Gibbon Falls, Yellowstone National Park

"Gibbon Falls, 84 feet high, Gibbon Canyon, Yellowstone Park, is one of the principal attractions between Norris Geyser Basin and Madison Junction on the Grand Loop Road of the Park.  It was named for General John Gibbon, who explored the canyon in the early days.

Devils Tower WY 09 09 2020

 Devils Tower in Wyoming 

is just unreal.  It just doesn't look like it belongs in nature.  How did that massive rock/mountain get there?

Well, I have read explanations and all, and I still don't totally get it.

It is considered a spiritual site by many Native Americans.  It is considered an alien hotspot by many people too.

It is America's First National Monument and that makes it interesting on a lot of levels.

We stopped by in 2012 and 2020.  Both times we hiked around the Tower and just had a really pleasant time.

Right now, they are doing some upgrades in and near the 

 

parking area, and to the visitor center.  The visitor center hasn't been upgraded since 1935!

There is a lively prairie dog town as you drive in.  We stopped to enjoy the playfulness of the little guys.

There is a great post office right before you pay your entry fee (get your postcards hand canceled with a Devils Tower post office postmark!).  There is also the VERY cool Devils Tower Trading Post gift shop before you go in to the park.

Check out the video I posted to youtube about our most recent trip to Devils Tower!

Our Mostly South Dakota Road Trip 2020

Yeah.....  so, we went to South Dakota again...  for the 2nd time in 2 years.  This was our 3rd trip there in less than 10 years.  All I can say is timing.  AND covid.

We actually had an Alaskan Cruise/Canadian adventure planned.  It was all set to go.  Well, as you can imagine.........  covid came around and changed a LOT of plans.  

We ended up coming up with a VERY roughly planned New York, Connecticut trip.  Well, some of the stuff we had hoped to do on that trip was looking iffy in many ways.

So we thought about doing something relaxing.  We wanted to do something that didn't involve a ton of social interaction (BUT we still did want to get "out" and do some exploring).

We thought about some trips we have enjoyed in the past.  I am always up for Gettysburg.  Still, that is a social, and often crowded area.

We thought about spending a week in our home state, or Tennessee, but...  well, thats just not really "getting away".

AND, we both really enjoyed our time in South Dakota last year.  We knew we were wanting to get back soon anyway, so....  we did a repeat trip to South Dakota!

Most of the parks are not crowded, there is a lot of room, and you can do a lot of exploring from the comfort of your own car!

Plus, we called our favorite South Dakota Hotel, the Alex

Johnson, and rooms were available and reasonable!  We would be staying several nights in the great town of Rapid City AGAIN!

This was a bit of a last minute trip......  AND we ended up tweaking it a bit right before leaving.

You know that I love Nebraska, and we have always stopped in two of my favorite towns (Fremont and Omaha) on previous trips.  Well, we realized that we could make some impressive stops in Iowa and Minnesota if we cancelled Nebraska.  I hated to do that, but the thought of what we would be getting with the trade off was too exciting.  

We ended up going to the Surf Ballroom and the "Day the Music Died" crash site.  You probably know what I am talking about.  More on that later.

AND, we could hit part of Minnesota, making our first trip through that great state!  In fact, we would mark TWO states off of our list with this trip (Minnesota and North Dakota).  We would ALMOST get to a THIRD new state (Montana) but we had to pass on that one.

One of our rules of visiting a state is you can't go there JUST to go there.  Well, we ALMOST routed a very brief part of the road trip THROUGH Montana (when driving back to Rapid City South Dakota from Medora North Dakota) but it was going to add more time than we could spare to our trip.  AND, we would be doing it for the sake of

doing it.  We chose to save Montana for another day.

We visited a few places we saw in 2012 and wanted to visit again in 2019 but couldn't (Devils Tower and Deadwood).  We visited several sites for a third time (Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Hotel Alex Johnson and a few restaurants).  AND, we got to see several things for the first time- MAINLY Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota!

As you may have noticed, I have been enjoying filming as we travel lately.  I plan to still blog, but it might be more video focused starting with this trip.  It has brought me a lot of joy watching my videos again and talking about them.

 

"An Obvious Fact: A Longmire Mystery" by Craig Johnson

let me just admit upfront that I picked this book up at a Half Price Books because it was cheap, and because I liked the Devil's Tower cover.  Yes, economics sometimes dictate my book buying choices.

HOWEVER.....  this is just a darn good book!  Like, really, really good.  AND, I am mostly not a fan of modern fiction.

I know that Longmire is a popular TV show, but I have never seen it.  I plan to now though, after I got some other shows I want to watch out of the way.  We tend to watch a complete series at my house, then we start another one.  Not at one sitting of course, but over a long period of time.

Anyway, Craig Johnson's "An Obvious Fact" was just a fun read.  It is about 300 pages, but it has a nice flow, and you can knock it out in no time.

The story is interesting, the characters are vivid and believable.....  It is very easy to visualize whats going on as you read Johnson.

Sheriff Longmire, a couple of friends and a dog are investigating the serious injuring of a young man on a motorcycle near Devil's Tower.  Lots of other interesting characters show up, as the Motor Cycle Rally is going on.  An ex-girlfriend, a biker gang, and a drunk viking all complicate things.  A possible family connection to the biker makes the situation even more interesting.

"Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park" by Lee H. Whittlesey

I almost hate to admit that I enjoy reading the "Death in" books.  Maybe "enjoy" isn't the word I am looking for, but I do find them so fascinating.

Well, Lee H. Whittlesey has given us, "Death in Yellowstone" noting all of the deaths that have occurred in that National Park.  Lee's book is mindbogglingly thorough.

There are a LOT of ways that death has happened in this park.  In fact, there are some ways that are almost exclusive to Yellowstone.  I absolutely don't want to get too detailed here, but there are some natural boiling hot water pools at Yellowstone.  There are bears.

AND, the area has a lot of history too.  OLD history- so there are deaths that have happened involving Indian wars and stage coaches.

Lee's writing style is perfect for this volume too.  The details of each case are given a good amount of attention.  Its obvious that he took his time combing through archives and old papers.  Interestingly, he even has some personal connections to some of the tragedies.

I took some time and read through this one slowly, as each story is fascinating.  This would make for some interesting reading before or during a trip to the park!

South Dakota 2012 and 2019 1 of 2

I posted this video to youtube recently.  This is from our trip in 2012 and 2019 to South Dakota.

Old Faithful Geyser at Sunrise

"Old Faithful Geyser at Sunrise, Yellowstone Park, erupts about every 66 minutes to a height, when the atmosphere is still, of one hundred and fifty feet. On frosty mornings the steam rises several hundred feet above the water column producing a magnificent spectacle."

This great card was sent from the park in 1966.

Old Faithfull postcard

Devils Tower, WY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We covered a lot of ground on our trip out west.  We saw several well known parks and monuments.

 

The north western most point we reached was Devils Tower Wyoming. 

 

There was some tough competition but we agreed that this, in many ways, was the main event.

Like some of the previously mentioned monuments, there is something so special about Devils Tower when you first see it.  It is so overwhelming.

We went in to the park, paid the small fee, and went to the welcome center.  Inside, we chatted with a great ranger and some other travellers.  I talked to a truck driver from Indiana.  We traded friendly insults about each others state, and then we admitted that we both found ourselves in the other's state- and that we honestly enjoyed visiting.  Two guys came in to the center to ask about climbing permits.

There is the great image of the bear climbing the formation to get to the seven Indian girls.  It is a great painting, and a great origin story of Devils Tower.

We did take the hike around it, which was great.  I actually suggested a second lap around, but I was outvoted.

We did hear a rattle sound at one point, we thought in the distance!  This could have been anything, but it made us look around very carefully.

We noticed people speaking French while we were there, and we chatted with other hikers from Louisville, and from Lowell Mass!  One guy (pictured) was doing a great sketch of Devils Tower.

We spent a good amount of time at Devils Tower.  We picked up a few postcards and filled the out, in site of Devils Tower and left the park area.

On our way out, we noticed a nice big field full of prairie dogs!  We really developed a love for these little guys on this trip, again taking a moment to stop and take some pictures.

Just outside of the park, we stopped at the Devil's Tower Trading Post.

This place was great, and it has one of the all time coolest souvenirs.  I couldn't resist picking up a plush green alien doll.

We went over to the post office next door to mail our postcards.

The postmaster here was great, kindly placing nice cancels on my cards and chatting about the area.  She took a moment to write down the name and contact information of a cachet maker who does a nice Devils Tower cover.

If you collect stamps or postmarks, it is worth stopping here to check out some of the covers they have framed on their walls.  This is a VERY friendly post office, so make sure you stop by and say hello when you drop your postcards off for the "Devils Tower, WY" postmark.

A family was camping out near the post office.  They had a Chihuahua in his own little tent!  I know, this has nothing to do with Devils Tower, but I love Chihuahuas and this photos is adorable!