From The Bad Lands to Cody,Wyoming

After that meditation on Memories, its back to some pics of our journey "Westward Ho!" The following are from The Bad Lands of South Dakota to Cody, Wyoming. Cody is named after "Buffalo Bill Cody" the famous frontier scout, Indian fighter and showman. He even took his "Wild West Show" to England and Europe.

The Badlands of South Dakota

Two of the "Badies"!

A penny for your thoughts!

While named "The Badlands" the colours of the rocks were very beautiful.

The three shadowy figures on the left of the two humps were our shadows reflected across a canyon.

From the Badlands of South Dakota where next but The Devil's Tower in Wyoming.

If this Tower looks familiar, it was the site for the Sci/fi movie, "Close encounter of the third Kind".

I am tempted to add a comment but as I still have a number of weeks of travel with these two women, I must refrain!! It is a devil of a hard thing to do.

Eventually we reached Cody and what better way to be immersed into Western culture than go to a Rodeo!

Hi Ho Silver, Away!

To be quite honest we found it all rather cruel to the animals and so were glad when they gave back a little that they had received.

Just before we left South Dakota we visited a Norwegian Church in Rapid City. This Church is known as The Chapel in the Hills. It is an exact replica of the Borgund Stavkirke built about 1150 and located near Laerdal, Norway.

Up by the altar there is a small open window to our right beside the door. Through this window the elements of the Lord's Supper would be passed to lepers waiting in the hallway at the side of the church.

On the grounds there is also a traditional Norwegian stabbur (storehouse) now a welcome centre and shop.

It was here that Christine met one of her long lost relatives. 

The End!

Memories are made of this.

I'm really sorry for the lack of blogs this week. With travel and tiredness and the fluctuation of connections, it has been somewhat frustrating. Nevertheless, we are all doing well but fast realising that the "Wild West Tour" has become very much an "endurance rally"!

So what shall we remember given all the spectacular scenery, inviting shopping malls, and courteous people we have seen and met along the way?

Well, let me tell you a story. On Wednesday we moved from Lead in South Dakota to Cody Wyoming. Then on Thursday we headed for Yellowstone National Park, arriving there about lunch time. The Park covers a vast area and so we made our way west until we came to "Old Faithful", the famous Geyser. After that we headed north towards our final destination, Paradise Valley Cottage in Montana.

 With the sky looking threatening we stopped off at the town of Gardiner about 34 miles south of our "Cottage". Christine and Pauline went into the little supermarket to get some supplies while I phoned "Diane" the owner of the Cottage to advise of our soon arrival. However, Diane advised me that due to a mud-slide late in the afternoon the highway was closed about 8 miles north of Gardiner and no traffic could get through. Our options were; drive up to where the mud-slide was and hope that the road would be open by midnight; drive around the affected area and come to the cottage from the north, but that would mean a 4 hour drive through the mountains; or try to get accommodation in Gardiner. We chose the latter but with so many people stuck in town because of the slide "there was no room in the inn".  The thought of spending the night in the car if the road was not cleared, did not appeal. So we decided to start driving even though it was about 8pm and we had been driving for most of the day.

 Just as we were about to set off, Diane phoned back to say a friend "Dorothy" had offered us accommodation!  Her husband was stuck north of the slide and so he couldn't get home. To cut a long story somewhat shorter, we got Dorothy's address and this young mum with a young daughter, Lauren, took in three strangers for the night. The home was big enough for us all and the hospitality extended to us was just amazing. Dorothy provided breakfast the next day, and allowed Christine and Pauline to put through a load of washing. She could not do enough for us. We parted as new and good friends. The predicament of the previous evening was in the providence of God a means of great blessing to us, and as such will remain in our memories long after mountains and valleys and rivers and malls fade from our minds.

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.