Day 3: South Dakota

The tent was comfortable . . . I had to go to the restroom at 2am.  You probably noticed there wasn't one in the tent (some do have them but out of my budget).  There is a bathhouse close so finally at 530am I gave in and went.  Again, I tried my best to be so quiet because you could hear every time the neighbor kids whined (they were older and cried a lot too).  I mean this is a pretty nice view from the patio!

Since I was up so early, I got dressed and hit the road.  Mount Rushmore National Memorial opened at 5am so why not?  I was surprised there were other people there . . . less than 10 but nice to take photos with no people!  You can get the views and hike the short trail but nothing really opens until 8am.

It was a quick stop and back on the road!  I have been to this area before but remember how beautiful it was so wanted to do it again.  I started the slow, curvy drive on the Iron Mountain Road to my next stop but it sure was beautiful!  This is the Scovel Johnson Tunnel.  It is hard to see in the photo but the tunnel frames Mount Rushmore!

The road was a lot of sharp turns and curves but it was so early not many cars were out which was good so I could go slow and enjoy the views.  I have arrived at Custer State Park.  I think this is one of the best state parks in the entire United States!  I was going to do the Wildlife Loop Road to see all the wildlife.  I had just entered and there was a traffic jam . . . . there they were; bison jam!

The weather was so nice that I had my window rolled down.  As the herd approached, I rolled it up because they were close and thought they might stick their heads in.  I am a weirdo.  They were everywhere and man I was loving it.

 

Trust me there were hundreds . . . I took a ton of photos (from the car) for some reason.  The next stop was to see the prairie dogs.  These things are so stinking fast!

Then the wild donkeys also known as the "begging burros" . . . 

. . . which aren't so wild since people can walk up to them and pet or offer a treat.  I circled back to the Custer State Park Bison Center . . . I passed it by but went back since it was still so early in my day.  It was an excellent (and beautiful) interpretative center with displays of how the free-roaming herd of over 1,400 bison are managed and maintained  Glad I went back!  

I had arrived at my destination for the night super early so decided to go check out the local town.  The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota, is the world's largest in its original place.  The mammoth research and excavation facility preserves the remains of 58 Columbian mammoths and 3 woolly mammoths inside a sinkhole trap.  It just blows my mind that these sites are just discovered because someone was digging!

Day 2: Wyoming to South Dakota

I had an amazing night of sleep! I don’t know when I ever slept 10 hours! It was back on the road to Fort Laramie National Historic Site.  Fort Laramie was perhaps the single most important location in America’s expansion into the west.  Founded in 1834 as a trading post, it became a military fort in 1849 but abandoned by the military in 1890.  Over the years it influenced major events in the history of the Trans-Mississippi West.  From the eras of the fur trade, the Oregon Trail, and the Indian Wars, the fort served as an American foothold in a rapidly changing west.

The weird thing about me and my travel planning is that over the years I have become unpredictable.  As I was looking at the map, I realized there was a place that I had been wanting to stay for a long time and it was only 3 hours away . . . so I headed that way.  I have always wanted to stay at the Under Canvas tents but they are never near where I am going, out of my budget, or it is just too hot!  So here I am!

 

 

Under Canvas Mount Rushmore is literally in the middle of nowhere . . . the roads are questionable especially in my rental car, but I made it.  I had one thing on the agenda: nothing!  I sat on the front porch while the day ticked away until I grabbed dinner.  I spent way tooo much time watching these guys scurry around!

I signed up for the sunset hike.  I questioned how difficult it was and was told, “oh anyone can do it.”  Ya'll don't believe the young guide who is fit and does this daily that it is really that easy!  That is when I should have walked away, but I did not.  The goal was to see Mount Rushmore as the sun was setting, but it was hazy and hard to see. The longer I looked the easier it was to see the four Presidents.

The hike back was easier but man I’m so out of shape. A quick stop for a s’mores kit and to the tent for hopefully a good night sleep. 

Day 1: hello Wyoming

Yesterday we drove from Texas to Colorado; it was a loooong day, but I did sleep a solid 6 hours without waking up!  The kiddo dropped me off at the rental car place so I could go explore on my own and he could get ready for the start of grad school! He couldn’t wait for me to drive away!  It has been a challenging period for both of us!  Honestly, I was pretty excited too!  I made a quick lunch stop at Yampa Sandwich Co. before I left Fort Collins and the sandwich was so good! 

I was on the road headed north. I was in Wyoming in about half an hour!

First stop were the Oregon Trail Ruts . . . deep, physical grooves carved into solid sandstone by the iron-shod wheels of thousands of covered wagons during the mid-19th-century overland migrations.

 

Then on to Register Cliff . . . during the height of the westward migration in the 1840s and 1850s, it served as a popular first-night campsite and navigational checkpoint roughly a day's journey west of Fort Laramie along the Oregon, California, and Mormon Pioneer Trails.  Wyoming's most famous natural trail registers where trappers, traders, and emigrants chiseled their names, dates, and places of origin into the soft rock. The earliest recorded signature dates back to July 14, 1829.

Of course, with anything these days some people decide to carve their name as if they were important so it was hard to find the old original signatures.

 

Called it a night at an old-time roadside motel, Bunkhouse Motel.  It was as if I stepped back in time but super clean with the friendliest owners.

Huntsville, Texas

I have been to Huntsville several times but this weekend we are being tourist!  Huntsville is all about Sam Houston and the oldest state prison.  First stop was the Texas Prison Museum.  I wasn't sure what to expect but will say it was a good museum with good displays.  As morbid as it sounds the main attraction was seeing Old Sparky.  This was the electric chair used from 1924-1964 and where 361 condemned inmates died.

There was also a very detailed account of the July 1974 prison siege that lasted 11 days when inmates took 15 hostages.   

Next up was all about Sam Houston.  We walked around the Houston Farm complex that is actual land owned by the Houston Family from 1847-1858.  The grounds were very well kept and pretty.  The Houston's Family Woodland Home.  

Stopped by the Memorial Museum complex where there were exhibits about Houston and his life.  Did you know Francis Scott Key (yes, the one who wrote The Star Spangled Banner) was Sam Houston's attorney when Houston was accused of assaulting a member of Congress.  He was found guilty.  Then a short drive to the Sam Houston burial site

And a bit of useless information . . . when the monument arrived in 1911 the word governor was misspelled on the 3rd line . . . so they fixed it by sanding the misspelled word down and putting gov'nor.  

Our last stop was the BIG Sam Houston . . . if you are driving on I-45 you can't miss him!  

 

He stands 67 feet tall on a 10 foot base . . . his cane is 32 feet tall . . . his hand is 7.5 feet wide and he  weighs 30 tons!  Seriously if you don't see him you must have been asleep!

Best Food Spots:
Five Loaves Deli
Farmhouse Cafe

And if you like fabrics and quilting stopping by Little Splitpeas is a must!  

Wandering Waco 11

One place I always recommend to visitors is the Waco Mammoth National Monument.  

It is a collaboration between the National Park Service, Baylor University, and the City of Waco.  

I  have been several times but today was the first time I attended one of the tours that actually gave the history of the site and explained exactly what I was looking at . . . otherwise you are looking down at a big hole with some bones.   

Quick summary:  In 1978, two local men discovered a large mammoth bone in a ravine near the Bosque River in Texas, leading to the unearthing of a rare nursery herd of Columbian mammoths. As of my visit, there have been at least 24 mammoths uncovered.  Following years of excavation and research by Baylor University, the site opened to the public inside a protective dig shelter in 2009. The site was officially designated as the Waco Mammoth National Monument in 2015.

I used a museum pass from the local library so it was free; otherwise it is $8 per person to visit (NPS Passes don't get you in for free).  Tours were on the top of the hour and worth the 45 minutes.  You don't have to go on a tour; you can get your ticket and just show up to the dig site.  

Wandering Waco 10

I am going a bit crazy hanging out at home . . . it is already hitting triple digits so being outside is a bit unbearable.  I woke up early and told myself I was going to do something outdoors today.  So, I quickly got dressed and was on my way to Mother Neff State Park.  The weird thing is I grew up less than 20 miles from this state park and have never been here.  I arrived just minutes after they opened at 8am.  I grabbed a map and off I went.  I had already mapped out the trails I wanted to hike so that made it easy as I was trying to beat the Texas heat.  My car said it was 77, but I tell you it sure did not feel that cool.  The trails were well marked with a lot of shade!

I started at the Tower Trail and ended up on the Cave Trail.  I stopped at the CCC Rock Tower.  

You could climb to the top to see the views . . . which were mainly tree tops but nice.

. . . then on to the CCC Table.  

. . . and finally Tonkawa Cave.  The Tonkawa people lived in the rock shelter over 200 years ago.  

. . . with a final stop at the Historic Bell.  The CCC used this bell to call workers for dinner, meetings, and to warn them of storms.

The sun was starting to show its stuff so I jumped in the air conditioning and headed home.  And my car said it was 81 . . . not way because it already felt like 101!

Who was Mother Neff?

Isabella Eleanor Neff was born in Roanoke, Virginia, in 1830; the youngest of 12 children. She married Noah Neff in 1854, and after a few days of marriage, they decided to move to Texas.  It took them 52 days by carriage to drive from Roanoke to Belton, Texas.  They settled along the Leon River in Coryell County.  She earned the nickname Mother Neff from Chisholm Trail cowboys and local travelers because of her legendary hospitality, often offering them pie, coffee, and a place to rest.  Upon her death in 1921, she gifted 6 acres of her property to the citizens of Texas.  In other Neff family news, her youngest son, Pat Morris Neff, was elected Governor of Texas in 1921 and was president of Baylor University.  He would also donate more land to make Mother Neff State Park what it is today.

Lost Pines Resort, Texas

It is time for my yearly trek to hang out at my favorite Texas resort that is "near" my house, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort.  Lost Pines is not really the town it is located .. . apparently it is Cedar Creek which is close to Bastrop, Texas.  But that doesn't really matter!

It is not really in my budget but thanks to points it is a "free" splurge!  I love walking up to the entrance knowing I am about to do absolutely nothing but relax . . . and eat.  The front is just as pretty as the back!

 

I love to go here before school ends and mid week  . . . the resort is empty except for an occasional conference of adults that attend meetings by day and fancy lawn parties by night.  I swear there were less than 20 people at the pool/lazy river area each day, and I was loving it!  My agenda was float the lazy river . . . round and round and round for hours!

 

. . . staring at blue skies!  

. . . with an occasional snack; that mango refresher drink was amazing!

Oh and who doesn't love a spin down the water slide?

I took breaks to nap in the room and check on the local friends . . . Johnny did not seem interested in visitors today.  I understand because for late May it is already HOT here in Texas.  At least he was smart enough to lay in the shade unlike the other crazy goats!

As night approached, I was in line to grab my free s'mores kit and off to the firepits.