Welp, Suzanne sure nailed it when she said we’d make up for the disappointment of Deadwood.

Two more national parks yesterday drove home the point that while there are many wonderful places overseas to visit, absolute grandeur and glorious beauty lie right here in our own country. We enjoyed both legend and history at Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming, and at Little Bighorn National Monument in Montana

Another monument, another trail conquered! I swear, I never thought I’d equate “relaxing vacation” with “climb trails till you’re walking on your tongue.” But it was great for both of us to get out and walk the earth and breathe air while enjoying this fantastic setting.

The legend goes that seven Arapaho girls were fleeing from a large bear. They hid behind a rock, and prayed, “Rock, please protect us.” The rock then miraculously rose up into the sky, with the girls on it. Up, up and up it went. The bear tried to reach them; he clawed and clawed at the rock, until eventually, his claws broke and he fell down dead. The girls then ascended to the heavens, where they can still be found today, in the constellation called the Seven Sisters.

After Devil’s Tower, we drove through Crow Agency — sadly, a dying town — and saw the downside of life on an Indian reservation (assuming there’s an upside). Without going into a socioeconomic litany, suffice it to say that 135 years of disenfranchisement takes an unlovely toll on the humanity of any race. RtB fiend Will, whom I believe is Crow (correct me if I’m wrong, Will), could likely tell us stories his mother has shared with him over the years.

But back to the beauty.

Possibly the best storyteller I’ve ever heard told us the tale of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He was a National Parks ranger (the Thriller, a former ranger himself, told me they’re called “interpretive” rangers), and with very few props and only his voice over a small microphone, he held a hundred people spellbound with the story of the ill-fated battle on that sweltering June day back in 1876.

There were no winners.

What impressed me the most — besides the absolute unspoiled beauty of the place — was the silence. Hundreds of people were there with us, but out on the memorial trail, there was quiet respect. We were quite moved by it.

This photo shows an important part of the battlefield. On the left side of the river, in that thicket of trees, is where Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen holed up while the Cheyenne and Lakota made short work of George Custer’s regiment. Another warrior party later found them, flushed them out to the high ground, and did away with many of them as well. Too many on both sides died. It’s another one of those mythical battle tales whose grandiose story often overshadows the fact that brothers, dads and sons, on both sides, went out way too soon.

An amazing day. And we’re up at at ’em early this morning, headed for Yellowstone. Up and away!

What a fun day we had yesterday, in spite of being decidedly unimpressed by a couple of things.

We started the day with Mount Rushmore. It’s somewhere you simply must go before you die. If I took you through all the neat history surrounding this monument, I’d miss checkout at the lodge this morning. (Still trying to get used to Mountain Time, ugh.)

Some zoomy pictures from my Casio camera turned out OK, although I miss having Paint Shop Pro on this machine so I could adjust out some of the blue cast from the sky and stone. Why am I not using the fabulous camera that came with my Droid X, you ask? Because it DIED, that’s why. It waited until I needed it the most, and it took the ultimate poo. Mama is not happy. So that’s why I’ve not been posting many photos to Facebook. I have to take the SD card out of my Casio, get out the Thriller’s laptop (because the SD card reader on my netbook doesn’t work, either — nice, eh?), and plug in the adaptors in the car, yadda yadda. Too much hassle. So I just wait until we’re in the hotel room. Anyway……………………….the Mountain Dudes:

Such beauty, and surrounded by a hundred thousand Ponderosa pines…breathtaking. We loved it. Now, Deadwood, however…

Ick. Dirty, overused, tired-looking. The “gambling halls” were silent as tombs. No one was there. I didn’t even take any pictures. It was the first major disappointment of the voyage. But that’s OK — we can say we saw it, and the hour drive there and back to Keystone was gorgeous.

So we’re off to Devil’s Tower and Little Bighorn today. Staying the night in Montana — another “first” for both of us. Looking forward to it!

Hugz to you, my fiends. Hope all is well.

FO

Still getting used to Mountain Time, yikes. I tried to stay awake watching a Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy, which helped some, but here I am at 4:40 a.m., wide awake. It’s all good, though. We are amazed at the beauty here.

Yesterday was the first “official” day of our Odyssey, vacation-wise. Up until 4 p.m. yesterday, we were either en route to family or just holing up for the night. I must say, South Dakota hits it out of the park. It’s gorgeous.

On the way into western SD, I noticed a sign at a rest stop. I said to the Thriller, “Hey, look at this. The sign says, ‘Watch for poisonous snakes.'” His answer: “Well sweety, this is the Old West.” I guess I hadn’t put two and two together. I got to looking at the map, and saw the town of Belle Fourche (pronounced “bell foosh”), and immediately thought of my nostalgic night a couple of weeks ago, watching John Wayne in The Cowboys from around 1969, in which he and a bunch of young boys were driving cattle to Belle Fourche. Yep, it’s the Old West all right. Some of the stops along the way:

The Corn Palace, built at the turn of the 20th century in Mitchell, SD, was fun. The murals throughout the place (outside and in) are created with corn and other grains by local artists, and changed out each year. Quite impressive.

There’s really not much to it aside from concessions (“Corn-cessions,” as they call them), and a huge floor full of wares in their arena. But it was fun to read the history and peruse the shopping area.

Of course, we couldn’t go through South Dakota without stopping in Wall, at the world famous Wall Drug Store: completely kitschy and fun. We’re glad we took an hour to look around, although it would have taken much longer than that to see everything.

The complex reminded us of a huge flea market atmosphere, only with some really nice stuff. Still, the delightful tackiness prevails, as illustrated by the fact that no centimeter of space — on walls or anywhere else — goes to waste. Fun.

[OK, a spider just lowered itself on a string of web, right in front of my face. Now I don’t see it anywhere. I am officially heebie-jeebied. *shudder*]

Then it was on to Keystone. What an absolutely gorgeous place. And yes, you can see Washington and Jefferson’s faces from our deck, though I’m not sure how much justice photos can do. I used the zoom on my camera, but I’m not sure my little Casio does the trick very well. We’re about a mile and a half from the monument, so it looks tiny:

We took a drive into Keystone for dinner last night (which was six kinds of awesome), and walked the downtown area, which looks very much like an Old West mining town. Very cute. We bought some gifts and had dessert at the Fat Frog.

Today, we’re hitting Mt. Rushmore, of course, then probably spend some time in Deadwood this afternoon. Tonight’s open. Whatever we do, it’ll be at a leisurely pace, while we enjoy this amazing wilderness. Put in your souvenir orders!

So, Iowa was basically just a stopover because Lake Winnebago to South Dakota would have been a *bit* of a stretch on the old sit bones.

Night before last, I caught a candid of the Thriller and his brother John, enjoying the evening from the best seat in the house (in the back yard, facing the lake).

It’s funny, hearing them talk, how siblings just pick up where they left off. From planets and stars to politics to conspiracy theories, they fell into endless yammering almost immediately. It was fun to listen to and watch.

John doesn’t do email, and neither brother is any good at phone contact, so they basically see and talk once a year, when we all get together at Mom’s. But to hear them chatter on and on, you wouldn’t know it.

Boys are silly.

The picture of the day, however, is courtesy of Wautoma, Wisconsin, where we had to stop and wait for some very special pedestrians to cross the road:

So it’s off to Mount Rushmore today, and we are excited to reach the forest and the lodge, where we’ll hole up for two days. Eight hours of driving today and we’ll be ready for some R & R. Good thing is that I have no idea what day it is, heh. The sign of a relaxing vacation.

FO

Or Paradise, whichever you prefer.

The largest fresh water lake in Wisconsin is home to the Thriller’s parents. We are enjoying the beginning of the Odyssey in fine style. I swear, I need to get out of here, though. If I eat many more of my mother-in-law’s meals, I’m going to have to spend a significant chunk of our vacation money on a new wardrobe. What a cook, oh my. *blerk*

It’s been incredibly relaxing, given the rather interesting way the whole thing began, heh. Some photographs of my incredibly stressful environment follow. I’ve left them in their original  huge-ish state in order to maximize your viewing experience.

Tomorrow, we say goodbye and head out to Iowa. If there’s anything wonderful to report, I’ll check in with photos then.

Ta! Back to the sounds of the waves off the lake.