Crazy Horse

View from the highway. Many Indian Tribal flags are hung throughout the complex. Kitty in the gift shop-not for sale ;-)

As many of you know my sister's name was Walletta which means laughing waters! Had to have a picture of that. This last one is neat with the tepee as part of the picture.

We spent most of the day at Crazy Horse. What an incredible place. All Natives get in for free because the monument is dedicated to all tribes. The work has been on-going for 62 years. It is all done through donations. No government money has been used. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski (from Boston), was asked to show that Indians had heroes also. He and his wife and 7 of his 10 children have worked for all these years. He died before the completion of the nine-story high face. His wife, Ruth, still lives there on the property and the original home that Korczak built for them is part of the museum display. There is no completion date, work is done year round but lightning, blizzards and other weather will stop work. This had such an impact on me. When we walked into the center I was just in awe, I stood and just stared all around me. Words can't begin to describe my emotions

Custer, South Dakota

Had an uneventful drive to Custer today. Acres of pasture land with either cows or horses, farm land, lots of bumpy mountains, oil/gas wells and another scary narrow winding road with really sharp corners. Did see a bunch of little brown fuzzy critters, I think they were antelopes but might have been deer. We are staying at the Flinstones Campground :-) Really nice grass sites, we not only have a tree but we have a bush and picnic table. Still no fires, danger too high. No TV reception (aaah) but we will be out and about. We are staying here for 3 nights. Had rain right when we arrived but then it cleared. It will probably be chilly since we are back in the mountains.

Indian Campground, Buffalo, WY

Just a few pics of the latest campground. Again a nice place with trees and grass. Picnic tables are always nice. We always get stuck by the other campers with dogs. Today it is two little ankle biters that do nothing but yip, right up to now 10 pm. Only staying the one night. Will be off again in the morning.

On the road

Controlled burn at a farm we went by. View of a mountain lake from a scenic viewpoint. Just some mountains.

This was the "high" point of the day. It was mostly 7% grades to get to the top. Slow going with a stop or two to cool off the car and brakes. One of the mountain crests on the way.

We travelled to Buffalo, WY today. Not a long drive but some really steep windy inclines and descents. Again the views were spectacular. Still don't like the canyons through the cliffs but can appreciate the beauty. Signs through the pass gave the period of the rocks we were passing such as Jurassic or Cambrian. It was sort of neat to see how old the rocks/cliffs were as we went up and then came back down. The youngest were 500 years at the top.

Cody, WY

This museum contained four different sections. We did the Native one first and then the Buffalo Bill Cody one. The little house was his and had been moved several times before landing here. The map was on the floor of the natural history section. There was also a fine arts section which we didn't get into. We just ran out of time and energy. The art section has a lot of western art including Remington which I would have like to see.

OMG after umpteen tries I finally got the pictures to load. Not the fastest server we've had.

RODEO at last :-)

Making the bull look "pretty". Getting ready to ride or I should say attempting to ride. Only have to stay on for a mandatory 8 seconds but it is a really long 8 seconds.

The little guy in the white hat and red shirt was 5 years old. He rode a steer.

I have finally seen a rodeo. It wasn't a professional one but where most of the professional riders got their start. I really enjoyed the show. They had some very young kids, one was just three, doing the barrel run. So cute!

Buffalo Bill Dam, WY

This was on the way into Cody. We stopped and checked it out. Not as large as the Hoover but still on the same idea. It isn't as wide but it is 325 feet tall. It has created a huge lake for irrigation purposes and recreational use. We saw only a couple of boats on the lake when we drove by it. The area is tans and browns interspersed with vivid green (irrigated) fields. The mountains are very different from all of the others we have seen. Typical "cowboy" mountains, the ones seen on western movies. There are three tunnels right in a row. The first is quite a bit longer than the next two.

Absaroka Bay RV Park

Pictures of the park. Nice place. We have a tree and a picnic table. TV is non existent. No digital or even analog here. It is only UHF which our flat screen doesn't have. No great loss. Many things to do in Cody.

Cody, WY

Another two reasons for massive traffic jams at Yellowstone this morning. Owen could have reached out and touched the bison, it was that close to the truck.

View from the road. Quite beautiful in a very different way from Montana and Yellowstone.

Late night posting so it will be short. Travelled to Cody today over some amazingly scenic roads. It is listed as a scenic byway (thanks Sara). We are staying at the Absaroka Bay RV Park. It is "senior friendly" which is why we chose it ;-) A few random thoughts on Yellowstone, not my favorite place, very beautiful but the tourists are crazy. They stop right in the middle of the road to take pictures or read a map even if there are 20 cars behind them. Picture a horror movie, the monster is coming into town and the people are fleeing, in Yellowstone it is just like that but the people are running toward a lone bison or elk. It is just crazy. We also found it more commercialized than most national parks. Again very beautiful but most of the wild comes from the visitors, most of which do not speak English as there first language. We drove through the park to get here. It took us over an hour to get passed the eagle management area where the signs read no stopping standing walking for the next 1/4 mile because the people would stop in the middle of the road and snap umpteen pictures of the eagles nest. Glad we were there and happy to be out.

Yellowstone National Park

Just a few more pics from the Mammoth Hot Springs. The springs come and go. They dry up and reform elsewhere and maybe go back to an old eruption. Pretty in a stark way. Amazing when you think something actually lives in the scalding water.