Vacation Pictures Part III

You saw the pictures from our trip to Seattle. You saw the pictures of our cruise to Alaska. Now here are the pictures from our trip home.

Since we did most of our sight-seeing of Seattle before the cruise, we didn't need to stick around so much after. Which meant we arrived in our first spot earlier than anticipated. But Spokane seemed to have something to offer: the Spokane Falls.

It was a hot day (in the 90s), but the mist from those falls felt oh-so-good.

There's even a statue at the bottom of a Native American honoring the salmon. But the salmon no longer climb this river. There's folklore of how that came about, but I didn't take a picture of that story and can't remember it. Bad me!

After Spokane, we drove to Gillette, WY. Saw nothing of importance in that trip, but it made it easier to plan out the next day. Of which I realized we were really close to Devil's Tower. It wasn't on our original itinerary, but I convinced Hubby we should go. I'm glad we did. That thing is AWESOME!

Gotta show proof I was there! I started out wearing the sweater (it had been raining just before we arrived and was a bit chilly), but it got warm rather quickly. Not too warm, but too warm to wear a sweater. I wished I had left it in the car.

Hubby and I walked the 1.3 mile path around the tower (and if I had known about this path beforehand, I definitely would have left the sweater behind). I took this picture thinking it might make a nice wallpaper on my computer. What do you think?

Overall, I'm glad we were able to stop and see it. And yes, there were several people asking where Richard Dreyfuss was. Haha!

After Devil's Tower, we stopped in at Deadwood. Had lunch at Mustang Sally's. I don't really get why a town can be popular because of the murder of Wild Bill Hickock, but then Tombstone, AZ is popular for a shootout at the OK Corral. Guess it's a western thing, huh? I didn't get any other pictures of Deadwood because it just didn't occur to me to take any.

After Deadwood, we put the top down on our fun car for the drive over to Mt. Rushmore, even though it was a bit on the chilly side (68-72). I was kind of glad when it started raining and we had to put the top up! But the rain stopped while we were at the monument. Had the requisite picture taken and man, what's with my hair?? I'll blame the fun car for that, I guess. Haha!

Rain came and went several times. I managed to capture a rainbow during one of the brief downpours.

After Mt. Rushmore, we drove over to the Crazy Horse monument. It's still in the process of being created, though. You can see the side view of his face and apparently they have his arm and finger finished (you can't see it at this angle, though). And if you look close enough, you can see a chalk outline of where the horse's head will be (far right).

This is what the mountain should look like when they finally finish it. Hubby doesn't think it'll happen in his lifetime, though. They've been working on this for decades!

The next day we took the road through the Badlands. I remember seeing this when I was 13. It hasn't changed much. We lucked out in the weather, though. Reached mid 70s. It was supposed to be back in the 90s in the next few days.

Kind of reminds me of the Grand Canyon in a way. Scientists say this was all under water at one time.

Panoramic shot.

I thought the colors were pretty.

Came across some bighorn sheep, sunning on the rocks.

There are parts where people can actually climb. I remember doing that when I was 13. I wasn't about to try and relive that, though.

Some of these rock formations are so cool. I don't think I have all that many pictures from my first trip out there (which would have been in 1970), so I'm glad I took lots of pictures this time around!

Driving through South Dakota, I wanted to see the Dignity Statue. That thing is huge (as you can tell from the person standing at the bottom of the picture). It's located in a rest area along I-90, near the Missouri River.

The next day I visited my 50th state: North Dakota. Hubby and I had breakfast in Hankinson at a place called Hotcakes Café. Apparently a lot of people stop there just to say they've been in North Dakota. The food was great, too! But I didn't get any pictures. Bad me.

I wanted to make sure to visit the Mall of America during this trip and that's where we ended up on our last night. Well... not AT the mall, but near it. Yes, the Mall of America is just a mall. But a 4-story mall. And it has this amusement park inside. I couldn't leave without riding the roller coaster (which ran on that orange track in the picture).

I also couldn't leave without getting my magnets from Hard Rock and Bubba Gump. I knew Hard Rock was there, but shocked to find Bubba Gump! If I had known, I would have begged to have dinner there, but I had already promised Hubby we would eat elsewhere. As it was, Bubba Gump had ran out of their magnets (boo hoo), but they had some pins. I bought one, cut off the pin, and stuck on a magnet. Not my first Bubba Gump without a magnet. Probably won't be my last either.

There's also this huge Lego store in the mall. Those Lego men are like people-sized. I can't imagine the work involved in putting those together, because yes, they are made out of Legos.

That's all the pictures from our vacation. I had such a great time and whenever I need to unwind, I think back on all the fun stuff we did.

So... What's the longest vacation you've ever taken? Hopefully you did some fun stuff!

Happy Monday!

Stacy