2009 Western States Trip
South Carolina State Capitol - We started our vacation in the state capital, where with Donna's sister from Florida, we met a cousin of theirs from Canada who was vacationing in the states. (04/10/09)
SC State Capitol Back - We were at the capitol building because there was a virtual cache there. The was an actual cache near where this picture was taken, but there were too many other people about to hunt for it. (04/10/09)
Rental Car - We flew from Charlotte, NC to Denver, CO and when we picked up the rental car it had license plates on it from where we had just come from. Go figure. (04/11/09)
Chugwater, WY - Stopped in this small town to grab a goecache. Most of all the small towns we would encounter out here had both their elevation and population listed on the "Welcome To" sign. (04/11/09)
Wheatland, WY - Another cache, another "Welcome To" sign (04/11/09)
Jackalope #1, Douglas, WY - Douglas, WY is in love with the Jackalope. so much so that they have not just one, but two tributes to this animal. (04/11/09)
Jackalope #2, Douglas, WY - Jackalope hunting licenses can be obtained from the Douglas Chamber of Commerce, though hunting of jackalopes is restricted to the hours of midnight to 2 a.m. on June 31. (04/11/09)
Devils Tower Obscured - Sunday morning dawned cloudy and misty with a chance for rain, undaunted we headed north to see where the mothership landed. (04/12/09)
Brian at Devils Tower - Here I am standing in the parking lot. Yes that is snow in the background. (04/12/09)
Devils Tower - Over twenty tribes have potential cultural affiliation with Devils Tower National Monument. (04/12/09)
Donna at Devils Tower - On the northern side of the tower the trail around the base was completely covered in snow. Luckily for us some people had already walked around so we could follow their foot prints. (04/12/09)
Devils Tower - Many of the 20 tribes have stories about how the Tower was created. Most of the stories talk about a bear using its claws to score the Tower's sides. (04/12/09)
Devils Tower Clear - By the time we left, a couple hours after we arrived, the sun was out and we were treated to this pretty view. (04/12/09)
Devils Tower Distant - The 1,267 feet monolith is visible from quite a distance. (04/12/09)
Hulett, WY - The closest town to Devils Tower is Hullet, WY and if you unpaved the street, in places, you could swear it was still the late 1800's. (04/12/09)
Ponderosa - On recommendation from a ranger at Devils Tower we ate here and it is one of the most memorable meals of the whole trip. The chef must have graduated from a culinary school because the 4 course Easter dinner he served here was way beyond what you might expect to find in a town of 408 people. (04/12/09)
Gutzon Borglum - Sculptor who created Mount Rushmore. (04/12/09)
Mt Rushmore and Us - After I took a photo of two french women with their camera, one offered to reciprocate, who was I to refuse. (04/12/09)
Mt Rushmore - It was past closing time, but the gate was unguarded so we followed in a couple of cars from Minnesota to the parking area. We stuck around for about a half an hour as the sun was going down. (04/12/09)
Keystone, SD - For some reason the town closest to Mt Rushmore didn't have their elevation on their sign. It's 4,331 ft in case you wanted to know. (04/12/09)
Mining Fence - Clever use of old tools for a fence. Who knows, maybe one of these drill bits formed George Washington's giant eyebrows. (04/13/09)
Road To Rushmore - On the 6 mile trip from Keystone to Mt Rushmore the monument is visible in a couple spots. (04/13/09)
Mt Rushmore Entrance - Arriving from the parking lot you pass through these impressive gates. (04/13/09)
Mt Rushmore Deer - The mule deer are definitely unafraid of humans as they graze right by the entrance. The summer tourists probably feed them. (04/13/09)
Don Morrison - Donna's maiden name is Morrison, but this guy was probably no relation. There was no one named Bogardus listed. (04/13/09)
Mt Rushmore Up - Looking up at the big heads from the closest you can get (officially) on the Presidential Trail. (04/13/09)
Mt Rushmore Flags - This walkway towards the viewing gallery has a flag from every state flying. (04/13/09)
Still Lake - After leaving Mt Rushmore we found this lake on a road almost directly behind the carvings. (04/13/09)
Rocky Reflection - Which way is up? (04/13/09)
Tunnel Sign - Now here is something you don't see every day. (04/13/09)
Tunnel - Glad the Mustang isn't that big of a vehicle. (04/13/09)
Down Hill - Not long after almost getting stuck in the mud on a closed road while trying to take a picture I found a nice place that had firmer ground. (04/13/09)
Crazy Horse Close Up - You can't really get too close to the mountain. Note at the bottom the yellow things, those are large pieces of rock moving equipment. (04/13/09)
Crazy Horse - Sort of the scale of view from the visitors center and museum. (04/13/09)
Crazy Horse Large Model - 1/34 scale model of what the completed carving will look like. (04/13/09)
Crazy Horse Small Model - A smaller 1/300 scale model inside the museum. (04/13/09)
Buffalo Roam - After leaving Crazy Horse we drove the wildlife loop of Custer State Park. (04/13/09)
Buffalo Graze - For the first 20 minutes of the drive we were beginning to think the road was misnamed, but turns out it wasn't. (04/13/09)
Buffalo Rest - I like this shot, looks like they are lurking in the grass waiting for unsuspecting tourists. (04/13/09)
Antelope Rest - Along with the buffalo there were plenty of antelopes to see too. (04/13/09)
Lone Tree - It could use some friends. (04/13/09)
Carhenge I - Now we are talking, Roadside Americana at its finest. (04/13/09)
Carhenge II - Fields, fields, fields, junkyard, CARHENGE, fields, fields, fields.... (04/13/09)
Carhenge and Me - In a fashion faux pas I accidentally dress like I was one of the cars. (04/13/09)
Carhenge B&W - A black and white image with the contrast cranked way up. (04/13/09)
Scottsbluff - This was our view from accommodation's backyard, the Barn Anew B&B. (04/13/09)
Scotts Bluff - The sun is coming up on day number 4. (04/14/09)
Scotts Bluff Visitor Center - We spent several minutes chatting with the ranger on duty. He was quite a character and had plenty of stories. (04/14/09)
Wagons Ho - In the summer I think they actually put the canvas tops on this wagon and the other one up the trail a bit. (04/14/09)
Oregon Trail - This trail from the visitor's center is actually the old Oregon Trail. You can't get there from here though as this trail only goes about a 1/2 mile. (04/14/09)
Long Train - Hard to tell from this photo, but in the center of the frame that dark line is a train leaving Scottsbluff, NE. By my estimation it is about 4 miles long. (04/14/09)
Visitor Center From The Top - From the top of the bluff the Visitor's Center looks positively tiny. (04/14/09)
Back Side of Scotts Bluff - A view of the bluff from Gering, NE. (04/14/09)
Scotts Bluff Panorama - A series of 5 photos stitched together. The road is NE92 that runs along the same path as the Oregon Trail. (04/14/09)
Pikes Peak - A before dawn picture of Pikes Peak from Colorado Springs, CO as we walk to a bagel place just up the road from the hotel. (04/15/09)
Gusty Winds Likely - While traveling the roads of Nebraska, New Mexico and eastern Colorado you will see various forms of this sign. This picture is from New Mexico, but my favorite is from Colorado. (04/15/09)
New Mexico Vista - In between the mountains in the forground and the ones in the background lies the city of Santa Fe, NM. (04/16/09)
Flowering Cactus - The Walking Stick cactus were flowering along the dirt road to the Lone Mountain ranch house. (04/16/09)
Baby Horsey - The figure that the baby horse in the foreground is only a couple days old. The larger one is about 2 weeks old. (04/16/09)
Baby James - The baby human in the middle is about 2 years old. (04/16/09)
Who You Lookin' At? - And he is not above giving you the evil eye. (04/16/09)
Old Jail - Golden, New Mexico's old jail is on the Lone Mountain Ranch property. There is no new jail as Golden is pretty much not a town anymore. 04/16/09)
Colorful Cistern - The barbed wire fence was little deterrent as this water tank along NM14 got a very colorful paint job. There was a geocache just a little further north along the fence. (04/16/09)
Church in Golden, NM - This photo is of the 1830's San Francisco Church in Golden. It is reportedly the most photographed sites along the Turquoise Trail and I was just trying to do my part. (04/16/09)
Snow In New Mexico - We were prepared for cooler weather out west, but really weren't expecting the white stuff. (04/17/09)
Really Coming Down - James rides on daddy Scott's shoulders as we head back to the bunkhouse to get out of the snow. (04/17/09)
Sales Office Is Ready - The Sales Office is all ready for tomorrow's auction. (04/17/09)
Cows Are Ready - The Waygu beef cattle are prepared as well. (04/17/09)
Ranch Hands Are Ready - Lastly all the ranch hands are set to go too, even the wee ones. (04/17/09)
Blue Horse B & B - A nice picture of our home for two nights in Placitas, NM. (04/18/09)
Postcard Morning - The two inches of snow overnight made for a picturesque drive to the ranch house and auction area. (04/18/09)
Almost Time - The cows are cleaned, fed and ready for their turn inside the auction tent. (04/18/09)
Twenty K Cow? - I'm not sure what this cow went for, but last year the top selling bull went for considerably more than $20k. (04/18/09)
Lone Mountain - Off in the distance this lone mountain is where the ranch got its name. (04/18/09)
Rio Grande - Here outside Bernilillo, NM the river is fairly fast moving. We were poking around the bank here looking for an ammo can. (04/19/09)
Respect Privacy - A sneaky way to keep folks on the trail or a word of warning? (04/19/09)
Gran Quivira - On our trip south from Placitas to Alamogordo, NM these ruins of an Indian Pueblo came at the right time for a leg stretch. (04/19/09)
Downtown Carrizozo - If this is all you saw of Carrizozo, NM you would think ghost town, but just up the street it seems pretty vibrant. (04/19/09)
Carrizozo Burro - Several years back Aiken had a community art project revolving around horses, looks like Carrizozo has done the same thing with burros in recent years. (04/19/09)
Alien Art - While looking for geocaches in Carrizozo we are led to a small sculpture garden. The shape of this reminded me of the heads of the monsters in Alien. (04/19/09)
Tatooine - That malfunctioning little twerp. This is all his fault! He tricked me into going this way, but he'll do no better. (04/19/09)
Hello - A sandy portrait of the vacationing couple. (04/19/09)
White Sands - This desert sand is made of gypsum, not the usual quartz, that's why it is white not tan. (04/19/09)
White Sands Sunset - The sun dips behind the mountains and the glow of the sunset turns them orange. (04/19/09)
Sandy Mustang - A picture of our rental Mustang from the top of a dune at White Sands. (04/19/09)
Big Ol' Pistachio Nut - Just outside of Alamogordo, NM, we stumbled onto rows of small skinny trunked trees along side of the road. An orchard of some sort. Then we saw this giant statue and put two and two together, they were pistachio trees. (04/20/09)
Lava Field - When you get close to Valley Of Fire State Park outside of Carrizozo, NM you notice the dessert floor looks darker than the surrounding land, almost like there is a big cloud in the sky, but there are none, it is the lava covered in desert vegetation. (04/20/09)
Dinosaur Poop? - This outcropping of lava reminds me of that scene in Jurassic Park. (04/20/09)
Valley Of Fire State Park - Nice view of the park from a small rise near the primitive camping sites. (04/20/09)
White Mesa - Took this photo from the end of a small nature trail that hid one of the many geocaches we discovered on the trip. (04/21/09)
Another Mesa - These things are everywhere and I'm sure after a while they blend into nothingness, but right now, not so much. (04/21/09)
Elevation 7000 Feet - We must has passed this sign about a dozen times on the trip from Placitas, NM to Cortez, CO. Well, not this particular sign, but ones like it. (04/21/09)
Approaching 4 Corners - Pretty much at the corner of No and Where. (04/22/09)
4 Corners - The Indians have erected this large stone square with flags and state seals and such at the only point in the US where the borders of 4 states meet. During the summer those booths in the background are full of vendors selling trinkets. There were only a few open for our visit. (04/22/09)
The Spot - The survey marker planted in the middle of the big granite square where four state borders touch. Or Do they? A couple days before we visited there was a news story that broke saying that the correct spot may be up to 2-1/2 miles away. (04/22/09)
Shiprock - We had intended to visit Ship Rock yesterday, but it turns out there are not any paved roads that will get you any closer than ten miles. Maybe next time we will rent a 4-wheel drive. Here is a picture from inside the traveling rental car near the 4 Corners area, 25 miles away. (04/22/09)
Chimney Rock - This photo, again from the moving car, is to make up for missing the Chimney Rock in Nebraska. (04/22/09)
Colorado Sky - Donna took this photo while on a walk along a trail beside the Dolores River killing time while we waited for our clothes to dry in the local laundromat. (04/22/09)
Lebanon Schoolhouse B & B - We spent two nights here. The room was nice, hosts were great, the breakfasts bordered on too fancy and the internet access came from an unwitting neighbor. (04/23/09)
Church Rock - Well, ...I guess it looks like a church. At least it did to the person who named it. (04/23/09)
Wilsons Arch - Named for beloved Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson with a span of 91 feet, a height of 46 feet and being right off the road to Moab, UT this is a popular place. We stopped because there was a geocache right across the street. (04/23/09)
Inside Wilsons Arch - The view back down from inside the arch. Didn't seem that far away or as high from the road. (04/23/09)
Hole N The Rock - Came over a rise and there this was. I think someone had a home carved into the rock next to a gas station and decided to make it a bit of Roadside America. We didn't stop. (04/23/09)
Arches National Park - Even the Visitor's Center is cool. (04/23/09)
Fingers - The first of many such formations that make you wonder just what is holding them up. (04/23/09)
Climbing - Leaving the Welcome Center at Arches National Park you have to climb up from the valley road to get to see anything. (04/23/09)
Visitors Center Below - Here you can get an idea of just how we have been going up. (04/23/09)
Still Climbing - Just how high up are we going? (04/23/09)
Nice View - Surrounded by red rocks and desert there are snow capped mountains in the distance. (04/23/09)
Wow - Coming up to "Park Ave." (04/23/09)
Courthouse Rocks - The rock formations on the right are called Courthouse Rocks. They don't look like court houses, but may they are so named because the three things across the road look like judges in robes. (04/23/09)
We Need To Go Over There - Off in the distance those rock formations look pretty awesome. (04/23/09)
Balance Rock - I bet there are a whole bunch of rocks like this in the southwest and they are all called Balance Rock, but this is probably the biggest. (04/23/09)
North Arch - One of the first arches you come to after leaving the visitor's center. (04/23/09)
South Arch - For an idea of scale, in the lower left center you can see some walkers making their way to the bottom of the opening. (04/23/09)
Eyeglasses - From the back you can see both the north and south arch together. It looks like a pair of eyeglasses. (04/23/09)
Vail Pass Rest Area - We stopped at the top of Vail Pass to change drivers. The rest area building was still pretty much covered in snow. (04/24/09)
I-70 - Mountains like these make the one in northwest South Carolina look like mole hills. (04/24/09)
Rockies - Rest stop somewhere along I-70. (04/24/09)
Hotel Row - Tomorrow morning we take the hotel shuttle to the airport and fly home. (04/25/09)