Yellowstone 2010

We entered Yellowstone on Monday. After over 30 hours of travel we found the following a big relief.

Our cabin is located on the north rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We found a good spot to shoot pictures of the family. Here are some of those.


Jeff is really an excellent photographer. He has a keen eye for good looking shots. You can view more of his pictures here.



Jeff and Sharria make a nice couple, don't they?

Nan makes trips so much fun. I'm blessed that we share so many interests and that our relationship in God has kept us together.

Here are two nice young ladies I get to travel with.

Nan found some guy to talk with. She really should pick better folks to hang around.

I've got more scenes to show but these will have to suffice for now. Some wildlife shots are below too.


This is just down the road from where we are staying.

This is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Our cabin is about 2,500 feet away from this point.

Buffalo are common here. We saw this one walking along in the fog very early one morning. Last week a lady was trampled by one. There are warning signs every where telling you to stay away from the wildlife. Some people don't use the brain God gave them.

Here is another of the beasts.


And two other friends we meet along the way.

We have really enjoyed our time here so far. I've got 1,000's of pictures and little time to sort through them and post. Hope you enjoy these. Maybe I'll get some more up tomorrow.

Moose Quest 2010

Our quest has begun and we are having a great time. Internet access from the van makes life easier. I don't believe that Jennifer has asked one time, "When are we going to get there?"

The corn palace in Mitchell, SD is an interesting place. Everything you see below except for the spires are made from corn, either the cob, stalks, or other parts. Each year the city puts up a new design. Inside you can view photos of previous years. We asked about a couple of years that were missing and we were told that the corn harvest in those years was not plentiful enough for them to design the building.

Inside the corn palace gift shop Julie found that her natural color should be red. For those of you old enough to remember, that was my color, once upon a time.

All day as we were driving from Omaha, NE to Rapid City, SD, we kept seeing this guy pulling a boat named Erica. I first spotted him early that morning while everyone in the van was asleep. He was sitting on the side of the road under a bridge. We stopped for lunch and caught up to him at a rest area. We left before he did but after our stop at the corn palace we passed him again. About 50 miles down the road we stopped for supper. We figured we pass him again and did. WE all laughed and wondered if he recognized us. There was a beautiful sunset and we found a great place to pull over and watch. Sure enough, Erica passed us again, only for us to pass one more time. Late that night we stopped at a rest area before the final leg into Rapid City. As I waited on the women in pulled Erica.

I introduced myself to Ralph Downey, the new owner of Erica. I told him about how many times we had passed him and he said another family from North Carolina has been doing the same thing. Ralph bought Erica in Minnesota and is taking her back to Washington state. He had been having trouble with his truck and was taking it slow. I took the picture above because Erica needed to be documented for our quest.

Our first look at Mount Rushmore came Friday afternoon. You simply round a curve on a mountain road and this is what you see.

It is quite an impressive sight. We enjoyed our time at Rushmore and came back for the light show that evening. If you have ever been to the light show at Stone Mountain in Georgia, you know what a light show should be. Let me suggest that if you visit Mount Rushmore, don't worry about staying late for the light show. All they did was play patriot music and turn on some lights. It was nice, but nothing compared to Stone Mountain.

I learned that Julie nose a lot about Washington. You can tell from the picture below! I'll bet I'm in trouble for this one.

For all you folks back in Chattanooga...the weather here has been great. It was in the 70's today with these blue skies. At the light show it was actually cold. How nice to be here for the end of July.

More to come. No moose yet. First chance is at Yellowstone. We get there on Monday, if the Lord wills.

PS. For those of you checking the time on this post, keep in mind that we are on Mountain Time out here.