Church Ladies on the Loose--Day Three!

Awoke in Custer, SD--pretty setting in the Black Hills--found breakfast a ways down the road--my second chicken fried steak! (It was perfect, by the way.) The day before we'd been too late to see the progress on the Crazy Horse Memorial, which will be the world's largest statue when finished,  someday. They are working away at it, and it is impressive. Here is a view from a bit of a distance--look for a face facing the right side of the photo; it's very small--

Does this help?

How about this?

Impressive, very.

This is the model at the Visitor's Center. It was an excellent visit:

Off now to Custer State Park, fingers crossed to see some buffalo, and our wish was granted! 

Here is the sign of the day:

Duh! And they are really, really Big!!!

We saw a herd!!!

Not the specks on the hillsides, those are trees! But those lying on the flat between the cottonwoods, THOSE are buffalo, and there are more behind the cottonwoods too! Also a large and a small lying in the foreground on the left.

I do love the prairie:

Later along the Wildlife Loop we observed a car attacked by burros!!

That's what happens when you offer them food! The driver was cringing, shrinking away from a burro whose head was inside the car--duh! What do you expect? Silly people.

We preferred these three--off the road but near enough for a photo, and quite charming!

Several miles away:

Almost on the road, as you can see, and focussed on tourists out of their cars and approaching. I felt quite safe inside my car and ready to step on the gas! These fellows are HUGE!!!

We crossed into Nebraska watching for wildlife--one more sighting-- this pronghorn antelope:

And farther down the road and into the distant past--wait for it!--Boom, boom, boom, boom!!!

Ta-dah! It's Carhenge!

The High Priests (get it? On a ladder?!)

Repainting to cover graffiti--very sad--but the color looks great.

Great fun!!!

Planning the trip we forgot about moving into Central Time and so dusk came early over the SandHills--but it was lovely:

We had to drive the last 20 miles through walls of utter darkness, punctuated by oncoming headlights, but we arrived in Broken Bow safely. Nebraska is a beautiful state, but kind of sad, since this is my first trip here without Aunt Fern and Uncle Roy in residence. Though I just saw them, it will be lonely in Ravenna without them.

Enough of that, today was another splendid day! So much we saw and felt and will remember.

Church Ladies on the Loose--Day two continued...

I maligned Lusk Wyoming yesterday when I reported the town had only one stoplight--they actually have a second one down by the gas station--

Lusk is a sweet town, pleasant and clean, out on the prairie. It was lovely.

Our motel office and breakfast room was decorated with antiques, including this crazy quilt from 1913. Very nicely done, though somewhat faded as one would expect.

A truck trailer in Lusk was full and waiting to haul away these HUGE bales of hay, and here's one later on by the side of the road:

You lose the sense of scale when one is alone.

Driving north toward Devil's Tower, I revelled in the wide open spaces (Do you hear a chorus of the Dixie Chicks here?) Stunning land!! Miles of snow fences snaking across the hills, more windmills, surrounded by beauty.   Just feast your eyes:

 

I started to calculate how long it might have been since I first saw Devil's Tower peeking over the horizon, but the number was incredibly and depressingly large, so I won't include it; just know that I've been wanting to see it 'in person' for a very long time, more than fifty years! Can you even imagine that?

When I couldn't get the blog program to work last night, I wrote a little about Devil's Tower--how I had imagined the land around it was flat and instead found a mountain! We walked around it, uphill and down, gazing as often toward the forest as the monolith. I loved being in its presence! We saw several prayer cloths tied onto branches, supposedly by Native Americans who feel the site sacred--I agree. 

See how it rises up? You ain't seen nothin' yet!

  

 

 

See the prayer cloth in the trees?

You can see how Devil's Tower is the core of this mountain, with that mountain eroding around it. Someday it may well be sitting on the flat land I'd imagined. What a precious and beautiful place!!!

I was so pleased to finally see it--in person!!!

On we drove toward Mount Rushmore, though it was some distance away. Meals just hadn't worked out where and when we'd planned because of the great distances. So we stopped in Spearfish to replenish our potassium following the exertion of our walk:

Just a clarifying note: the banana was split and surrounded by--actually buried in--ice cream!!! DQ really knows how to come through in a pinch!

Spearfish Canyon was spectacular with golden leaves among the green on the tall hillsides. Unfortunately we couldn't stop and take pictures--few turn-outs--and the color was so dispersed among the green hillsides. Here's a glimpse though:

Down the road we saw this lovely lady--

with her baby hidden from view.

Just miles away we saw George peeking out of the shadow--

Finally we located the entrance to Mount Rushmore and I saw the second long sought-after sight:

 photo a little hard to see in the afternoon shade, sorry. It wasn't hard to see there! Still a thrill though!

Amazing and wonderful!

What a glorious day!

Church Ladies on the Loose--Day Two!!!

What could it be??? Remember Close Encounters, the movie about a spaceship landing in Wyoming? This is the place it landed--Devil's Tower. Many years ago, as my family drove from Montana to Nebraska or back, we could sometimes see Devil's Tower in the distance. I was fascinated, but we never had time enough to go there. I finally made it and had a surprise: Probably because I saw it in the distance from the prairie, I assumed it was on flat ground! But, of course, it isn't!

Darn it! I've been working here for an hour and this is the only photo I've been able to load, so I'll post photos on Facebook without clever writing; you'll just have to be witty yourself. I so enjoy blogging on trips, but I need some sleep.

Church Ladies on the Loose--Day One!

Selfie on the plane to Denver---flew away at 6 a.m! All went very well on Day One, very well indeed!

Sarah and Jackie--Church Ladies on the Loose!

Found Aunt Fern and Uncle Roy's new abode in Cheyenne. They're looking great after 70 years of wedded bliss--Ain't love grand?!!! Truly, it is.

This was supposed to be second--our view above the clouds; the beginning of our adventure. It holds such promise, doesn't it!

Cousin Royetta with Fern, Roy, and me. It was grand to see Royetta and husband Cletus Lockhorn--who disappeared before the pictures were taken!

Do you think we're on the wrong road?

We turned around right away! Backtrack time!

Ubiquitous windmills in setting sun---

Pronghorn antelope!!!!

Magnificent sunset: Welcome to Wyoming!!!

Actually we've been here most of the day, but it's a splendid welcome just the same!

Tiny community with water tower

The single stoplight in Lusk, Wyoming, where I'll turn off the light now and snuggle down.

Almost forgot to include Chicken Fried steak for dinner!