Our Summer 2012 Road Trip to Washington via Mount Rushmore

We left home at 8 am on Saturday, 14 July.  It was good to get on the road early since we had a long way to travel that day.  We found that the Border Patrol checkpoint outside Yuma was not open so we flew through and reached Yuma in 3 hours.  We then turned north and headed to Quartzsite.  Shortly after we had made the turn there was Border Patrol asking if we were American citizens.  We responded “Si”; the dogs barked and they let us pass.  The road to Quartzsite is not an exciting drive but we did see a UFO hovering over the Yuma Proving Grounds.  I think it was a weather or radar blimp but who knows.  We took pictures to see if National Enquirer was interested.  No black helicopters started following us, so I guess it was alright.

Prescott, Arizona

It had rained sometime Friday or Saturday morning as we saw quite a few areas where mud and debris had been washed up on the road.   After reaching Quartzsite we headed east on 60 for Prescott.  We ran into a heavy rain storm which lasted about 30 minutes.  After we cleared the storm, I drove through a swarm of some small bugs that made a terrible mess of the windshield.  They were juicy little things which smeared up the windshield requiring 3 or 4 applications of washer fluid before it was halfway clean.   I had forgotten how twisty the road was up to Prescott so it took a fair piece before we arrived there about 3pm.  We got out and wandered around to let the dogs have some relief on the courthouse grass.  They don’t like stopping where there is no grass to do their business. 

Prescott was having a Christian fair around the courthouse so there were lots of people wandering around also.  Saw some rusty old hotrods and one really nice Model “T” on one of the streets that had been blocked off.

After leaving Prescott, we headed for Sedona which is a favorite place of ours to see.  We got there just at sunset so the outcroppings were a mixture of bright colors and shadows.   We continued up the road to Flagstaff and then turned onto the 89 to head towards Four Corners.

Cameron Trading Post and Motel

We stopped at the Cameron Trading Post and Motel for the night.  We had driven just about 526 miles so it was time to call it quits for the day.  We also had dinner in their restaurant.  Laura had a Navaho taco which was open faced and the size of a plate.  She said she was glad that she got the “mini”.


Dinosaur Footprints

Sunday, we arose and were on the road by just a few minutes after 8am.  Another good start for us.   We were driving through some pretty rough country when we saw a sign to turn off to see the Dinosaur footprints.  We flipped a U-turn and drove down a gravel road about 200 yards to where a Navaho man waved us down and said to park here and he would guide us out to see the footprints.   It was a very interesting walk; our guide was quite knowledgeable and very entertaining.  We saw some dinosaur eggs and some fossils of skeletons, plus fossils of dinosaur poop.  The prints were amazing.  You could see where they had run, jumped or just walked across what had been a muddy area before a nearby volcano erupted and coated the area with a deep layer of ash.  He also picked up some fossilized coral and several other stones which he gave to Laura.  You all know how she is about rocks.  

Monument Valley

From there we drove to Monument Valley.  We did not opt to pay the entrance fee to go to the visitor center but we did stop and get lots of pictures.  We then continued to Four Corners.  For those who may not know, that is a place where the boundaries of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet.  It is down another gravel road to a large muddy dirt parking lot.  The actual location of the Four Corners is in a very attractive amphitheater.  Unfortunately they did not allow dogs to go into the area so the pooches and I sat on the end of the parking lot while Laura when in and had her picture taken on the spot.  Around the amphitheater they had booths selling various Indian crafts; most of which were not that exciting although Laura did find a very nice pottery piece with carvings of hummingbirds on it.  But it was $275.  For $75, it might have found a new home but instead it stayed there as one of the best things for sale.           

Train Depot at Durango

We then continued on to Durango, CO.  We stopped at the train station there but the Silverton – Durango train was not in the station.  We wandered the streets for a little while looking in the shops.  Laura found a gourd with an owl carving on it which she liked.  We also witnessed a “Hold my beer, while we try this moment”.  This one young man did a judo toss on his friend and splatted him on his back on the sidewalk.  It was pretty scary but he did not seem to be hurt.   Not something you see on the street every day.

After leaving Durango, we headed up the mountain and down the mountain and then up again with the purpose of reaching Silverton.  Very twisty roads, 25 to 40 mph speed limits and at times that seemed a bit fast.  Laura was getting a little white knuckled in places because the edge of the cliff was very close, the bottom was way down there and there were no rails along the road.  One wrong move and it would have been a long drop to the bottom. 

Driving into Silverton

Silverton was a small quaint town located in a small valley.  We found that the only paved road was the main street though town, all the side streets were gravel.  We did find the Train Station and took some photographs of the railroad equipment lying about.  Also while driving down the main street/main highway, we came to a group of people standing in the middle of the street.  It appeared that they were listening to an old fashioned brass band.  Silverton is small enough where you can stand on the main highway and not be worried, I guess.

On the way up the mountain we saw a flock of wild turkeys which was the start of our wild animal collection.  Between Silverton and Ridgeway, we saw a total of 6 deer along the road. We also saw several farms that had herds of llamas out in their pastures.  We also thought we saw several buffalos in the distance but later that evening we were informed that they were yaks.  We did finally reach Ridgeway where we are spending the night.  We ran into the True Grit Café for dinner.  I’m glad that we made it there before they closed because they do not open until about 11 for lunch.   Today we only put about 350 miles on the car.  What with the stops and the slow speeds on the mountain roads, that was enough for the day.

 Jail Wagon used in the True Grit Movie

Monday morning we visited the park where the hanging scene from True Grit was filmed.  We also took pictures of Chen Lee’s doorway and another building that was a backdrop for one of the scenes.  I stuck my head into the True Grit Café and asked if I could get a couple of interior shots and they graciously consented.  It was interesting, besides having a lot of pictures of John Wayne; they had a section set aside for Dennis Weaver aka Chester from the Gunsmoke TV series.  He was a resident here for the last ten years of his life.  His widow and a couple of sons still live in the area.

Aspen Trees Along the Highway

We then headed up the 550 towards Grand Junction.  After leaving Ridgeway the scenery became a little bleak.  Mesas and scrub for the most part.  Not the most exciting place to travel through.  But after Grand Junction, it did improve.  We stopped to stretch our legs and walk the dogs at a rest stop in the town of Parachute.  Odd name for a town; we did not see anything that explained why it was called that.  Since the day was going to be a short one in regards to the drive, we decided to take a scenic side trip up through Aspen and then over Independence Pass.  The ghost town of Independence was down in the valley about three quarters of the way up the pass.  We did not stop to walk down to them because it was starting to sprinkle and I was finding that the altitude made it a little hard for me to catch my breath.  The summit of the pass was 12,095 feet. At that time we had also crossed the continental divide. The road up the mountain was a repeat of yesterday.  Twisting narrow roads but today it started to rain which added a little more excitement to the drive.  When we went over the summit, there was lightning and thunder.  Laura had to hold Sadie in her lap because the rain noise and the thunder had her shaking like crazy.  Laura thought that the Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park was steep and narrow but it could not stand up to these.  We did make it down the mountain safely.  We were going to stop in Leadville and walk around but the rain cancelled that plan.

We did drive slowly through the town and looked at all the old buildings.  There were a lot of buildings that were pretty rundown but there more than enough of the Victorian Painted Ladies to make the town memorable.   We stopped in Frisco for the night after only having driven 300 miles today.  The plan for tomorrow is to head into the Rocky Mountain National Park.  

Rocky Mtn NP

We awoke Tuesday morning to bright skies with only a few fluffy white clouds in the sky.  It was a great improvement over yesterday.  We had another early start; we were on the road by 8:30am.  Frisco was a nice little town but it was certainly set up for the upscale skiers.

The road north lead through the Eisenhower Tunnel which must have been a terrific engineering feat when it was built.  We entered the Rocky Mountain National Park at Granby.  This was the first time in a while that we used our senior pass to access a park for free.  It’s great to be a “Senior”. 

We stopped at the Grand Lake Lodge to take a look at the area around the resort and to walk through the lobby and of course the gift shop.  The Lodge is built up on a hill overlooking the Grand Lake.  You had a nice view of the area and a point in its favor was that it was pet friendly.  

After leaving the Lodge, we stopped at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center where Laura got the tips on things to see in the park.  Just a few minutes after leaving the Visitor Center, we saw cars pulled off the road, so we stopped and there was a moose cow and her calf in the meadow.  Laura was pretty tickled because she had not been that close to a moose before.  The ones she saw in Alaska were half a mile away; these were about 100 yards away.               

An Elk in the Rocky Mtn. NP

We continued on the road which circles the park.  After about an hour drive; we saw a single elk standing next to the road.  We kept climbing until we reached the Alpine Visitor Center.  We stopped there for a quick bite to eat.  $6 hot dogs are a real treat in the National Park.  I think the vendors also work at the baseball and football stadiums.   While we were eating it started to sprinkle, then more dark clouds came in and it was raining fairly steadily.  It was cold enough that there was ice in the rain but not cold enough to make hail.  We left the parking lot and headed down the mountain on the way out of the park.  The highest point on the road had been 12,183 feet and we had crossed over the Continental Divide again.  About 5 minutes from the Alpine Visitor Center, cars were pulling off to the side of the road or just stopping in the middle of the road because there was a herd of 20 mule deer grazing on the hillside.  About a mile later, we spotted a herd of 5 or more elk grazing.  So this added to our list of animal sightings.  The only thing else that Laura was hoping to see was a bear.  The rangers said there were about 25-30 bears in the park but the best place to see them was in the park garbage cans after dark. The rain finally stopped which made it a much easier drive.

Estes Park, Colorado

We exited the park and stopped in Estes Park which was a small town whose purpose is to relieve the tourists of as much of their cash as possible.  There were lots of souvenir stores, candy shops and restaurants to accomplish their mission.

We then headed for our nights destination of Fort Collins.  The highway from the park to Fort Collins passed through farmlands which were scenic compared to the southern portion of the state.  After getting settled into the motel, we drove back into the main part of town.  We parked and while standing on the corner trying to decide which way to go, we asked some of the people waiting for the light where was a good place for a pizza.  They pointed across the street and said that Beau Jo’s was pretty good.  We decided to follow them into the place and ordered an “L’il Italy”.  We both agreed that it was one of the best pizzas that we had ever had.  Today we drove for 9 hours and covered less than 200 miles.  Much of the park had a 35 to 45 mph speed limit; because of the rain, drivers were traveling 10 mph slower than the posted limit.  I did not have a problem with that.  

Wednesday morning, we left Fort Collins heading north for Cheyenne, Wyoming.  At least that was the plan but this trip is about covering new territory and seeing new things.  So we made a right turn above Cheyenne and headed east for Nebraska on Hwy26.  That was a state that we had never visited.  Before we hit the border, we saw some more buffalos and to our surprise – a few camel in a field.  Not something that you would expect to see in Colorado. 

Nebraska was a continuation of the high plains which was cultivated in hay and corn fields.  About 40 miles into Nebraska, we turned north again and then turned west on Hwy 20 to head for the area of Lusk and Keeline, Wyoming.  Lusk was the county seat and had about 1900 people in it.  Keeline had about 5 buildings, two of which may have been occupied.  The sign for the town did not list the population.

We continued north heading for Mount Rushmore. On the way there we were passing through the Black Hills National Forest. We also stopped at the Crazy Horse Memorial which is a work in progress. It was quite a sight. It will be much bigger than Mount Rushmore. The completed monument will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long. They said that the faces of Mount Rushmore would fit on the face of Crazy Horse. It will be taller than the Washington Memorial. Laura asked when they would be finished, the guide laughed and said that they are planning of working a couple of more years to rough out the horse head and then to start the arm and hand which they estimate will take 10 years to complete. Talk about job security. The Memorial was pet friendly so we were able to carry the dogs in the museum and theatre. Once we got on the viewing deck, they could walk on their own. 



Scale model of what it will
 look like when completed

Crazy Horse Memorial

 After we left Crazy Horse, we went to Mount Rushmore.  It is a National Memorial and does not charge admission only $11 to park your car.  The dogs were not allowed outside of the car so we took turns walking up to the viewing plaza.  It was very nice with flags of all the states flying and the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln on the rock above.  Each of the faces is 60 feet tall.

Afterwards we headed for our nights lodging in Sturgis, SD.  We completed 465 miles today.

The plan is to stay overnight here in Sturgis for three nights using the motel as a home base for trips into the Badlands and a trip back into the Black Hills area to see Deadwood and the Devil’s Tower.



Wall Drug Store

So this morning after a leisurely breakfast, we headed back south on the 90 to Wall, SD.  Everybody who has driven through this part of the country has seen the signs advertising the Walls Drug Store and its free ice water.  We stopped at the drug store, the temperature was 94 degrees outside, since the dogs could not go into the store, we took turns sitting on the bench in the shade out front while the other looked through the store.  Since it was so hot, we did not stay long.  We got the dogs back into the car with the air conditioning and their water bowl. They were happier.  Laura brought out a glass of free ice water which we shared as we headed towards the Badlands.

 The entrance too the Badlands National Park was not too far from Wall.  The “Senior” pass got us in again for free. 

The Badlands NP

Just after entering the park we took a gravel side road that led along the rim of the Badlands down to an area of Prairie Dog town.  They had signs posted warning us that the Prairie Dogs had plague so we did not get out there but took pictures from the car.  Actually most of the trip through the Badlands the pictures were taken from the air conditioned comfort of the car because the temperature had risen to 109 degrees.  The few times Laura got out to take a picture it was a real Japanese Photo moment.  Stop car, jump out, take a picture, jump back into car and drive to the next place.  The Badlands were quite a contrast particularly along the rim road.  Rolling grassy plains on one side of the road and then it drops off into a maze of gullies, canyons and very desolate landscape.  The cliffs are banded with red, yellow and white layers of soil.



Bison in the Badlands

The only wildlife we saw was the prairie dogs, two bison and then three antelopes; all this on the rim road during the first little bit of the journey.  The other thing that we noticed was about 30 Corvettes driving the opposite way from us in bunches of two or three.  They must have been having a Corvette Club Fun Run or something like that to see that many of the same automobiles.             

After leaving the park, we headed back towards Rapid City and Sturgis.  This took us through the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.  Not too much to say about that; it was just acre after acre of grassland.  Some was fenced to pasture but most was open.

We got back to the motel a little before 4pm after taking a drive through beautiful down town Sturgis.  You can definitely tell that this town caters to the Harley riders and the big rally held here each year.   Laura is now in the pool to relax and cool off.  My plan is to take a short nap to relax from the drive.  Today we added 241 miles to the trip.

Goat we saw on way to Deadwood

Plans change.  Laura decided to cancel our reservation for the third night and to make one at another motel in a different town so we would not be circling back tomorrow.   So we decided to go to Deadwood for dinner and to look around.  As I had been warned the town of Deadwood has been taken over by the casinos.  But we had a nice walk down the main street and found the Chinatown Café for a decent dinner.  Laura had a shrimp and walnut dish and I had my routine special house fried rice.  This was all chased down with ice water.  We continued to collect animals; on the way to Deadwood we saw the “eating grass alongside the highway” goat.  Okay, it was really a mountain goat but he was not living up to his name.  On the way back after dinner, we saw several more deer out for the dusk feeding in the woods along the highway.

Black Hills

Friday morning, we hit the road early.  We headed back through Deadwood but did not stop except to take a picture of the sign at the start of town and some fake buildings that were done up like the 1880’s.  We headed down to Cheyenne Crossing and then back up the Spearfish Canyon which was a pretty drive through part of the Black Hills. 

We took a little side trip to view a place where the Indians ran buffalo off a cliff.  When we got there, they wanted $5 a person to look at basically a large hole in the ground.  I took a picture of the sign and we drove off.  Once we got back on the freeway, we could see the place clearly, so we stopped and took our picture there.

Devil's Tower Nat. Monument

We then headed west on the 90 for the Devil’s Tower National Monument.  Those of you old enough will remember the Devil’s Tower as where the aliens came in the movie “Close Encounters of a Third Kind”.  Laura asked one of the rangers about the film and was told that they spent 10 minutes filming there.  Everything else was done elsewhere.  The temperature was back up to 100 degrees.  Dogs were  allowed in the park, but it was too hot for them,  so I stayed in the car with the dogs in air-conditioned comfort while Laura ran around taking pictures.

 

After leaving the Tower, we headed towards the motel for the night but since it was still early in the day, we cancelled the motel and kept heading west. We got to Little Big Horn Battlefield at 5:30pm. Again dogs were not allowed out of the car so we took the driving tour through the battlefield. There were white headstones which were located where various members of the 7^th Calvary fell. One new thing is that they are placing red headstones where various Indian warriors fell. They had very informative signs along the route which explained the various stages of the battle. It was very interesting visit.    It was a hard place to describe in a manner that anyone reading this will understand. It must have been a hell of a day for both sides. The park has done a good job of laying out descriptive signs to explain not only what happened but some of the reasons for it. I could read the sign; look at the painting that they had showing the action and could then almost see the ghosts of the warring parties continuing their battle over the hills, gullies and plains of the Little Big Horn.



Picture on display at the Visitors Center at
Little Bighorn

From Little Big Horn, we continued west. It was early evening when we finally stopped for the night in Hardin, Wyoming, which is a wide spot in the road. 400 miles added to our trip total. It had been a long day on the road.

The next two days can be summed up as pretty boring.  Nothing exciting for us to see; it was either flat grasslands or hills with trees.  We did not have any planned stops and did not see any detours to take.  Maybe we are getting jaded after this long on the road.

Monday, we reached Washington State.  Now I know what Lewis and Clark felt like when they reached the mouth of the Columbia River.  Of course, they had to turn around and go all the way back to St. Louis, we only have to make the run down the coast in a couple of weeks. 

We spent the night in a Motel 6, they did leave the light on for us.  This was the first Motel 6 that offered more than a bed and a toilet.  They actually had a little refrigerator and a microwave.  The refrigerator was nice because Laura was sure that there were no stores selling bread, butter and a few other perishables that we had be keeping cold with ice since we left Chula Vista. 

Baxter after a squirrel

This is the end of the line for the sightseeing part of the trip.  We did stop at Lake Chelan which was a place that Laura remembers having memorable vacations with her family while she was young.  It was a beautiful lake, the day was pleasant but we did miss seeing the Lady of the Lake.  She must have been carrying passengers up to the other end of the lake.  Baxter enjoyed his walk along the lake, in particular when he treed a squirrel.  That made his day.

Laura asked if I knew how to get to Leavenworth.  I told her normally you rob a bank.  She told me she meant Leavenworth, WA not the federal prison in Kansas.  We did visit the town of Leavenworth.  It is a small town up in the mountains which are done in the style of the Bavarian architecture.  We wandered the town streets window shopping, nibbling on a hot pretzel and watching all the other tourists.  Across the street in the park with the Maypole there was a musical group playing accordion and guitar which was very entertaining.  

Columbia River ahead

 
We continued west drifting a little towards the south until we finally had the Columbia River in sight.  That was a good feeling because we knew that the journey would soon be ending.  Laura took me through some country that I had never seen previously from Goldendale to Lyle.  Backroads can be exciting.  A plus for her was the views of Mount Adams which she normally could not view from our normal route.                        

Mt. Adams

Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams are the three major mountain peaks in the area.

We arrived at the cabin late in the afternoon.  Laura celebrated her 65^th birthday on the deck with her mother and I.  We are now on full vacation mode.  Although it is not as primitive as it has been in the past years.  We have running hot and cold water, semi-indoor toilet and a shower.  Laura’s new cell phone does work at the river which is good if there is an emergency.  But we are still driving into town to either the town square or the local Starbucks to access our e-mail.  We have been doing a lot of reading, watching the birds on the river and just relaxing.  We entertain ourselves in the evening with DVD’s on the computer. The plan is to be here 3 weeks, then a week on the Washington coast, then home.  Life is good.

We hope you have enjoyed  the reports.  This is the final edition as what will happen in the next few weeks is nothing that would stimulate any interest in others. 

So until the next trip, we are signing off.  Have a great summer.  George & Laura

Sadie and Baxter happy on the deck of our cabin