Saturday, April 5, 2012
SURPRISE !
We got to Las Vegas around 12:30 PM and Craig let me talk him into coming on home ... since we were only 5 hours away.  We originally planned on spending the night in Las Vegas, but I really don't like that place.
So, we are home.  Thanks for Mike's house-sitting, everything was in great shape when we got home.  Now just have to sort things out, which will take several days, do laundry and grocery shopping.
Thank you to all who shared this wonderful trip with us !
Suzan & Craig

Friday, May 4, 2012
We reluctantly leave our wonderful friends in Colorado.  Craig and I both have been affected by the altitude ... we wake up in the night a little short of breath.  The countryside in Craig is not as pretty as in Colorado Springs, though.  They have a couple of huge open coal mines and ship loads of coal to other parts of the country.  They are concerned that this area will suffer greatly if the mines have to be shut down.  Their well water has a lot of methane in it and they can't drink it.  Stacey showed us by filling a glass with water and then lighting the methane coming off the water with a match !!!

Cheyenne and Summer in back; Stacie and Jon in front

Driving on Hwy 40 towards Salt Lake City, we passed several interesting sights.

Interesting cliffs and lots of "plains"

Didn't stop to explore this site ... another time?

Didn't stop here, either.  Isn't he cute?

We stopped for lunch in this small town for lunch.  Yelp directed us to this cute little cafe, the Spin Cafe (named for a sculpture inside) which was fabulous!  Craig and I split their Friday special, which was a brisket that had been smoked for 12 hours, apple cole slaw with spiral fries.  Absolute fabulous! Then we had some of their homemade gelato, which was as good as what we ate in Italy!
Then on the road again.  We cut 70 miles off our trip by driving through Provo, Utah, instead of Salt Lake City and are sure glad we did.  Some of the prettiest scenery of our trip !

Large lake on the way to Provo

Craig noticed this waterfall and pointed it out to me

Craig and I have been reminiscing on how this vacation has really exceeded our expectations.  We have visited with friends and family, some of whom we have not seen in 50 years! Everybody has made us feel so welcome and invited us to come back !  We have also seen such beautiful scenery.  We have enjoyed visiting the different areas of our USA, but are starting to get anxious to be back home.  We appreciate where we live more than ever.

Thursday April 3, 2012
Before leaving Colorado Springs this morning, we stopped to say goodbye to cousin Jimmy and his family.  Connie had to go to work, but we got to meet another of his sons.  Jimmy was the son that my father never had ..... he fathered six girls!  Whenever he and his parents came to visit, he left with a new rope!

With many promises to keep in touch, we proceeded to the Garden of the Gods.  There are so many things to see here and we would love to come back!

We took the one hour drive through the park and pictures are posted below ....

Kissing camels rock

 

 

 This makes us reminisce for Sedona ! 

At a suggestion from our friend, Jon, we took the backroads to their house. It took us 3 hours to get through the Rockies, but we did NOT mind!

Big, beautiful skies !

Deer by the side of the road !

Notice the elevation?  We were up over 12,000 feet at one time !

Highway 9 through the Rockies

What a neat building !

Continental Divide

Lots of lakes and river along the way

We arrived at Craig, Colorado, about six hours after leaving Colorado Springs.  Jon met us at a local gas station and we followed him down dirt roads to their house. Jon Ossen and his old wife Stacie are old friends of ours ... Craig was in their wedding party 28 years ago this Saturday.  Jon was a paramedic who went through medical school and is now an ER physician in Craig.  They live on a 58 acre ranch with their two daughters, 4 horses, 2 dogs and lots of other animals.

One of their chickens ... a Top Hat rooster

I want to bring this rabbit home !

Stacie home schools the girls and they all have lots of hobbies !  

Jon and his gun .... that he made !

We are enjoying our visit so much !

Wednesday, May 2, 2012
We got up this morning and really did not want to leave our dear friends' place, but need to get on the road .... darn it!  We will do our darndest to get back for a longer visit.  It is just so beautiful and peaceful here.  As long as it isn't too cold.

This is the house Ron & Anna designed and built

The living room

Anna said that there was a herd of elk at the their the night before we got there.  Sadly, we saw several deer on the side of the road who had been hit by cars.  Ron also told us that vultures are protected here !
Ron has two horses that he rides (not both at the same time!) and he makes saddles ... by hand!  He got another special order while we were there.  Anna is quite an artist, too.  She "turns" wood and makes artistic pieces by handstringing or sewing beads onto them.  She has 3 pieces entered in a show this month.

4 of Anna's pieces ... they are hollow on the inside and beaded on the outside

This is my favorite piece and it isn't even finished yet!

We finally headed out to Colorado Springs to visit my cousin Jimmy and his family.  Before we left Wyoming, we saw a small herd of buffalo in a fenced area next to the road.  The only thing keeping them from wandering onto the road in the opening is the cattle guard,

Buffalo

Cattle guard

We didn't actually visit this cemetary but thought the sign was awesome.  This is for Cathy ....

And this sign is for Tory ....

Sorry that this doesn't make sense to anyone else reading this blog !

After all the beautiful countryside, we come to Denver.  And pass right on by ....

We continued on to Colorado Springs and got our first view of Pike's Peak.  Although it is a little overcast, we have only had a few sprinkles and the temperature is nice .... 68 degrees.
After checking into our hotel, we then went to Jimmy and Connie's house and they took us out for a wonderful dinner at Saltgrass.  I had not seen Jimmy for over 50 years and had never met Connie before.  They have 3 sons and 3 grandchildren.  We had a wonderful visit and did a lot of reminiscing, while Craig and Connie were so sweet to listen to us.  It's going to be hard to leave them after such a short visit.  But, we have all vowed to keep in touch and visit again soon !

Jimmy and his gorgeous wife, Connie

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Happy May Day!  We headed to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. 
.

The countryside is changing, with less open farmland and more trees.

Wooden bridge that we passed under on way to Mount Rushmore

Beautiful countryside

Tunnel we drove through

An artist by the road we traveled

Example of his art

Mount Rushmore

 This was so awesome!  We really are impressed with this monument.  There is no way you can appreciate this from the pictures.
Then we drove on to Crazy Horse ...

The model for Crazy Horse Monument

Display in the museum at Crazy Horse

Then we headed out to Sundance, Wyoming, to visit with friends who have retired there.  The sun is shining, the skies are beautiful and we are really enjoying this drive !

Beautiful skies !

At the Wyoming border

We missed our turnoff to Sundance and had to drive through Spearfish Canyon.  What a wonderful experience it was, too.

Reminded us of Sedona !

Can you believe that there is still snow on the ground?

We drove through the Black Hills and really were impressed.  Anna met us at the offramp and we followed her down several dirt roads to their place.  They have 70 acres on which they built a beautiful house and barn.  The view is just so beautiful !

The view off the back balcony

Monday, April 30, 2012
Finally!  A day of sunshine !  It has been a beautiful day.  We left for South Dakota and drove through a countryside of farms.  Acres and acres of farmland.  It looks as though everything is ready for planting but nothing planted yet.

Farmland and wind turbines

We have seen a lot of wind turbines, but they are not as concentrated as they are near Palm Springs.
We stopped for lunch at a Perkins, which is a chain of restaurants throughout the areas we have been traveling in this week.  The food is pretty good and not expensive.

Small cemetaries are located in the towns we have passed through.  Nothing remarkable or outstanding in them, just a lot of sameness.

We drove through Minnesota to get to South Dakota.

Sculpture at a rest area

 Almost all the states have nice indoor rest areas ... probably because it gets soooo cold here?  We have really appreciated them.  They are all kept up nicely and make us ashamed of our California rest areas.

South Dakota seems to have more trees than Minnesota or Illinois.  The farm buildings, which you cannot see well in this picture, are mostly in need to repair and paint.

In Mitchell, South Dakota, we stopped at the Corn Palace, which is decorated entirely with corn and grain.  Every year it is redecorated with a new design.  This is a great tourist attraction but is also their community center and arena.  The original one was built in 1892

Close-up of the corn husks and grain.

Picture of 1905 Corn Palace

We then drove across another large river, I think it was the Sioux River.  There are soooo many rivers and creeks.  I have heard people say that but have never really appreciated what they meant.  Now I do.

Taken through the windshield

Finally rolled into Rapid City for the night.  Tomorrow will be an exciting day with Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial.  I will do this in memory of my mother, who always wanted to go here and never did.