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(stressing the YOUNG part)
So somewhere around mid-May, my school friend Laurie tells me about
the car-trip to South Dakota, Denver, and Yellowstone she is planning. I jokingly say, "Oh wow, if I'm not working,
I'll come with you!" And then she tells me that I'm more than welcome to come and she would really enjoy the company.
So began what was to be my next 2 and 1/2 weeks of travel.
On July 13, just 6 short days after returning from Virginia, we set out from Winnipeg, with our turn around point being Denver,
kinda.
One car, two recently graduated travel agents and one very energenic 3 year old. Actually
he was 2 when we left and 3 when we returned, lol. The trip aged him substantially.... oh wait...no it aged Laurie
and I..... well not the trip....but Jared.
Here is our story in pictures!
I might also add here that even though I was looking
forward to this trip for it's educational value, there was another reason why I was looking forward to it.... an added bonus,
I suppose you could say. In Wyoming, I would meet another of my wonderful friends... a very special person who
is loved by all because of his silly sense of humour and his big heart. I feel very lucky to be able to call him
my friend and to have met him too. Oh right... it's Stealth for those who didn't know.... (see #2 listed friend on my
friends page, LOL). More about him later.... and no, I didn't push him off the bike.
Day One - July 13
This was taken somewhere in Nebraska actually but it really sums
up travel in the eastern Dakotas. We left Winnipeg at 9 am and arrived in Pierre, SD sometime around 7 pm,
I think. We stopped in the shopping Mecca of Grand Forks to pick up the necessities of the trip .... junk food and pop!
Day 2 - July 14
We headed to the Badlands first thing on Sunday morning.
It is so beautiful there (you'll hear me say that a lot for this trip). A lunch stop at Wall Drugs and some more shopping
and then we were on to Deadwood. We did some more shopping there and a bus tour of the town (including a trip to Boot
Hill or Mt. Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried). We didn't gamble at all but we did
go into the Midnight Star Casino that is owned by Kevin Costner. Unlike Virginia, water at this end of the USA was only
about $1.00 a bottle, not $2.60 and that is what I purchased in the Midnight Star, lol. Wild ole Dawn!
| Wild Bill's Grave |
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The tour of the town and the cemetery (the main part of
the tour) was very interesting. Lots of stories about some of the characters and respected people of the area were included
in the tour. The cemetery itself it situated very high up on a hill and it was just too hot to do any kind of exploring
that day (over 100F) and too steep to climb too!
Day 3 - July 15
Well today was beary interesting. Leaving Rapid City in the morning (the Best
Western Town and Country...very nice with a wonderful continental breakfast!!), we headed southwest to Bear Country USA (http://www.bearcountryusa.com/.) A nice little park with over 150 bears, as well as arctic and timber wolves, mountain
goats and sheep, elk, reindeer, bison (ok ok... buffalo... I'm Canadian after all), mountain lions and lynx. I found
it very exciting and Jared got to sit on his mom's knee for about an hour as we drove through. It was hard to convince
him that he had to go back into the car seat afterwards. We also enjoyed a very relaxing drive on the Iron Mountain
highway and through Custer State Park. More buffalo (see I can say it) were seen. It amazes me that they
roam freely in the parks. In our Riding Mountain National Park, they are kept in a very large enclosure and you are
not encouraged to leave your vehicles. In Custer, you are in your tent and a buffalo (it's getting easier) is walking
right past you. **shivers**
Day 4 - July 16
Well today we are heading to Wyoming but not before visiting the beautiful town of Keystone
again (we had lunch there yesterday) and going to Mt. Rushmore. Check out South Dakota tourism http://www.travelsd.com/ too to see everything that we DIDN'T see.
Mt. Rushmore is breath-taking! It's fascinating to think that it was made so long ago....
and it is beautiful. The Avenue of Flags leads you to the monument and the whole walk, all you can do is look.
I couldn't get enough and didn't want to leave.
From there, we headed to Custer, SD and Bedrock... what a great place.....for adults who are
in to nostalgia...not as much fun for the kids as one would think, but I loved it!
A long drive south to Nebraska and then west to Cheyenne followed! Oh my goodness, I
was in Stealth country.... teeehee!
| Scenery along the Needles Highway |
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| Between Mt Rushmore and Custer, SD |
| My man Barney... move over Drake! |
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| Foot power much better than the Dodge transmission |
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Day 5 - July 17
THE MEETING OF STEALTH!!!
I had called Stealth when we got to Cheyenne on the 16th but it was late and he didn't want
to call me back. Instead, he gave my number to Linda, in Myrtle Beach and she called me at 11:30 pm! LOL, it was
great to hear her voice but when I answered the phone, I was expecting a male voice... it kinda threw me a bit. Either
way, the 17th started out with a call from Stealth and we made plans for all of us to go for dinner. Laurie and I decided
that a day of not too much traveling might be good for all of us and so after breakfast (a late breakfast), we came back to
hotel and did some laundry and stuff... I think they went swimming (my asthma was bothering me a bit so I stayed clear of
that pool) and then they went out shopping for a bit.
I was very excited about meeting Stealth! I was actually in the parking lot when he showed
up; I needed to get outside after being cooped up for 4 days and you know what? After we did the big hug thing, he gave me
a beautiful rose and a teddy bear. It was very sweet but the best part? I got to meet Shawnea first thing, 'cause she
was in the truck. She really is as beautiful as her picture. Sigh... I love meeting new (or is that old?)
friends!
After I gave Stealth the gifts I had brought for him, it was off for dinner with Laurie and
Jared. After dinner, they went back to the hotel to swim and Stealth and I decided to go to his sister's house to use
her computer. I got to meet his 4 nieces too and he got at least one of their ages right. It was really funny
though, when we walked in. There was no, "Hi Uncle J!" All you heard was, "Shawnea's here!!!!" and they all went
running past him. LOL, poor Stealth! We had some fun talking to Blue and Punks in Pets for awhile but then we
had to leave. We stopped at his mom's house too for a minute. She's a really nice lady but then she must be to
have such a nice son.
We decided that we needed some pie before we called it a night and so that is what we did:
pie and coffee. Sadly, Stealth had to work the next day, so I had to let him go home, (lol...hmmm that doesn't sound
right...let me think about the rephrasing of that.) So ended a very nice day... but first we made plans about maybe
doing lunch the next day...
Stealth wants me to maintain his privacy (ok, can only do
it to a point but I'm going to try really hard), so here is a picture that was taken at lunch on the 2nd day. Hmmm using
the smearing tool on his face was actually pretty cool! There was one tool that actually SHRUNK objects in a picture
but he looked too funny without a head at all!
| On highway between Cheyenne and Laramie |
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OK, I've been told by a very reliable source that Stealth actually
remembers when the tree in the rock was just a sappling. (You know the picture above with me in it) I think he
was a reliable source.... he did take you to the ER, right Stealth? That means he's a friend, huh? Or is that eh? My language
is getting really mixed up between American and Canadian. But a certain someone did laugh at my accent! The
nerve! LOL, I don't have an accent, he does!
| Butch Cassidy |
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| The Prison |
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| Terry would be proud of me! |
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| A little something more for Terry! |
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Ghosts? Now you see them....now you don't....
spooky!
Vedawoo.... sadly it was cloudy and so the pictures weren't
as spectacular as they could have been at that time of day. There would have been some awesome lighting had it been
sunny!
Day 7 - July 19
Today, our last day, in Wyoming (for now), we started out with a tour of the Historic
Governors mansion, which was home of Wyoming Governors from 1905 to 1976. It
is a state historic site and the admission was free. I found it charming and
beautiful (of course).
We went to the state Capital next and I found it interesting that Wyoming, just like Manitoba, have the Bison.errr Buffalo
as their state symbol. They even have a bronzed statue on the front lawn that
is very similar to the two we have at the head of the staircases in our legislature building.
When we were leaving the building (which I found grand and not unlike any other government building Ive been into),
there was proof we were in cowboy country as there were about 7 horses and riders on the sidewalk. They had just come in from a long ride (I think their shirts said Rescue).
Today was the first official day of Cheyennes Frontier Days (yes Stealth, July 19next year its July 18. http://www.cfdrodeo.com/.
Pffftttthhh). It sounds like a lot of fun but we unfortunately missed all the
fun (our schedule just didnt work around the rodeo). Its been a long time since
I have been to a great rodeo (at least 10 years) and so Ill have to get back here another time.
I also learned about a very famous person while on this trip. Esther Hobart
Morris was a woman suffrage leader who was the reason why, in 1869, Wyoming became the first state to give women the vote
(as well as giving them the right to own land and receive equal pay). Because
of this great woman, Wyoming is known as the Equality State. Her statue is on
the front walk of the capital building. http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/morris.htm
We took a drive to Ft. Collins next, just for the fun of it. Its only about
30 minutes from Cheyenne and we stopped at the Budweiser factory and gift shop for a few minutes. Nothing compared to the gift shops in Busch Gardens though. Laurie
also found the best ice cream place too! The Walrus in downtown Ft. Collins!
Back to Cheyenne for dinner and then the Cheyenne Street Railway Trolley tour at 7:30.
The tour took us through the heart of historic Cheyenne and the guide, Val, was very entertaining with her stories. She took us from Cheyenne the old west wild city to the current day, down-home,
small-town city that it is. The tour used to take in the F.E. Warren Air Force
base, but since Sept 11, tours have been off-limits. That was very understandable.
Here is the site of Cheyenne tourism http://www.cheyenne.org/index.asp There was so much more we could have seen. I noticed a beach in Lions Park but every time we drove by there was no one on it. I must remember to ask Stealth about that, LOL. I think I
know a few swimming holes like that here in Manitoba too!
Off to Denver tomorrow! Woohoooo!
| Doll House in the Governor's Mansion |
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| Yet another beer wagon.... |
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| Before or after the accident? |
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On Monday, we decided that 6 Flags would have to wait until another
trip and we headed out for our first experience at downtown Denver. Well, actually, it really wasn't so bad. We
stopped first that the Pepsi Centre, home of the Colorado Avalanche and some NBA team (lol ok... the Nuggets).
One team store down and one more to go. Invesco Field at Mile High was a little trickier to find (hmmm only if the navigator
could tell the difference between east and west, Dawn). Once the navigator had Laurie back on the right track and apologized
and blamed it on her lack of caffeine for the day, we found the home of the Broncos.
Next stop, was the Ocean Journey Aquarium and that was just plain hard to find (if you were
coming from Invesco... from the hotel, it was easy). We could see it.... just couldn't figure out how to get there.
If you can see it, you aren't lost! Actually all the attractions (sports arenas and amusements parks are in the same
general area, very convenient). http://www.oceanjourney.org/home/ This was one thing I had been dying to see! It has basically two sections: the Colorado River Journey and the
Indonesian River Journey. The Colorado journey includes a chance to live through a flash flood and don't forget the
river otters! The Indonesian journey includes not only some fabulous fish but 2 beautiful Sumatran tigers (endangered).
I was lucky enough to capture them on both my cameras (digital and 35mm) in beautiful form. I have never taken such
perfect pictures of animals before in my life! (pats self on back, good job Dawn!) The whole aquarium was well
set up and you could even pet a sting ray (they are kinda velvety) and it was humourous to see the sea otters opening their
dinner of muscles by banging them against the glass in their tank! This is a definate must see in Denver!
| Colorado flash flood area! |
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I loved the acquarium! And so did Jared, he was playing in
their play area and didn't want to leave! "Go 'way, Auntie!"
Day 11 - July 23
Well today was someone's third birthday! We celebrated by ummm well, we didn't!
He got lots of great stuff everytime we stopped (and I know that he came home to some brand new Bob the Builder bed fixin's!)
Jared loves Bob! We could always tell when he was reading his Bob books, we'd hear this little, "can we fix it.. yes
we can" from the back seat and we'd just kinda chuckle. It was probably about today that I learned all the words to
"The Cat Came Back". Once again, Jared gave us some great comic relief as he tried to sing along to this almost gruesome
song. We loved it when he meowed softly.. it was just sooooo cute!
This was a travel day. We stopped in Ft. Colin's to shop and then again in Laramie
for lunch (actually it was just an ice cream stop in the end... Baskin Robbins... yum). Our goal had been to get to
Jackson for the night, but around 7 pm, we stopped for dinner in Rock Springs and decided that we needed to do laundry, so
we stopped there. Early to bed and early to rise..... zzzzzz
Day 12 - July 24
Wooohooo! We are gonna get to Yellowstone today! But first the other beautiful
parks in on the way! All of Northwestern Wyoming is mountainous and beautiful. Actually both Laurie and I were
surprised that up until now, we had been in mostly flat prairie or rolling hills, in both Wyoming and Colorado. We are
just silly Canadian prairie girls.. what did we know (and they say Manitoba is flat and boring...hmmmm)
The drive was nice, with not too much traffic really. We made Jackson for lunch
and then went for a walk through town. OK, OK, we went shopping! I admit it! Terry would have had a great
time on this trip with us! My credit card got a work-out, if nothing else did.
Next was the beatiful Grand Teton National Park http://www.grand.teton.national-park.com/ Sadly, we could not truly appreciate the beauty of this mountain range because
of the smoke that was in the air from all the fires in June and July.
So from Jackson, the travel agents who didn't plan ahead,
had to drive right through Yellowstone to get to Gardiner, Montana, where we made our hotel booking for night. Turned
out to be a very nice hotel but no pool.
Gardiner was the original entrance to the park when it became the world's first national
park in 1872. http://www.yellowstone-park.net/ I was taken by it's beauty right away. We drove on the east loop road to get to Gardiner and we encountered
our first guyser around the West Thumb area. We saw buffalo all over the place! And a moose and the ever present,
elk. You could tell where the animals were, that was where the cars were parked in the middle of the road. We
were both in for a surprise to see the burned area from 1988. I had no idea that fire had almost destroyed the park
(what did I know when I was 24...Yellowstone was just a park over there...**pointing southwest**). All in all, both
of us were taken by the beauty that we saw though and I hope you enjoy some of the pictures that follow.
The next day, we were up early and out to join the bumper to bumper traffic in
the park. We had a picnic lunch before we even got to Old Faithful and enjoyed a little shopping in the park too.
After a wonderful day, we enjoyed some pizza in our hotel room and went to bed so that we could have an early start to the
next day, the beginning of the end of our holiday (back to Canada).
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