Yellowstone Trip 2008: 9/2 -9/5
Tuesday, 9/2 (after visiting Kate in Richmond and Jane’s mother in C-U): Champaign to No. Sioux City, South Dakota. We visited the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City IA and learned that Sergeant Floyd, the only member of the Corps of Discovery who died during the expedition, was buried in Sioux City; had a lovely dinner at Bev’s by the River watching the Missouri River flow by, amazed by the strength of the current (and Lewis & Clark rowed up that river).
Wednesday, 9/3 We have been in corn country for days. We crossed Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and the fertile part of South Dakota. Everywhere corn, corn, more corn and lots of beans. Enough already. In spite of the overdose of corn, we stopped in Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace. It was very cool. They were in the process of removing the cobs from the 2008 decoration in preparation for the 2009 design. They change the design most years, and it costs $130,000 to put up the new one.
Arthur spotted 4 white pelicans flying over the fields as we drove along route 90. We had just read that the Corps of Discovery had come across hundreds of them along the River here. We also saw our first buffalo herd.
We stopped to tour the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center in Chamberlain, S.D. It was a wonderful, small museum about the Lakota Indians who, we learned, are more commonly referred to as the Sioux (named by the early French and English).
By mid-afternoon, we arrived in the Badlands. They remind us of the Painted Desert in AZ, but even more dramatic. We stayed in the Badlands Inn and were treated to a gorgeous view of the ridge of Badlands turning white in front of a cloudbank n the late afternoon light.
Thursday, 9/4 – Long day, but we did see a lot. We left our hotel at 7:00 a.m. and did the Badlands Loop drive up to Wall, S.D. Interestingly enough, the only time we have had decent cell phone signal was in the middle of the Badlands, and I got a call about work - what timing! On the drive we saw Pronghorn antelope and extensive prairie dog towns. After a mediocre breakfast at the world famous Wall Drug store, we headed to Mt. Rushmore.
I (Jane) have been less enthusiastic about the whole Mt. Rushmore thing after reading a biography of Crazy Horse recently. First we lied and broke all of our promises and treaties with the plains Indians and then we carved the heads of white men (some who contributed to their being driven from the land) into their sacred land. In spite of that, it is an impressive undertaking, and the sculptures are much better art than I expected. The way Borglum sculpted the eyes makes them all seem very intense and real. We saw a mountain goat up close there that was really cool. After leaving Mt. Rushmore, we drove down the Needles highway through narrow tunnels and even narrower passages between the rocks. It was a pretty drive, but an awful lot of switchbacks and very slow going. Next was the wildlife loop through Custer State Park and our first Buffalo “blockade” – buffalo just standing in the road, with cars backed up watching and waiting. We also saw lots of Pronghorn antelopes, wild turkey, deer and more prairie dogs.
After all of that, we decided to skip the evening light show at Mt. Rushmore. We were very tired, and it was also cold and a bit rainy.
Friday, 9/5. We had another long day of driving, from Keystone, SD to Cody WY with a tour of the Crazy Horse Monument on the way. The whole Crazy Horse carving thing is a little bizarre – it is huge, and will take many generations to complete. I need to learn more about it, as it seems like what may have been started by the Indians has turned into more of a monument to the sculptor and his family. In addition to the carving, there is a large museum and cultural center dedicated to the American Indian, but it is all a little chaotic. We came across some pretty scenery at the beginning of the day and then again as we left the interstate in Buffalo WY to head toward Cody, but the rest of WY is pretty stark.
Wednesday, 9/3 We have been in corn country for days. We crossed Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and the fertile part of South Dakota. Everywhere corn, corn, more corn and lots of beans. Enough already. In spite of the overdose of corn, we stopped in Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace. It was very cool. They were in the process of removing the cobs from the 2008 decoration in preparation for the 2009 design. They change the design most years, and it costs $130,000 to put up the new one.
Arthur spotted 4 white pelicans flying over the fields as we drove along route 90. We had just read that the Corps of Discovery had come across hundreds of them along the River here. We also saw our first buffalo herd.
We stopped to tour the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center in Chamberlain, S.D. It was a wonderful, small museum about the Lakota Indians who, we learned, are more commonly referred to as the Sioux (named by the early French and English).
By mid-afternoon, we arrived in the Badlands. They remind us of the Painted Desert in AZ, but even more dramatic. We stayed in the Badlands Inn and were treated to a gorgeous view of the ridge of Badlands turning white in front of a cloudbank n the late afternoon light.
Thursday, 9/4 – Long day, but we did see a lot. We left our hotel at 7:00 a.m. and did the Badlands Loop drive up to Wall, S.D. Interestingly enough, the only time we have had decent cell phone signal was in the middle of the Badlands, and I got a call about work - what timing! On the drive we saw Pronghorn antelope and extensive prairie dog towns. After a mediocre breakfast at the world famous Wall Drug store, we headed to Mt. Rushmore.
I (Jane) have been less enthusiastic about the whole Mt. Rushmore thing after reading a biography of Crazy Horse recently. First we lied and broke all of our promises and treaties with the plains Indians and then we carved the heads of white men (some who contributed to their being driven from the land) into their sacred land. In spite of that, it is an impressive undertaking, and the sculptures are much better art than I expected. The way Borglum sculpted the eyes makes them all seem very intense and real. We saw a mountain goat up close there that was really cool. After leaving Mt. Rushmore, we drove down the Needles highway through narrow tunnels and even narrower passages between the rocks. It was a pretty drive, but an awful lot of switchbacks and very slow going. Next was the wildlife loop through Custer State Park and our first Buffalo “blockade” – buffalo just standing in the road, with cars backed up watching and waiting. We also saw lots of Pronghorn antelopes, wild turkey, deer and more prairie dogs.
After all of that, we decided to skip the evening light show at Mt. Rushmore. We were very tired, and it was also cold and a bit rainy.
Friday, 9/5. We had another long day of driving, from Keystone, SD to Cody WY with a tour of the Crazy Horse Monument on the way. The whole Crazy Horse carving thing is a little bizarre – it is huge, and will take many generations to complete. I need to learn more about it, as it seems like what may have been started by the Indians has turned into more of a monument to the sculptor and his family. In addition to the carving, there is a large museum and cultural center dedicated to the American Indian, but it is all a little chaotic. We came across some pretty scenery at the beginning of the day and then again as we left the interstate in Buffalo WY to head toward Cody, but the rest of WY is pretty stark.
posted by arthurandjane at 4:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home