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| 4 famous faces above - 4 famous faces below! |
Still in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was the next port of call and it is every bit as impressive as it looks on pictures and brochures. It was very, very hot so hats and water bottles were in order. Notice the four famous faces above and the echoing four famous faces below? Ha, ha!
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| Can can girl drink waitress - cute and full of personality! |
We had lunch at Ruby House, in Keystone, South Dakota. This historic building was fitted out beautifully, both externally and internally, with many old west photos and a gun collection. Dad was all eyes for the drinks waitress, though, and she was NOT vintage!
Next we had a long drive through Custer State Park. I was determined to see buffalo, and I was not disappointed! There was a large herd of females, babies and young males, but the bulls keep their distance at this time of the year while the babies are young. We also saw a deer, some elk and these friendly burros!
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| Bull buffalo in Cuter State Park, South Dakota |
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| Friendly burros! |
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| "Wild Bill" Hickok |
Deadwood was a rough town in the days of the “wild west”. There were many saloon brawls and it is the burial place of “Wild Bill” Hickock and Calamity Jane, both colorful figures in American history. The poker “dead man’s hand” stemmed from Wild Bill’s death. Apparently he was holding a pair of 8s and a pair of aces when he was murdered in 1876 at Saloon 10 in Deadwood. (hlp.jpg) (Wild Bill Hickok http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok) (Calamity Jane http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamity_Jane)
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| Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Grave of Wild Bill Hickok (left with statue) and Calamity Jane (at right with white urn and a gin bottle at its base!) |
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| Markers where soldiers fell in the Battle of Little Bighorn. Custer's has the black insignia. |
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| Spots where Lakota fell are marked with red granite stones. |
By now we had driven ( a looooong time!) into Montana. We arrived at the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn towards afternoon and we just managed to catch a historic talk about the battle and site, overlooking where troops and Lakota indians fought in 1876. It was a sobering spot as there are markers where soldiers and indians fell, with a large monument overlooking Custer’s Last Stand. Custer was only 36 at the time of his death and although this was such a major even, he had had a very successful military career.
AND FINALLY - I GOT TO SEE WHERE I WAS BORN!!
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| The Jaeckel family at Fort Lewis, Tacoma, Washington |
After driving over a mountain pass (with temperatures as low as 53 degrees - and this after 110 in the Badlands!) we made it to Tacoma, Washington! We had been told that Fort Lewis Army Base is a closed base and we could not get in, but we decided to bowl up and chance it. It took a bit of persuading, but we were allowed a few hours on the base! The hospital building where I was born had been replaced some years ago at a slightly different location, but some of the lower red brick buildings are still there so at least I now have some sense of the place where I was born and spent the first 6 weeks of my life. We drove to the house Mom and Dad lived in and although it looked different to them, they did recognize some aspects of their first home. Tacoma is a pretty city but it seems vastly overshadowed by Seattle, which is only about 30 minutes away.
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| Fort Clatsop |
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| Overlooking a west coast beach in Oregon |
Sea, beaches and sand dunes featured next as we entered Oregon and northern California, along with warnings in low-lying coastal areas. In Redding, California we visited an enormous sundial and glass bridge over the Sacramento River. In Corning (known as Olive City!) we had olive burgers and had fun looking at all the things that are “olive” related. Apparently Corning has the world’s largest ripe olive cannery.
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| Huge sundial, Redding, California |
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| Corning, California Olive-growing region |
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| Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California |
We finally reached San Francisco and our planned visit to the John Muir Woods didn’t work out, nor did a visit to Point Bonita lighthouse, since the road to it was closed. So, not to be defeated, we walked to the halfway mark of the Golden Gate Bridge and back! The backdrop of the city was beautiful but traffic was truly whizzing by!
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| Lovely dinner, lovely company! |
We had arranged to meet Matthew, Michelle and Harris at our hotel and go out for dinner, so we had a great time with them (although there were sad goodbyes) to round off my wonderful, wonderful trip! Thanks, everybody!
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