Scenes from South Dakota

The followings pics are from three days of criss-crossing South Dakota. We begin this leg of our Wild West Tour in one of the major centres of the Wild West - Deadwood. It was here that Wild Bill Hickok met his dastardly end, shot in the back while his back was to the door.

Top - Deadwood, Main street 2013
Bottom - Deadwood Main street 1876

Calamity Jane is buried beside her beloved "Wild Bill" in Mount Moriah Cemetery overlooking Deadwood. (Otherwise known as "Boot Hill". Who knows why it's called that?) I am not sure which of these ladies is "Calamity" or "Wild"!!

From Deadwood we drove over to Spearfish Canyon where the closing scenes of "Dances with Wolves" was filmed.

In the movie this was the site for the Indians' Winter Camp

The following day we headed for Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park. Needless to say it was raining during our visit to the "Presidents".

Ladies, having your head filled with rocks is no laughing matter!

While in Custer's State Park we came across a rock formation called "The Needles". Now we all know how hard it is to thread a needle, or how hard it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But what of a bus?

The "Eye"

Easy for a couple of Corvettes, but.....

What about this bus? Well....

Inch by inch

No turning back now

Hope nobody needs to get out in a hurry!

Almost there!

I think the Driver had done it all before!

So don't forget, with God all things are possible

Lead, South Dakota

The Black Hills of Dakota really are something to sing about. Sorry for you younger generation who do not know Doris Day and her famous song about these hills!

We arrived in Lead late yesterday afternoon. Lead is just next door to Deadwood, the infamous cowboy/gambling town. Our accommodation is in the Historic Town Hall Inn. As the title suggests it is the old Town Hall refurbished into a hotel. Actually it is very spacious and comfortable.

Yesterday we set off from the Kindness Ranch in Wyoming where we had spent the previous night. It is a ranch set up to provide care and retraining for animals that have been used and abused in the cause of medical science. So we had a very informative tour of the ranch looking at the dogs and cats and pigs and horses and sheep that now have been rescued and are being cared for by these people.

Christine giving a horse some much needed TLC

Pauline has gone to the dogs!

Our accommodation at the ranch was in one of their Yurts - a round house modelled after the tradition of the Mongolian homes. These however are kit-manufactured in Oregon. It was quite roomy with kitchen, living area, two bedrooms with full bathroom and an upstairs (by ladder) storage or additional sleeping area.

Leaving Kindness Ranch we stopped to take a few pics of Hartville, the nearby town, It was once a booming mining town but now, almost dead. However while looking at some old photos in a store window a man crossed the street and introduced himself as the Mayor of the town. About an hour later, after some very warm hospitality with Darryl (the Mayor) and his wife, Marian, we drove out of Hartville delighted with this new friendship. They were just so gracious and warm.

Pauline, Marian and Darryl then ,(above) Christine behind the wheel of the Mayor's Merc sports car. This was after he had taken Pauline for a spin around the town in it.

From there it was to see some Ruts made by Wagon Trains making their way along the Oregon Trail in the mid 1800's.

Maybe a bit hard to see but we are standing in a rut made by the thousands of wagon trains that made the journey westward to Oregon, California, or Utah. These wagons trains were not pulled by horses as portrayed in movies, with the women sitting inside, but were pulled by oxen or mules and led by men. The women and children had to walk! Imagine walking 6,000 miles in all climates and conditions. We saw an example of these wagons at our next stop, Fort Laramie.

Fort Laramie was a resupply stop for these wagon trains and then a little later, during the Indian Wars became a vital military establishment. Here is a picture from yesteryear and one from yesterday!

Same building just restored and from the other direction

Finally it was on and into South Dakota and time to unpack again. Thankfully we have 4 days here so we can rest up a little and reorganize ourselves.

Glad we travel light!!!

Colorado Springs & Glen Eyrie

On Tuesday night July 9, we dined with our good friends Lin & LaVerne Roberts. While  Lin is battling the results of a stroke he was in good form and LaVerne, who is almost 80 amazed us.

LaVerne,Christine, Pauline & Lin sitting

Our accommodation has been at Glen Eyrie, the International Headquarters of the Navigators organization. The Navigators were a great influence in my early Christian life and so it is a great thrill for me to be here.

The heart of Glen Eyrie is a beautiful castle where breakfast is served on the Terrace each morning. This Castle and property of hundreds of acres right next to the Garden of the Gods was purchased by the Navigators in 1953 for $340,000. At that time the fledgling Navigators had no money and no benefactors. Miraculously, however, they raised a down payment of $110,000 in six weeks, with the average donation being twenty dollars. Today, Glen Eyrie is the site of a year-round training program, a conference centre, and a place for Christian Leaders of other organizations to gather for fellowship and prayer.

After breakfast we visited the Cliff Dwellings of the Ute Indians of nearby Manitou Springs just outside Colorado Springs. You may recognize some current "wild Indian Squaws"!

From these ancient dwellings we drove to nearby Garden of the Gods.

I also came across two Wild Banana Indians.  They are an endangered species and very slippery customers.

Then when we thought we had seen it all we came across this Dare-Devil of a man, mountain climbing!

Good night to you all. It's bed time for Indians and mountain climbers. Tomorrow it's Wyoming.

Monday 8th July Colorado

Today has been a very restful day with a lazy morning and then a train ride through the Royal Gorge.

Looking back

Looking Forward

Of course, one has to enjoy a meal on board the train!

After our train ride we drove up the "Skyline Drive" which was a very narrow one way road with cliffs either side. It provided a good look over Canon City. Stephen, I am sure that by now you are a Master of navigating through narrow streets and lanes.

Our final exercise for the day was to a picnic spot in the Royal Gorge to see the famous Royal Gorge Bridge. This was the world's highest suspension bridge until the Chinese constructed one recently. When we booked to come here it was with the intention of crossing the bridge but sadly severe bush fires in the area just weeks ago have forced the closure of the bridge,


Well another day of our Wild West Tour comes to a close with a very beautiful evening that sees us outside enjoying our dinner.

From New Mexico to Colorado

It is Sunday evening the 7th July and we are settled into our 1950's Streamline Trailer

Being a modern Computer-wise family it does not take us too many hours to figure out how to get online! So with Pauline up her end of the 'Van, Christine is up the other, I am in the middle taking pictures.

Albuquerque was a delightful stop because of the hospitality and thoughtfulness of Thearith, our dear Christian brother. After Albuquerque we drove north and stopped off at the oldest Capital City in the USA, Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. The architecture around the city was very much of a "Mexican" style.

                                                                                                                                         From Santa Fe we moved up towards Taos but stopped to investigate some of the Cave dwellings the Indians used as their homes.

Its amazing who you meet leaving their cave.

After Taos we crossed the Rio Grande Gorge as we headed north to Canon City and our 1950's Trailer which shall be our home for the next two nights.

Westward Ho!

It is Friday night and we are sitting in Thearith Ung's lounge room in Albuquerque New Mexico. Since our last post we have covered about a thousand miles and have seen some spectacular countryside.

After leaving Las Vegas and its heat we headed for Williams Arizona via Oatman and Seligman. Oatman was typified in the movie Cars with the invasion of Radiator Springs by tractors, as wild (but friendly)

 burros wander freely through Oatman including its
stores.


 Seligman is the home of "Angel" the man recognised as the one person responsible for saving the "Mother Road" better known as Route 66

Williams is very much a Wild West town with a shoot-out in the main street at 7 pm every evening.

After a good night's sleep we set out on Wednesday morning (3rd July) for the hour's drive north to the Grand Canyon. What does one say when confronted by such grandeur? Its scope and vastness and  formation just leaves you speechless. You really have to see it to believe it!

                                                                      .
                                                 

From the Grand Canyon we drove to what Film Director John Ford regarded as his favourite film location, Monument Valley in southern Utah. If you have ever seen the film "The Searchers" starring John Wayne, you would know what was filling our vision. Strange-shaped formations arise up from the desert floor. Truly spectacular.

On Thursday morning we drove away from Monument Valley towards Cortes in Colorado and then to Gallup, New Mexico and the El Rancho Hotel where the stars of the silver screen lodged in past years; a fascinating glimpse of how things were in the hey-day of the silver screen. Then today it was on to visit with Thearith who has not stopped helping us with computers and washing etc since we arrived. He is a dear Christian brother who together with his wife Daing and son Dahret have been a great joy to us. Tomorrow we start heading north to Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota before heading West in about 10 days. We are all well and amazed at the beauty and diversity of scenery here in the USA. God bless you all.

The Wow Factor

Wow, its hot here! Since we last wrote we have moved from California to Nevada and from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and from a rather hot but acceptable climate to a hot 117 degrees "Hot"! It is a heat wave in these parts with temperatures setting new records each day. Sadly, bush fires in neighbouring Arizona claimed the lives of 19 firemen on Saturday.

Wow, Las Vegas is an amazing place to visit. The old sleezy gangster/vice image is changing and it is much more "family friendly". The hotels are a tourist attraction in themselves. Caesars Palace with its statues and fountains; The Venetian with its gondoliers and Michaelangelo's ceilings; the Luxor with its Cleopatra's Needle and its hotel built as a pyramid; the Mirage with its exploding volcano, and even our own "Paris" with its Eiffel Tower and full sized Arc de Triomphe. When we checked in we were upgraded to two adjoining rooms on the 27th floor. We overlook one of the best sights in town, the Bellagio across the road with full view of its world famous fountains and we look down on the Arc de Triomphe and out at the Eiffel Tower. It is simply stunning, especially when lit up.. Wow!

Wow, the time is going fast, for tomorrow (Tuesday), we check out of here and drive south-east to Williams, Arizona. We hope to drive along more of Route 66 and feed the wild burros in the streets of Oatman. From Williams we will drive to the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley on Wednesday.

Wow, the people here are so friendly and polite, with no obvious bad language one finds among so many young Australians. For you see, being soooo hot, we have spent the daylight hours in the "Outlet" Centres which, as you would understand, are very popular cool places. Yet we have been struck by the civility and courtesy of those around us and those who serve us in shops and stores.  So altogether,  Las Vegas has proved to be a wow of a place.