Day 7: Spokane Washington

We arrived in Spokane, ate at Fridays, and rested.  Tomorrow we get to Redmond and we are all ready to be off the road, especially Gabi.  She is ready to settle into one spot for a few weeks.  Too bad it isn't her new home as yet, but she is tired of guarding every new place we stop. 

Spokane is a pretty city surrounded by mountains.  Nothing unique or interesting to see and do.  Oh well, we are on the road again.

Day 6: Glacier National Park

Today we spent the day exploring Glacier National Park.  We learned that things here don't really open until the end of May or beginning of June because it is still cold and damp here.  Today the temperature ranged from a low of 39 degrees to a high of 55 degrees.  It rained on and off, but still the sights in the park were magnificent.  I will simply put the pictures here for your judgement. 

Day 5: Glacier National Park

We spent the day today driving to Glacier National Park.  The terrain was beautiful the entire length of the trip.  Snow capped rocky mountains all around with rolling hills flowing into the valleys where people farm and/or raise cattle, goats and horses.

Gabi is a real trooper with all the driving.  She is now a travel puppy.

It was another long day so we didn't stop to take a lot of pictures.  I'm exhausted so I will post pictures and more information tomorrow.

Day 4: Billings, Montana continued p.6

As evening was descending quickly we took one last picture to capture the storm that seemed to be coming across the mountains as the sun set.  What a beautiful sight as we made our way to Billings and rest before the next day of our adventure.

Day 4: Billings, Montana continued p.5

After 30 minutes we got back on the road and finish driving through Wyoming and into Montana. We enjoyed the change in terrain which became rolling hills surrounded by snow-capped mountains.  Mo climbed up on a hill to get a good picture.  The first shot is of me in the car to give you an idea of how high he climbed.  The second shot is the view.  WOW!!!  What a view.

As we made our way down the highway we realized that we must be near the Little Big Horn battlefield since we kept crossing the Little Big Horn river.  Sure enough, we saw a brown park sign announcing the Little Big Horn Memorial at the next exit.  We decided to stop and take a look.  Unfortunately the park was closed for the day so we had to look from afar.  Considering everything that had happened on this battlefield, I really felt the presence of spirits walking those fields.

Day 4: Billings, Montana continued p.4

After an hour or so at Mt. Rushmore we got back on the road as we still had over 3o0 miles to get to Billings.  After being on the highway for an hour we decided to stop and let Gabi run around and get some exercise.  We found a spot that looked quiet and safe and we let her out of the car.  She started running around and before we realized what had happened she was running up to Mo with an animal's leg bone in her mouth.  She felt like she had won the prize with that leg bone.  It took quite a bit of work on our part to get that bone away from her without touching it.  YUK!!!!

Day 4: Billings, Montana continued p.3

And of course Gabi needed to be in the picture, but since she wasn't allowed anywhere near Mt. Rushmore, we took her to a nearby mountain and took her picture with Indiana Mo.  She loved it and didn't realize that she was being denied the "real" thing.

But, of course you might want to see the real thing without all these people.  It is really a sight to behold.  The scale is amazing.  Each of the presidents would be over 400 feet tall if they were full figures rather than just the heads.  The presidents are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.  Hard to imagine that these heads were carved on the side of a mountain by a group of men working over a number of years.  Truly something to see!

Day 4: Billings, Montana continued

Indiana Mo wanted to get in the picture as well so...

Day 4: Billings, Montana

Today was very eventful.  I hardly know where to start, but I guess I'll start at the beginning.  

We got on the road early since we knew that today we would be driving 750 miles from Sioux Falls, SD to Billings, MT via Rapid City, SD--the town closest to Mt. Rushmore.  Gabi was ready to get on the road so she could get some shut-eye.  She is really a great traveler as she sleeps or sticks her head on the console between us to get hugs and kisses.

The terrain didn't change much all the way through South Dakota.  It was small, rolling hills the whole way...

We finally got to Rapid City, South Dakota--the start of the Black Hills and the Badlands.  The terrain finally changed into larger rolling hills surrounded by mountains.  We got to Mt. Rushmore around noon and I was really excited to see it in person.

Day 3: Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Today we drove through Iowa.  Iowa is a very long state with lots of flat farmland.  The view did not change for hours.  However, I learned something very interesting about Iowa when we stopped at the Loess Hills Interpretive Center.

The entire time we were driving through Iowa I noticed these hills along the right side of the road.  I thought they were just hills, but I found out they are Loess Hills and a unique geologic feature of this area.

The Loess Hills are about 200 miles long and up to 15 miles wide.  They are made up of windblown soils that formed these dunes (hills) towards the end of the last ice age.  The only place on the planet that has equivalent deposits to Iowa's is China.  Probably the most unique characteristic of these deposits is that you can cut through them vertically and they form sheer drops hundreds of feet high which are interlocked and virtually indestructible.  If you remove the topsoil from the slope, however, the exposed loess will erode like sugar when saturated.  These are amazing hills and I would have thought nothing of them if we had not stopped to check out a visitor center.  Traveling the scenic Loess Hills Byway is an interesting way to spend some time.  I hope to get back here one day to check everything out in more detail.

We got to Sioux Falls, SD without incident and had a great dinner of ribs and burgers.  We are hitting the sack early tonight in preparation for a long day tomorrow.  The trip to Billings, MT is about 11 hours long and we plan to stop at Mt. Rushmore.  Should have some great pictures to share tomorrow.

Day 2: Independence Missouri

Today was about driving around 450 miles from Paducah, Kentucky to Independence, Missouri.  The land between these two cities is mostly rolling hills with no mountains to see.  We crossed two rivers, the Ohio and the Missouri.  Both were large rivers with lots of activity on the water.  

We did go through St. Louis and saw the famous arch (see picture) as we drove by.  Tomorrow we will make our way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where the sights should be more interesting and photographic.  

Gabi slept most of the day in the car.  She is full of pep and vinegar so I hope she gets sleepy tonight.  Right now she is pacing the floor, drinking water, and wondering why we aren't out in the car riding.