Dad and I made it back to Kansas on Friday evening about 4:00 p.m. Central. We traveled a total of 4,045 miles; we traveled through nine states - Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Kansas. We were gone 12 days and stayed in a total of 10 different hotels (we stayed in one hotel two nights).
(In case you are wondering, this turned out to be a not so good time for me to visit Uncle Melvin. So rather than go on to LA, we circled back through Colorado and came back to home.)
I did a pretty fair job of keeping Facebook updated, but not so good on the blog. (It's so much easier to load photos onto Facebook versus the blog.) So I'm going to try and get the blog updated over the next couple of days.
Day 5 - Sheridan WY to Billings MT
This morning, Dad decided he wanted to go back to the King Western Store in Sheridan and buy some of those bits he looked over the day prior; he ended up buying two.
Then we took off for Billings MT. We stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (aka Custer's Last Stand). This place is so cool. They have a road along the top of the ridge (about 5 miles), that shows where Custer's men separated into three groups to attack Sitting Bull's village. They had information throughout the 5 miles that showed were the various battles and skirmishes occurred. They had headstones for both Calvary (white colored) and Native American (clay colored) in the locations were bodies were found and if they knew the name it was on the headstone, also.
Dad kept telling me as I'm traipsing around taking photos to watch out because we are in rattlesnake country. Funny thing was, he was the one who almost stepped on one. Luckily we were walking together and I heard the snake rattling and I grabbed down and pulled him backwards. I'm not sure who was more freaked - Dad or the snake. LOL!
We saw ALOT of prong horn deer on the way through Montana. It amazed me that they just STOOD where they were. They weren't running like our deer do. I'm sure I mentioned that when we saw them on our trip to Farmington, NM in the summer of 2008 - but I still find it amazing. When we got to Billings, I made Dad take me down to the Yellowstone River for some photos. I have to say Dad was a pretty good trooper about trying to get me where I wanted to go for photos. I can't tell you how many times I'd say "Dad stop!" And he would stop and THEN ask, "What for?" Sometimes he'd laugh out loud and sometimes he'd just shake his head and "what" I was photographing (like some interesting road signs). Who would have thought that the same man who made us (okay, Julie) ride across three states before stopping to let her go to the bathroom would be the same man who would stop to let me take a photo of a road sign? LOL! Don't tell me you can't teach an old dog a new trick!
After photographing Yellowstone River, we checked into our hotel and then we headed to a local restaurant to meet up with Aaron King. Aaron and Bret were in the same grade and Aaron has been a long-time family friend. It was great to catch up with him and find out what he has been up to.
(Dad checking out the wall of bits at the King Western Store.)
(The rattle snake that Dad nearly stepped on.)
(The southern ridge were some of Custer's men took to enter the Native American village.)
(Dad looking the cemetery where Custer and most of his men were killed.)
(This is the Native American memorial for those who lost their lives in the battle. It is called "Peace Through Unity.)
(These are the prong horn deer I was talking about. They did look up when we stopped, but they didn't take off.)
(This is one of the "many" photos I took of the Yellowstone River in Billings, MT.)
Day 6 - Billings to Lewistown, Black Eagle, and Great Falls (all MT)
Before leaving Billings we went across the river to "Four Dances Nature Area." It was on the bluffs overlooking the river. Dad didn't feel like hiking, but I wanted to see that view so off I took.
The first couple of photos are just cool images (fence and tree).
The next two images are taken of the river from atop the bluffs. It was a stunning view, to say the least.
After leaving Billings, we drove to Lewistown. This is where we lived when I went to kindergarten (Fall 1968 to Spring 1969). We drove around for several hours trying to find where we lived. We even called Mom to see if she remember. No luck, Dad said it had changed so much he didn't recognize anything. He thought he would be able to find a landmark and then drive right to it. No luck... to say he was frustrated was a little bit of an understatement. So we took off and headed for Black Eagle, the town where Julie was born. We got into town just about dark, so we got a hotel room and planned to explore more the next morning.
(This photo was taken on our drive from Billings to Lewistown.)
Day 7 - Around Black Eagle and Great Falls and a brief foray into Yellowstone National Park
Black Eagle is the town we lived in when Julie was born. Dad didn't have any luck finding our house there either. He thinks it was torn down to build part of the industrial section. I told Julie not to romanticize her birthplace, it is kind of a crappy little town. LOL... It is across the Missouri River from Great Falls which is a much nicer town. Julie can lay a little claim to it, because she was born in the hospital there. We also visited the spring on the river and the falls for which Great Falls takes its name.
(This spring dumps 15 million gallons of nearly pure water into the Missouri River EVERY day! Not only is that amazing, it's a very pretty little spot on the river, too.)
(These are the falls for which the town of Great Falls takes its name.)
(This is the old section of the hospital. Dad said this was the only section there when Julie was born.)
After driving around and checking out the old stomping grounds, we headed off for Gardiner, MT. This is the closest town to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. We headed into the park for about an hour. Okay, I could live here... seriously. In one hour we saw a herd of elk in Mammoth Hot Springs (one of the residential areas for the park workers), a water fall, hot springs, and some of the most incredible views I have ever seen.
(A view of Yellowstone after just entering the park.)
(A herd of elk wandering around Mammoth Hot Springs.)
(Undine Falls)
(Some deer grazing along the road.)
(A bull elk walking through a sage covered area in Mammoth Hot Springs, calling to his girls. He was absolutely magnificent.)
It was starting to get dark after just an hour of driving around (only about 10 miles into the park); so we headed back to Gardiner and checked into a hotel.
