Wild West Trip Day 10 - 474 miles

Omaha, NE to Bolingbrook, IL

Last day of our trip.  This is the

way to travel.  What a trooper.

Total miles 2,852

Wild West Trip Day 9 - 563 miles

Last morning with new friends

Tyler and Addie

They headed off for their last day of

camp and we drove to Omaha, NE.

Wild West Trip Day 8

Morning coffee with one of THE prettiest

views and with a great friend.

Walking the dogs this morning. 

 Beth and I took Anthony to the pool.

Addie and Gus went to day camp.

 Wade had a Credit Union meeting so

the rest of us enjoyed dinner in downtown

Boulder on a rooftop.

Heading home tomorrow.

Wild West Trip Day 7 Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park

Heading up the mountains

in the background we stopped in a meadow

to check out the wildlife.

 We made it up to the Tundra above the

tree line and hiked a short distance to

over 12,000'

 Anthony filled out a booklet on the things

he saw and experienced in the park

and swore to protect our National Parks, it's

wildlife and all environments by doing such things

as simple as recycling.

 He was congratulated by a Ranger.

 And, received his Junior Ranger Badge.

We stopped at this lovely Catholic Church

on our way down, out of the park.  There

was a lot of flood damage in this area

in 2011 and it won't be holding services

for another 10 years to be deemed stable.

We climbed up to the Jesus statue overlooking

this church.

Another picnic.

R & R for adults at Wade and Beth Payne's

home in Boulder.

 Anthony and Tyler played a game of horse.

 Addie and Gus with Grandma.

 Beautiful sunset but unfortunately

a lot is because of the smoke from wildfires.

Wild West Trip Day 6 - 334 miles

This was a travel day from South Dakota, thru

Wyoming and down into Loveland, CO

We stopped for a picnic.

Much needed trip to the pool after

getting into Loveland.  Anthony made

a noodle float.

Wild West Trip Day 5

We took the scenic route to Devil's Tower today.

We continued down into the Black Hills National Forest

along 14A into Deadwood and back up to Sundance.

It was a beautiful drive.  We passed through

Boulder Canyon and stopped in Spearfish Canyon

for a picture at Bridal Falls.

Not a lot of water coming down; as I said earlier, they

are sorely in need of rain.

On to Devil's Tower.It rises dramatically 1,267 feet

above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet from

summit to base. The summit is 5,112 feet (1,559 m) above sea level

Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument,

established on September 24, 1906,

by President Theodore Roosevelt. Yellowstone

is the first National Park

 Anthony and I walked around the

base of the tower.

 Where's Waldo?  or Where's Anthony?

He is in these pictures somewhere

among the rocks.

This is a beautiful view from the base above

the Belle Fourche River.  This area is still

considered part of the Black Hills but technically

the Bear Lodge Mountains.

Wild West Trip Day 4

It's Sunday morning and we found

a wonderful, serene house of

worship.  This is the Chapel in the Hills

on the south side of Rapid City.

The Chapel in the Hills was dedicated on July 6, 1969,

as the home for the radio ministry of Lutheran Vespers.

The church is a special ministry of the South Dakota Synod

of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

 The Chapel in the Hills is an exact replica of the

Borgund stave church in Norway.

The Borgund stavkirke was built around the year 1150

and is considered the most completely preserved

stave church still standing in Norway. It is
one of the inspirations for the movie "Frozen".

 We came across Bambi and her

mother when we were doing a prayer walk.

 The prayer walk takes you past statues of

the apostles, angels, etc. and is under the

canopy of these beautiful Ponderosa Pines.

 We drove through the Black Hills National Forest

and into Custer State Park.  We did a little

rock climbing.

 We waited for this big boy to cross the road.

There were about 100 buffalo on the highway.

 Mountain Goats

 The needles.

 A little more rock climbing.

 Next stop, Mt. Rushmore.

Great day and I think this picture is worth

1000 words.