March 10 Saturday night

Sorry it has been three days since our last post.  Since leaving Colorado we have barely had phone service let alone Internet. 

Thursday, March 8, day 5 or our trip.

After breakfast and before leaving Grand Junction, it was time to wash the road dirt off big red.  We stumbled upon the best $10 car wash.  It made the truck look brand new.

The car wash had vacuums to use free of charge, the wife I still have to pay for.  LOL

A short time later we crossed into Utah.  After exiting I70, the road we drove into Moab followed the Colorado river.  It was kind of like driving in the Grand Canyon.

Arches National Park was our destination in the Moab area today.  We visited the Moab area 8 years ago.  It was late August and the temperature was 95 degrees.  It was on this visit that I decided that we would return to Arches and hike the 3 mile round trip to the Delicate Arch.  The first time the weather was too hot and we did not want to run out of time to see as much as possible.

We were driving up a hill just inside the entrance when we saw two poeple on top of a rock that looked like it was ready to fall.  They waved to us as we took their picture.

The Delicate Arch trail parking lot was our first stop. It is a 3 mile round trip hike to the arch with a 500 foot overall vertical climb. From observation and personnel experience, that 500 foot seemed like 5000 feet. The first 1/3 of the trail is relatively flat with a couple of ups and downs. The second 1/3 is the intimidating part. This is a 20 degree incline on a rock slide.

We stopped a number of times to catch our breath and rest.  When you start the hike, you are at 5000 feet elevation, so that adds to the diffcult part.  It would also help if you are in any reasonable physical condition.  Other hikers past us on their way down and gave us words of encouragement.  There was one women who passed us on her way up and down running before we got to the top.  The last 1/3 of the trail is a gradual incline along a rock wall.  Once we made it to the top, the view and sense of accomplishment made it worth the effort.  Big props to Cheryl.  Thankfully, the vertigo she has been battling the last few weeks nor her asthma flared up.  She also ignored her fear of heights. 

We made it back to the parking lot with aching legs and knees.  We explored the rest of the park including Balanced Rock, Double Arch, and the Windows arches.

We waited in the truck to watch the full moon rise over the Window arches.  That ended day 5.

Day 4, March 7 was planned as a travel day to get as close as possible to Moab, Utah.  We successfully drove 650 miles through various types of terrain and scenery.  South of Rapid City we passed through the town of Hot Springs.  You could see steam rising off the river that ran through town.  It reminded me of Yellowstone National Park.

After that we drove for the next 2 and 1/2 hours of rolling cattle ranches and farm land in SW South Dakota and NW Nebraska.  (We can both add Nebraska to the list of states we have visited or traveled through).  For miles and miles we drove and we saw very few houses or vehicles.

We picked up Interstate 25 at Cheyenne Wyoming and drove south towards Denver.  Just north of

Denver we stopped for lunch and gas.  Speaking of gas, we have paid $3.39/gal, today in South Dakota & Colorado, to $3.89/gal in Ohio.  The truck has been averaging about 15 miles to the gallon.

As we turned on Interstate 70 northwest of Denver the weather was looking foggy, with low clouds.  Kind of like the weather the day before at Devil's Tower.

We were thinking that we would not be able to see much of the rocky mountains as we drove west.  But luckily, about 40 miles later the fog lifted and the sun was shining.  We exited I70 onto US route 6 to drive up the Loveland Pass.  At 11,990 feet this is the highest passable road in the rocky mountains.

Driving back to I70 we passed the ski resorts of Arapaho Basin, and Keystone.  We continued west back on I70 and we passed Vail and Eagle, Colorado.  After Eagle, the valley widened and the road became relatively straight.  The next scenic section was the Glenwood Canyon area.  This is considered one of the 4 major accomplishments of this section of I70 west of Denver.  Originally, when the interstate system was planned, I70 ended at Denver.  Eventually, it was decided to complete I70 through the mountains and it is considered among the engineering marvels of the interstate system.  The east and west bound lanes weave through the narrow canyon along the north side of the Colorado river.  On the south side of the river can be seen railroad tracks.  The westbound lanes we drove on are suspended on a viaduct several feet above the canyon floor.  The eastbound lanes extend cantilevered over the Colorado river.

After Glenwood Canyon Springs, the valley widened and the road became straight again.  I had always wanted to drive this stretch of I70 to see the road and scenery.  Now I can scratch it off my travel bucket list.  Compared to other mountainous areas I have visited, the rocky mountains are the most majestic and impressive that I have ever seen.  As we arrived in Grand Junction we looked back towards the east to see the full moon over the mesas. 

Tomorrow we return to Arches National Park.  This visit we plan on hiking to the Delicate Arch.

Good night from Grand Junction which has two full moons tonight.

Tuesday, March 6 the third day of our trip was spent driving about 340 miles around Rapid City, SD.  Our first destination was to return to Mt. Rushmore.  On the way we stopped at the ranger station for the Black Hills to get our passport book stamped.  As I was looking at the map, I remembered that there was a scenic route to drive the get to Mt. Rushmore.  We swing east and picked up route 16A, also known as the Peter Norbeck Scenic Highway.

The byway is named for former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck who planned and surveyed most of the roads in the Black Hills.  The first sighting of Mt. Rushmore is in the distance.

A great feature about this road is that there are three one lane tunnels carved through the mountain.  As you drive through the tunnels, Mt. Rushmore is framed within the confines of the tunnel.

After the tunnels, the last section of the road has a series of 360 degree turns where you drive over a bridge and then under that same bridge as the road descends down the black hills.  It is hard to believe someone looked at this terrain and decided to build a road there.  It was easy to understand a sign when we first turned onto route 16A that told you that the road is not maintained in the winter.  Thankfully, it appears that this area of South Dakota has had a mild winter like we have back in Ohio. 

As you can see once again we are fighting the March tourist crowds.

We stopped along the road for one last picture before the parking lot.

A couple of disadvantages of it being the off season was that the Presidents trail and the sculptures studio were both closed.  As a result we were limited to the main area of the memorial.

As we exited Mt. Rushmore, we stopped at what is called the profile view.

Next we drove about a half an hour to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

This mountain sculpture was started in 1948 by a 40 year old artist named Korczak Ziolkowski.  He was chosen by the Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear who said "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes also."  Korczak had only $174 left to his name when he started the project.  He was a strong believer in the free enterprise system and that Crazy Horse should only be built by the interested public and not the taxpayer.  Twice he turned down offers of federal funding.    

Korczak also knew that the project was larger than any one lifetime and left detailed plans to be used with his scale models to continue the project.  Since his death in 1982, his wife, Ruth and seven of their ten children have continued the sculpture with the assistance of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.

Leaving the Crazy Horse Memorial we drove north through the town of Deadwood and then through Spearfish canyon.  We didn't stop to take any pictures because we were trying to get to Devil's Tower before sunset.  We made it before sunset, but unfortunately our two days of good weather was ending.  There were some low level clouds and fog ahead of a cold front.  We still managed to take a few pictures.

There are 5 or 6 indian legends that explain how Devil's Tower came to be.  The easiest one to remember is that a little squaw was being chased by a bear.  She climbed onto a rock and began to pray to the gods to save her.  Her prayer was answered when the rock started to grow so big that the bear could not reach her.  The lines on the sides of the tower are from the bear clawing and trying to climb the sides of the rock.  On the way back to Rapid City we drove through Sturgis home to an annual motorcycle rally in the summer. This ended day three.  Tomorrow is planned to be mostly a travel day as we drive south through Nebraska and Colorado on our way to Moab, Utah.  Thanks for checking in with us on the blog and we enjoy reading the comments left here and on facebook.  Goodnight.

Day 2 in Sioux Falls, SD started with a stop at the reason the city got its name.  The falls on the Big Sioux river.

One thing about traveling in South Dakota in early March is you don't have to fight the crowds.

Leaving Sioux Falls we headed west on I90.  Our first stop was Gillette, SD to see the corn palace.  The corn palace is an arena which is decorated inside and outside with murals composed of corn cobs and husks.  Each year the design is changed at a cost of $130,000.  The corn palace has been in Gillette since 1892.

Back on the highway, our next stop was a rest stop named the Lewis and Clark information rest area.  The rest stop is on a hill that overlooks a wide section of the Missouri river.

After crossing the Missouri river, we were back on the interstate driving at warp factor 8.  I like these states where the legal speed limit is 75.  Our speed was between 80 and 85.  With very little traffic on the road it was also nice to be able to use the cruise control.  I think this is the first time cruise control has been engaged on the Titan.

A couple of hours later we arrived at out first National Park stop, the Badlands.  Last summer for Cheryl's retirement my family gave us a national parks annual pass and this was our first opportunity to make use of it.

Along with the annual pass Cheryl got a log book to record the national parks we visit.  At the visitors center she got our first stamp and cancellation.

Leaving the visitor center and driving along the loop road through the park we stop to visit some of the park's residents.

There were two locations that we passed where we could see and hear the praire dogs.  It was fun watching them scurry between their holes.  Every so often one would stand up and you would hear it squeek like a rubber dog toy.

The next stop was right outside of the Badlands in Wall, SD.  The first time I heard of Wall Drug was in a case study in a business class at Miami University.  All you see along the interstate from Iowa are billboards advertising Wall Drug.  Since it was off season, only half of the large store was open and the main street stores and restaurants were closed.

Our final objective of the day was to get to Mount Rushmore to see it lit up after sunset.  We were successful and it was a great finish to a busy sightseeing day.  We are looking forward to all the other sights the Rapid City area has to offer tomorrow.