Wyoming, Devil's Tower, Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial

As previously mentioned, we left Yellowstone via the East Gate in the Shoshone Park area. The spectacular landscape of the Shoshone Forest and Shoshone River continued to hold our attention with the river and mountains seeming to change colours with every turn of the road. Soon we were in very rocky country - magnificent outcrops resembling old European castle turrets stood out among the trees.

Shoshone country

This was a very differently beautiful part of the country and brought to mind the old Wild West movies that were a popular genre in the 1950s and 60s.

Love these Rocks !

Then the scenery changed again and we were driving through a valley - the Shoshone River valley - with more snow capped mountains contrasting against a very blue sky.

Shoshone Valley, Wyoming

Soon we came to a muddy looking lake. This was actually the reservoir for Buffalo Bill Dam. We stopped here for a while to fulfill the family tradition of examining every dam we come across. Not being that interested in the dam construction myself, I took the opportunity to take some photos while standing still.

Bufflo Bill Reservoir

Buffalo Bill Dam is not far from Cody, the self proclaimed 'Rodeo Capital of the World" and it was here that we stopped for lunch. Cody really had a well branded Wild West feel about it and deservedly so. It was founded by William 'Buffalo Bill" Cody who seems to have been quite a character! He came to Cody - not named that then - after life as a soldier in the Civil War and established himself by providing Buffalo meat to the railroad company - some 4000 plus beasts in eight months thereby earning the nickname " Buffalo Bill". The fact that "buffalo" meat was actually bison meat and that I  have myself, looked one of those beasts in the eye indicates that he was one strong and brave man! Aparently he actually defended this nickname by killing 69 more bison to his opponent's 48. He then cashed in on his reputation by getting up Wild West roadshows which were popular not only in the United States but also overseas. No wonder the town is named after him!

Air Museum, Grey Bull

Our plan was to head for Sheridan, arriving in the afternoon so that we would have time to relax and stay there for the night. Driving was easy with very little other traffic on the road with interesting things to see. Now we were in farming country, mixed with horses, un farmed patches where elk stood and looked at us as we sped by. A thunder and lightening storm in the mountains some distance ahead added some drama to the drive.

Wild Flowers and Thunderstorm, Big Horn Range, Wyoming

 From Grey Bull we headed for the Big Horn Range which we had to cross to get to Sheridan. This was an interesting road, winding up in a series of U bends, the river gushing furiously sometimes close to the road as it fell noisily down the mountain. The canyon was quite narrow but widened in places to reveal yellow wild flowers growing on grassy strips.

Big Horn Mountain Pass

We were very near the top of the pass and looking forward to arriving in Sheridan within the hour when we met a roadblock where a  road crew was clearing a slip and fixing up the road. They advised us that the road would be open again "sometime tomorrow" and that we should either camp nearby or head back to Grey Bull and take the other Pass across the Range to Gillette. Back we went to Grey Bull getting another chance to enjoy the Canyon. By now it was late afternoon and the deer had come out of hiding and were feeding near the road. We encountered many of them all along the road until nightfall, often startling them. Happily we managed to avoid one which decided to run across the road in front of our car.

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Back at Grey Bull, we took the road through Basin and Ten Sleep and crossed the Big Horn Range as night came over. Although this was a much higher Pass than the first one and had snow quite deep alongside the road, it was not so windy. It would be a very busy place in winter months with several ski fields near the top.

Big Horn Range

Near Ten Sleep, Wyoming

Rainbow as we come down into Gillette

Fortunately we missed the might of the storm although there were some mighty big rain drops preventing me from taking photos through the window as the car sped along. At Buffalo - 4500 ft above sea level - we stopped for dinner at the Bozeman Trail Steakhouse where we dined under a huge stuffed moose, a bison and a wall full of antlers. The Wild West lives on ! This resturant had copies of an interesting book written by a local person for sale so I have that as a souvenier of both our Wild West Dining Experience and also a Wyoming memory. It's called "Wyoming Whistle Stop"  by James Ballard and has a mixture of hunourous short, short stories, jokes and annecdotes as well as a couple of recipies. The black and white pictures are fun too.

The next morning, after a comfortable night in a hotel, we set off for Devil's Tower. This is an amazing rock, the remains of volcanic cone and according to the literature, it used to be much higher but has eroded over the millenienums.

Devil's Tower National Monument

The photo below was taken inside the Park as we drove around the base.

Devil's Tower

One of the Indian names for this was Bear's Lodge but it was renamed by Col. Richard Dodge in 1875. Bear Lodge seems an appropriate name for it as there is  what we would call a 'dreaming time" story about how it came into existence that involves a bear. I just love such stories so . . .

Seven sisters and their brother were playing together where the Tower is today when the brother began to behave oddly, running on his hands and feet and becoming dumb. Fur appeared on his body and he changed into a bear and promptly chased after his sisters, threatening to atack them. Terrified they jumped onto the stump of a tree [ some stories say a rock ] which began to rise into the air, taking them up as the bear tried to grab them. The tree/rock went up and up until it reached the sky whereupon the sisters were transformed into stars of the Big Dipper.

Moral: Don't annoy your brother!

Devil's Tower

The rocks heaped around the area are testament to recent erosion.

The Tower is a popular rock climbing venue.

Information board at the foot of the Tower

Prarie Dog

There are hundreds of these Prarie dogs but they are really rodents. They look cute but they can do a lot of damage should someone foolishly get too close and feed them.

Four Presidents at Mt Rushmore

From the Devil's Tower monument we went to South Dakota to see the mountain carvings of the four Presidents. From left to right we have: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln. It was raining quite heavily while we were there and the rock face was wet and dark making it difficult to photograph. When we stopped at Grey Bull I was talking to the lady in the gas station. She was excited to hear that we intended visiting this place as one of her great uncles had worked on the carvings and she said that she had always wanted to see them for herself but never had the chance. I wished that I had asked his name as there was a plaque with the sculptors' names that I could have photgraphed and sent her.

Crazy Horse Memorial

Although it was getting dark when we left Mt Rushmore, we decided that we needed to get a glimpse of the other side of American history and take a look at the Crazy Horse Memorial not far away. This is the world's largest mountain carving dedicated to an Indian Chief who was stabbed in the back by an American soldier while under a flag of truce. He was born in this area around 1842 and had defended his people and didn't trust the treaties and promises of the newcomers, the Americans, who came for the land and its treasures.
This carving was started in 1948 and won't be finished anytime soon but the original sculptor, one Korczak, drew detailed plans knowing that the Memorial could not be finished in his lifetime. his model of the finished work is in the Visitors' Centre. The present Trustees have refused funding from both the State and Federal Governments, so this is raised by entrance fees. We were happy to contribute although we were so short of time that we didn't get past the carpark. I would love to return to spend time in the visitors' centre where there are displays relating to Indian culture and history. Next time !

Southern Wyoming

When I was young I read a book set in Wyoming and after that I associated Wyoming with horses. There was so much more to it than horses! As we drove back to Denver I began to note the names of the ranches we had passed in Wyoming: Lone Elk Ranch, Last Chance Ranch, Four Bison Ranch, Walking Bull Ranch, No Name Ranch, Poor Me Ranch. . . . There must be a story in every name!

Wyoming. A beautiful State, and not only at Yellowstone, but all over.

Denver - here at last!

We have been resting here - lazing about as we recover from the very long flight and adjusting to the altitude and low humidity. I'd say that we are now about ready to get out and about exploring. First though I'll have to do something about my no longer curly hair - it is now spiky straight looking as though it has been jelled or whatever it is that the young guys use to sculpt their hair. It looks like I have received an electric shock. Perhaps it is not the humidity that has shocked my hair but the arrival experience at LAX !

I have never been more relieved to arrive at my destination after getting a taste of what it is like to be a suspect visitor to a country. At the Immigration desk, I was whisked away from my travelling companions and detained for almost two hours because I had not changed my passport number on my airline itinerary after getting a new passport. At no time during the wait for my identity to be established with the Australian authorities was I given an explanation for my detention and it was only after that came was I asked any questions about my intentions in the USA or anything else. While this was happening I could not speak to E and S to tell them where I had stashed some food, which they needed for dangerously low sugar levels. They were also fretting about missing our onward flight, along with their concern about what was happening to me.

Once this problem was sorted we joined the crowd of other tired travellers as we shuffled the entire circumference of the baggage area in the queue to exit through Customs. This took almost an hour. I was shocked to find that LAX is now by far the most disorganised, confusing and slow airport I have ever arrived at. It even beats the old Bangkok airport which has held that honour in my book for more than ten years now. Renovations and improvements are under way so I hope that it will soon become as user friendly as it was when we were here last time in 1986. Anyway, two  lessons learned for my next trip later in the year. Number One: check that personal details match. Number two: allow more than four hours for my onward flight from LAX.

While thinking about next time, I would definitely choose both Virgin Australia and Frontier Airlines again. Virgin gave us a very comfortable flight with professional, friendly staff who smiled the entire 13 hours, [ what an achievement!] surprisingly good food with extra rolls and drinks available on a help yourself basis as well as an excellent entertainment menu. Frontier staff were likewise friendly and especially helpful and accommodating when finding us the last available seats on an alternative flight and inviting us to board early, knowing we had been travelling about 36 hours by that stage.

One more comment about our arrival experience and internal flight here. This has provided us with an immediate understanding of the effects of the 9/11 events on this country. In the interests of security I won't describe the security measures we experienced at both LAX and on the flight to Denver except to say that on the planes you cannot have more than one person out of their seat at one time for the entire flight.

California - LA smog extends far and wide

Despite these experiences we recovered our excitement about our trip and this increased during the flight to Denver as we flew over landmarks in California, Arizona and Utah that we had previously seen from ground level. The changing environment was stunning - we were over desert, flatish land and fifteen minutes here come the hills, green below and then snowy mountain peaks devoid of visible vegetation.

Grand Canyon view from the sky

As we flew over a corner of Arizona I spotted this canyon and thought that it looked like the Grand Canyon so I checked with the flight attendant who didn't know. The captain confirmed this to be the case. We visited the Grand Canyon when the children were young so I was delighted to remember that happy trip and see the Canyon from above. From ground level the steep banks gorged out by the Colarado River were unforgettable  visions of the layers of rock colours teemed into my mind as I clicked away, hoping that I would achieve a resonable image.

Pike's Peak

As we neared Denver this Peak was prominant in the landscape.my map informed me that it was Pike's Peak. This was the scene of goldrush activity in Colarado the mid 1800s. The first flush of gold was apparently not so good but better quality was discovered later, leading to population business expansion and eventually to the foundation of the city of Denver of the rocky mountain road fame.

The Southern Rockies, to the west of Denver

Approaching the flat plains of Colarado

 Finally Denver is below us and that was the biggest surprise of them all for me as I had always thought that the Mile High city in a State renown for its mountains would itself be mountainous.  Not so! Flat like the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand. Denver is situated on the Great Plains 5280 feet or 1.6 km above sea level and has the Southern Rockies to its west.  I am humming Rocky mountain high by John Denver as I write this. I was so sad when he died in a plane crash.The Rockies influence the climate of the city with winter being cold and dry apart from snow, snow, snow that can sometimes cause "snow Days" when everyone needs to stay home from work. The average rainfall is only around 400mm per year which seems very low to me as I live in a place that has been known to have 100mm or even more in a few hours but there is plenty of water for the compulsory green maintainence of lawns thanks to the snow melt from the Rockies.

A few other bits of information that I have picked up include the fact that in the late 1800s women here were very organised and strong, organising a Club for women which led to the publishing of two newspapers the Colarado Antelope and then the Queen Bee -  love that name - which led to a referendum that gave Colarado women the vote in 1893 - sooner I believe than most of the USA. Well done! They sound like very determined and far sighted women - I must find out if there was a Zonta club here early on !

Denver house, built 1902

We are staying in a lovely part of the city with beautiful three story brick houses set in tree lined streets. Apparently there was a fire that destroyed entire streets of timber houses here in 1899 and these were repaced by the brick ones. The house we are staying in was built in 1902 and features beautiful timber doorways, windows, a wide spiral staircase that leads to spacious bedrooms and another narrower staircase to the attic room. It has a very comfortable and friendly warm atmosphere and I am not surprised that R and R chose it for their USA home.

Our companion and remains of ice cream dessert

Last night we took a walk a couple of blocks to get dessert at the local hotspot, an ice cream shop. Here we shared an outdoor table with an interesting lady who had left Prague at the age of ten, lived in New York for fifty years where she was well into the Art aspect of life there, having obtained a Doctorate in Music History. She was fun to listen to as she gave us some impromptu lessons in classical music history and expressed delight when I said truthfully that Mozart was my favourite classical composer with Chopin following up closely.She in turn was fascinated about the composition of our group of six as we were obviously very mixed racially and seemed surprised that we were mostly related. I claimed Jason, originally from Taiwan but now a very young lecturer of Math at Missouri University, as an adopted son on the grounds that he had lived with us for quite some years when in High school. It was great that he could stop by en route to California to see us.

Happy to see Jason

R and R 

We are looking forward to an action packed three plus weeks with our family.
Great plans have been made so . . .