and wild flowers.

First we took in the movie and information at the visitor center then drove the scenic drives through the park. We decided to come back in the late afternoon to hike when the light would be better for photos. Lunch a Manitou Springs was tasty and the town is soooo cute. It reminded me of Baden Baden in Germany. It is an old spa town from the 1800s with neat old buildings, homes and parks with mineral spring water for your health. Lots of shops and restaurants too. It is at the foot of Pikes Peak so we drove up to the hill climb and paid our $24 to drive to the summit at 14,000 feet. It is a spectacularly scenic drive up and we made it almost to the top before we ran into heavy machinery on the road at 13,000 feet and turned around. Terrific drive.

We finished off the day with a hike at the Garden of the Gods and then headed back to our little place in the woods.

More Black Canyon of the Gunnison

June 10th - The next day we moved to the National Park campground. We had a great spot in the oak trees with lots of privacy. From here we toured the South Rim and did several short hikes. The last two days a big storm blew through…. Hail the size of grapes (big grapes), thunder, lightning and hard rain. So we decided to run errands, do housework, and catch up on our reading.