On to Mt. Rushmore!

Now, just what do you suppose these are?We went to a rest stop off the interstate and drove under a bridge. Are these giant mud-dobbers? The first indication that something was different was the swarm of flying things. I thought they might be bats. Upon closer inspection we discovered they were swallows...hundreds of them and they had built thier nests here. My windshield can attest to the fact that there was plenty of food for them to eat around here.
A little further on we found this old town that had been restored.
Eastern Wyoming and western South Dakato were showing evidence of past forest fires.

The Black Hills...where Black Hills Gold comes from!

We must be getting close to the monuments.
There's a strange looking rock. Could it be?
Yes, it's Crazy Horse.
There is still a ways to go but you can definitely see progress.

Our first glimpse of Mt. Rushmore.


You can see the men working at the top.

This is what the presidents see.
Then we stopped for lunch at Peggy's Place! Yes, we were thinking of you, Peggy. :-)

Grasslands Park Office.

Sheridan, Wyoming

Sheridan, Wyoming's logo is it's the most western city in the US. We arrived right in the middle of Buffalo Bill Days.
We discovered a new restaurant chain to eat at. Cowboy sized servings, too.

Everything was so neat and tidy and all the buildings in proper repair.

Even an original J.C.Penney's!
A sculptor has art work throughout the town. This one of river otters was my favorite.

Montana

I don't care what anyone tells you, Montana is big! Even at 80MPH (okay...84), it takes forever to get just two-thirds across.


We finally came to Little Bighorn fairly late in the afternoon. We didn't even know we were going to stop but are so glad we did. The anniversary was the 25th and 26th. We came on the 27th. Just as well because they said there were literally thousands there for the reenactment. Too many people for us, however, this reenactment was from the Native American perspective and we wish we had seen it.



Each marker is where they recovered a soldier's body. They are not buried here.

Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

This is the Coeur D'Alene Resort and Spa where Bruce played golf. Actually the golf course is about three miles away, but this is where you come back for your massage...which is included in the price of a game! He can blog about that himself.
This is the first bison I've seen.
The streets in Coeur D'Alene are lovely with flowers maintained by the city. We saw a truck early in the morning watering them.
Lake Coeur D'Alene is at the end of the street.
Everyone should have a chimney in the shape of the state in which they live.
The city even has their own Bates Motel.
This is Lake Coeur D'Alene. Notice how many times I spell the name? It took me two days of staying here to learn it. Now I'm going to use it!

Ketchikan - the second time around.

The night before landing in Ketchikan, we saw seals basking in the sun on a rock. They hang out here all the time and knowledgeable people call this a "rookery". Click on the photo to make it bigger. Trust me, they are on the rock...lots of them.We came back from dinner to find a scorpian towel. Couldn't leave this out!
When we first landed in Ketchikan, Bruce was being stalked by another bear! I think he was attracting them with his t-shirt.
We took a tour of the island. We saw lots of eagles.


Then we went to the Saxman Village and saw how totem poles are made.

This is how they are made today...inside.
Seward's totem. Notice how bare it is because he was considered by the natives as stingy.
The native long house.
A totem under repair.




A partial totem in the shop.
A short totem. Perhaps there is one in my future.
After seeing all the totems (and purchasing a book on how to make one), we headed back into Ketchikan to the historic Creek Street.
How nice it would be to have your house right in the river!
Dolly's is a brothel. We had tickets for inside and I may go into more detail on that later.
Ketchikan IS a fishing village after all.
This is a local bug. The leaves were the size of my hand so this was a pretty big bug.

We came back to find a flying swan. I actually thought it looked like a flying ant eater....the kind for flying ants.