Back to the Barn

When we left Missouri Thursday morning we had only one mission, to get back home to Maryland. It's kind of like a horse who at the end of the day wants to get back to the barn and doesn't want to stop for anything. We arrived home yesterday (Sat.) after 1100 miles on I70 and some intermittent problems with the diesel turbo cutting out. Had a great time on the trip, covered over 7K miles in the 8 weeks.

I'm not sure how many have been following the blog, there were 9 that registered as followers and some more that didn't register. I would be pleased to receive your comments on what you thought of our travel blog, + or -. You can email me at halsey6418@msn.com

This will be the last entry until we take off on another trip. Thanks for keeping up with our trip.

Bye for now, Halsey & Nita

Jesse James ain't dead yet

I had a relative who frequently said "Jesse James ain't dead yet" when he thought he was cheated or got the short end of the stick. On the way back east we stopped to visit my nephew in Kearney, Missouri. One of the claims to fame for Kearney is the burial site of Jesse James. Jesse was an outlaw and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. There is some question about whether the body buried here is the real Jesse, in 1995 the remains were exhumed and supposedly the DNA matched the closest living relative.

Free ice water and 5 cent coffee

For hundreds of miles in any direction from Wall, SD you see signs advertising Wall Drugs and all it has to offer, like free ice water, homemade doughnuts, etc. Wall Drugs has to be one of the biggest tourist traps in the country, however it kind of like an oasis in the middle of a desert so you stop, and it is fun. About 15 years ago we came into Wall on a motorcycle with temps of around 110 degrees, a nice spot to cool off. Yesterday it was much cooler.

From there we traveled on to Mitchell, SD, home of the Corn Palace and spent the 4th of July night. This morning we visited the Palace. It serves as a civic center with entertainment and sports. Each year a new decorating theme is chosen and the outside is stripped and redecorated with new corn and grains. The pictures on the palace are made of corn on the cob.

Badlands, Minuteman and Henrietta loves Buster

At the Bandlands RV park the owner has a 6 year old pet buffalo cow named Henrietta that he say is sweet and docile, she seemed to be as I stood a few feet from her separated by a strand of rusty barbed wire. Two years ago he put a weaned 2 mo. old cattle steer, named Buster, in the field with Henrietta, having no calves of her own Henrietta took on Buster as her baby. Today Buster is almost as big as his momma, wherever Henrietta goes Buster follows, when she lies down so does he. You can see the love in their eyes.

Off of I90 east of Wall, SD on a dirt road is a Minuteman Missile silo. It has been decommissioned and is displayed by the Natl. park service. There used to be 450 of these missiles silo's buried around this part of the country. I shot the picture of the missile through the added glass cover as seen in the 2ND picture. There was not much to be seen above ground when they were operational. The other picture was taken in the Badlands.

Needles Hiway and train ride

This morning we took a ride on an 1880's steam train from Hill City to Keystone and back. It was an interesting ride but nothing as scenic as the Durango to Silverton train ride in Colorado. Has a good rain storm on return and had lunch and read the paper in the motor home till it blew over. Decided to take the Needles highway which everyone advised against due to the short narrow tunnels, but read the dimensions on the tunnel and figured we could make it through. Had to fold the mirrors in to clear and went slow. It was a beautiful drive, would have been a shame to miss it.

Iron Mountian Road

Today was a relaxed day, drove up to Hill City with thoughts of taking a ride on the 1880 steam train, we just missed a train and decided not to wait for the next one. Cruised on over the Keystone and walked up and down main street, a quaint looking town but definitely geared up for shopping tourists. We then got on Iron Mountain road that goes south through a series of 3 tunnels and snakes it way down to Custer State Park, then back to Custer. We are staying at a National Forest park called Oreville just north of Custer. We may shorten our stay here by a day and move on tomorrow.

Pics: Will the View fit through this tunnel, it did and a burro roadblock.

Crazy Horse Monument

Tuesday morning we visited the Wind Caves National Park and took an hour tour of the cave, the tour was fun, the pictures inside the cave were not great. On the way to the caves we came across a herd of about 50 buffalo, the calves are about 2 months old. They were on both side of the road, when we came out of the caves there was no sign of them.

Crazy Horse Monument is a sight to see. Standing Bear and his fellow chiefs hired sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in 1949 to make a sculptor to let the white man know the red man has great hero's too. Korszak died in 1982 but the work is carried on by his family, I heard estimates of 40 more years to complete. You can see the dust flying in the last picture, they are drilling holes for blasting. I took the first picture from a mile away, Mount Rushmore could fit in the area of Crazy Horse's head and flowing hair, the horses head is outlined in paint. The hole under his arm to be is 10 stories high. The monument when finished will look like the model in the foreground.
Does Nita, who is part Cherokee, look anything like Crazy Horse?

Crazy Horse's left hand is thrown out pointing in answer to the derisive question asked by a white man. "Where are your lands now?", he replied, "My lands are where my dead are buried."

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