3 Go Global

Log Cabin

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

September 28th

Travelling today so lots of grassland again but we took the interstate this time so more company on the road!

We are staying in Buffalo – Wyoming. The motel The Blue Gables (www.bluegables.com) has log cabins with a little tin pot fire that has a pipe to the roof and old fashioned quilts. The heating is on so we also have on the air-conditioning as it is boiling! Kids think it is very cool though. Am very tired today so did not push it too much. It might be the altitude – we are at over 4000 ft. I can also see the outline of the mountains on the horizon so am looking forward to driving through them.

Went through Sundance – where the kid got his name but no bumping into Robert Redford or mention of the film festival. I even put on mascara….

Saw about 30 horses being rounded up by cowboys on those 4 x 4 bikes. The horses looked beautiful and Ophelie strained her neck to look for as long as she could. Apart from that pretty uneventful. Have noticed that the earth is red here and that with the huge empty grasslands and mountains in the distance made me wonder if it was like Africa? Was the earth red from all the blood that has been spilt here over time too?

Mount Rushmore 2

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

September 27th

It was actually cold this morning so we all put nice warm layers on and by lunch time it was back to tee shirts again. Ophelie has taken on the role of navigator while Josh is happy to be a back seat driver.I am very impressed with her map reading skills – I just tell her where I want to go and she will navigate. I can rely on Josh to tell me when I am over the speed limit as he keeps his eyes locked on the controls. We have more than 1 motel directory in the back so when we have decided where we will be staying he has to look up the cheapest one. It amazes me that the thing that causes most arguments is who gets to go to the ice machine in the motel first. It’s suitcases in the room and a race to find the ice bucket so the winner runs out the room first to find the machine…………….

Lots more curvy roads in the mountains to drive – it’s far too much like fun. The only downside is getting stuck behind the USA equivalent of the caravan – an RV. They are enormous and some even have their cars towing on the back. I have seen many women truck drivers but not one female RV driver yet.

Sight seeing day today. Thunder Falls was our first stop – an underground water fall which was v loud and had the added bonus of loads of chipmunks at the entrance desk. They are so quick it was hard to catch them on camera but the nice lady at the desk put some sabotage peanuts out for us. Look how cute them darned critters are……………..

Mount Rushmore beckoned – I was right to have waited until now to go and see it as the skies were back to blue and no sign of rain. Like the Statue of Liberty my first thought was how much smaller it looked. You also cannot get as close to it as you would like but we did the trail and had fun taking photos. In fact people were taking photos of us taking photos of the monkey………

The Crazy Horse monument (www.crazyhorse.org) is not as well known as Mount Rushmore but it should be – it is so much more than just a statue. The heads of Mount Rushmore would fit into the back of the head of Crazy Horse it is so immense. The sculptor – whose name I cannot spell was asked by Indian Chiefs to build a statue in their honour. Crazy Horse – a Lakota Indian was chosen to represent all tribes. The sculptor – (sc) spent his life carving and blasting the statue from the rock. He started by himself and 7 of his 10 children have continued after his death. It is a work in progress and will not be complete for many years. Sc rejected gov’t funding as he felt only people who were interested in it should pay for it. It was v exciting as they actually did a blast of 1100 lbs while we there today. I would have had a good photo but of course jumped half a mile when the blast happened! The kids found this hysterical of course.

The museum and film there were great – much more informative than Mount Rushmore and we came away having learnt so much. This is one of those spots that has a sense of place – I would love to return here one day to see the progress.

We splashed out on an extra $10 dollars and got a motel with an indoor pool and hot tub so you can guess where we spent the rest of the day!

Strangest site today – Jim and Laurie. A middle aged couple on a Harley who were stopped with us at this breathtaking viewpoint ( keep coming across them on the road – you turn a corner and wow!).They stopped to let their 2 sausage dogs – one who had a pink doggie tracksuit on – have a walk. The dogs travel on the back of the bike in a dog carrier box. The site of this biker walking the tiniest dog in a pink tracksuit was priceless.

 

DeadwoodOriginally uploaded by roupiesontour

September 26th

Up early and on the road to hit Deadwood in the morning. Again the scenery has changed – bright blue skies and tree covered mountains. The roads are windy, steep and fun to drive after yesterday. Sorted accommodation early at the Golden Country Inn. A very old fashioned motel with real keys to open the doors (all rooms have door to car park) and a Laverne on reception.

Deadwood boasts wild living, gambling and it’s famous residents included Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. Today’s story is different – it was like a ghost town. The main strip is casino after casino and the average age of tourist is about 78. They all seem to come in big tourist groups which means the dreaded huge badge with name on it.

We learned about Bill and Jane and the gold mines and then decided Deadwood was just like it’s namesake and took the car to explore the amazing scenery. We found President’s Park (http://www.presidentspark.com) that has a concrete head statue of each president – George W to George W. Each statue had a biography about the president and his wife so it was good to learn. I warned the kids that they had to read them all as I would be testing them before they could watch telly and the premier of Bionic Woman was on with Zoe from Eastenders (good American accent by the way). It was very interesting to a Brit and tried on the way back to name all the Kings and Queens and then Prime Ministers in reverse order. 2 minutes later we were done – looks like we have some learning to do.

Please look at www.flickr.com and search for roupies on tour for all the photos. I think clicking on the link above may take you to them

Ophelie and I took a stroll up to the cemetery where Bill and Calamity Jane are buried. It was a beautiful setting, quiet up a steep hill and surrounded by pine trees. Again the blue rinse brigade were out in force and many were leaving little items on the gravestones – coins, playing cards, cigars all manner of things. It got me pondering: I know gambling in the casinos is v popular with this generation but I guess all the cowboys and gun slinging legends were their icons and idols. I imagine a lot of this generation were bought up on legends of the Wild West and that childhood awe bubbles up when faced with any remnant of the stories. I tried to think of a comparison – my icons/idols are more movie and music era. I’ve never bothered to go to Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris but I might be tempted to leave something there if I did. Going round the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland I was completely in awe and got far too excited over some of the exhibits, definitely a generation thing as the kids just stared at me vacantly a lot of the time.

Strangest sites today:

The Emphysema Cowboy – in the casino, about 80 with cowboy hat and portable oxygen tanks strapped to his back, pulling the handle on the slot machine like his life depended on it.

The wild turkey on the road who then decided to just saunter across in his own sweet time bringing all traffic to a halt. No danger from Bernard Matthew over here

Badlands Forever

Originally uploaded by roupiesontour

It’s official – today we hit the middle of nowhere. I decided to take the scenic route through the Badlands – this was great to start with – instead of the farmhouses of Iowa it was an open road surrounded by “plains” of grass and no homes, no people, no cars – just grass – as far as the eye could see. Herds of horses running around their fields, sheep and more huge cows but no people! After 4 hours of the same scenery I was so glad to see civilisation again I nearly kissed the golden arches of McDonalds. Apart from the obvious road improvements, I imagine it has not changed much since the huge herds of bison swept across the plains, chased by the Sioux or Cheyenne. You could really picture it.

We had to take a small detour in the morning as petrol was getting low – we ended up in Akaska – population 42. I walked into the dinner/bait shop/gas station to ask how to use the single pump and everyone turned round to stare – OUTSIDER! If it had just been me I think I would have stayed and had lunch to find out more but with the kids I just imagine the worst (seen far too many horror movies) so filled up and off we went – quickly.

In one of the guidebooks it said the best way to open up the west is to greet passing traffic in the car by resting your right hand on the steering wheel and raising a finger to say hi. Bearing in mind the number of cars that you are likely to encounter – you should not have to do this often. I started doing it out of boredom but it felt like you were flipping the finger not saying hi at all. I progressed to a 3 finger Mexican wave and the joy felt when we got a reciprocal wave was great! For the record – pick up truck cowboys were the best wavers, women seldom responded.

Who did we meet today? Well there was Ed on the Indian reservation, an old very wrinkled Native American holding the Stop/Go sign for some roadworks. Being the only car for miles and having to stop was a bit puzzling but it went down to one road ahead. I was told I had to wait for the lead car to come from the other side – about 10 minutes! Time to stretch our legs and chat. Apparently the winters are not that bad around there – I just imagined they were awful as soon as the first snow falls. Ed said boredom was the worst thing – he whittles walking sticks out of wood and buffalo horn and just happened to have some with him but we were saved as the lead car appeared!

Monday September 24^th
 

Rain at last! I guess it would happen as I cleaned the car this morning. Got talking to a couple of Texans who were taking the mickey out of our Georgia car plates. They soon found out we were from somewhere even stranger. The concept of world travel is alien to most here – maybe it’s just a young thing – after all why would anyone want to travel further than this beautiful country?
 

Our aim was to make it halfway to Mount Rushmore today but on the road saw a sign for the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder –  of Little House On The Prairie fame. It was too good to miss, my sister and I were both bought up on the series as kids as Mum loved it. I have to say it was excellent customer service – the lady behind the desk was so nice and helped the kids make their own rope (which Josh has kept as “we might need it”!) and you are encouraged to touch and climb over everything from the pioneer wagon’s to the old fashioned horse drawn buggy.