And Here We Have Idaho

We finally made it "home" again. It was a really good trip driving across I-90 through Montana, although it was snowing on the summit when we fueled up in Butte and the rain on our awning froze overnight when we camped in Garrison! There was lots of water in the rivers all through Montana and northern Idaho. Our first view of Idaho was of course from the top of Lookout Pass and it was spectacular. We realize how much we miss the mountains when we come back to visit.
These two got out of order so I'll just write under both of them. I had to put pictures of Coeur d'Alene on our blog for Di. I know she misses this country too. We fueled up in Post Falls and then spent the weekend at Charlie's (Howard's cousin) in the Spokane valley. On Monday we drove down to park at Granite Lake RV Resort in Clarkston, WA so we could visit family in Lewiston. The first week we were here, Betsy got to drive up to Moscow with our good friend, Carma and go to the "Lunch Bunch" and visit with lots of Moscow friends. That was really fun!
The first weekend we were in Lewiston, we took Aunt Laura and Dorothy (Howard's Mom) over to Bridgeport, WA to celebrate their sister-in-law Becky's 95th birthday. As we drove by Grand Cooley Dam, we noticed they were letting lots of water out so we stopped and took a picture. I had to get one with the two sisters in it too!
Chief Joseph Dam is just east of Bridgeport and we could hear the roar of the water clear over from Becky's deck! It was really something to see so much water in the Columbia this time of year. We had a great time visiting with lots of family members and helping Becky celebrate her birthday. Last night we had Howard's brothers and Mom over for dinner. It was fun to visit and catch up on what they're doing. We'll be here in Clarkston until Monday, then we'll head for Burley for about two weeks to visit. We've been super busy visiting friends and family. We wish we could see everyone, but there aren't enough hours in the day!!

The Black Hills of South Dakota

We decided to drive the Iron Mountain Highway our first day in the Black Hills. It is a windy, narrow road with tunnels and lots of bridges. This is the first pigtail we went through. The road was built in 1919 and is really a beautiful drive.
This is a good picture of what the road does as it climbs the hill. There are lots of trees, but also areas where you can see out over the Black Hills that are really spectacular.
After going through this narrow, low and very long tunnel, we found out the tour buses go through here too! They only use experienced drivers and there isn't much room on each side of the bus. We were glad to have the car on this road.
This was the view that we got coming out of the second tunnel on our trip. It had a bit of the WOW factor. We went around a pigtail curve, crossed the bridge, went through the tunnel and got a really good shot. We went on this drive early in the morning so the sun was shining directly on Mount Rushmore.
After all the curves and tunnels we got on a bit of flatter land and saw a few pronghorns so we stopped to watch them. Then we noticed the fawn among the adults! What a treat, it scampered around for some time so we could take lots of pictures. When we told the rangers at the Custer State Park Visitor's Center that we had seen the fawn, they said we were extremely lucky because very few are ever seen and they had never seen one!
Burros in Custer State Park are not "wild" they are actually decedents of burros the minors brought to the area. They are wild now, but are very curious when you stop to watch them. This little guy was very hard to get a picture of, it was running around and mama kept trying to stay really close. They were really fun to watch.
We took a wrong turn on the Wildlife Loop Road through Custer State Park and coming around a curve we spotted this herd of buffalo. There were about 100 head in the herd so I couldn't get all of them in one picture. It was really quite a site!
As we got around closer to the herd, we spotted lots of babies. This one got really curious when we stopped to watch and allowed me to get a really closeup picture.
After all the shots of animals (we also saw a mountain goat and a turkey and we have lots more pictures of antelope and buffalo) my battery died in the camera! After a great morning driving and getting to see so much this was a bit anti-climatic, but it was neat to see again. They haven't gotten much done in the ten years since we saw it last though.
What can you say? Mount Rushmore is really awesome to see no matter how many times you've seen it! This is one of my favorite shots of the monument. We also visited the museum again and we got to have ice cream at the cafe (that's always a treat!)

Our last day in the Black Hills we got to go to a chuckwagon dinner at Ft. Hays Dances with Wolves. It was a good dinner and show and it was fun to see so many buildings from the set of Dances With Wolves. We also went through the Mount Rushmore Black Hills Jewelry Factory. That was a cool tour getting to see how Black Hills Gold is made. We had a really good visit to the Black Hills and are now looking forward to visiting Idaho!

South Dakota

This past weekend we got to camp on the Missouri River by Oacoma, SD. We attended a tiny branch on Sunday with only about 20 people in attendance. I've never been in such a small branch, we had some good meetings. This is really a pretty area.
On our way to Rapid City, we drove through the Badlands National Park. It's really pretty and really different. We dropped the coach at the Visitor's Center and drove the CRV through the park. The road was really windy and curvy, but we probably could have taken the coach on it.
At the end of the drive we came to Wall, SD and had to go to Wall Drug. We had heard it was a must see in SD. It was really fun to visit. We even ate lunch here and got to do lots of shopping.
We stopped at a little roadside store on our way back to pick up the coach and spotted these baby prairie dogs playing around their holes. There were quite a lot running all around and they were very friendly because people had been feeding them.
This guy was eating at his hole. He (or she) just stood there for quite awhile like it was posing for me to take a picture! We also saw antelope as we were leaving, but of course we were on the interstate and going too fast to get a good shot. This week we'll visit Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. I'll post more later. Hopefully it won't rain the whole time we're here!

Rock Island Locks

This one is mostly for the grandchildren! We're in Davenport, IA for a few days to get the coach fixed. We decided to go sightseeing today, so we drove to the Mississippi River Visitor's Center and Locks. We got up to the observation deck to see a boat in the lock going downriver. As we were watching, the lock started opening so I started snapping pictures -- all the way until the lock closed again and traffic resumed on the drawbridge over the lock. As we were leaving the Visitor's Center we spotted another boat getting in position to enter the lock. What a cool experience! Hope you enjoy the video!!!

DC with Loriann

We got to tour Washington, DC with Loriann for three days. We picked her up Wednesday evening to go on a moonlight trolley tour of DC. We got to see The Mall and Memorials all lit up. It really was a neat tour. Then Thursday afternoon we drove out to Mount Vernon and spent the day going all over the plantation grounds and got to go on a tour of the house. On Friday, we go up early and drove to the MARC train station in Odenton and rode the train down to Union Station. From there we boarded another trolley and got to drive all over DC. We walked around the Mall and visited the Jefferson Memorial again, the FDR Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, and the Washington Monument. We then went on the trolley past the National Cathedral, through Georgetown and stopped at the White House just in time to see a motorcade leaving the grounds! (While walking around the Mall area we saw lots of Marine One helicopters flying around so something was going on.) On Saturday, we visited the Pentagon Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. At the Pentagon Memorial we looked up my high school best friend's brothers memorial (it's the foremost "slide bench" in the picture I posted). At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier we were not only able to see the changing of the guard, but we got to see two wreathes presented, that was REALLY cool!! The pictures are not in order, but hopefully give a good representation of our visit to the DC area.

On Friday, we drove down to Union Station in Washington, DC and then walked to the Smithsonian Museum. I thought this was a really pretty picture of the capital with the fountain.
The Museum we spent the most time in was the Air & Space Museum. There were a lot more exhibits since either Howard or I was here last. Howard was last here in 1966 and I was last here in 1986.
This is the Smithsonian Castle and Visitor's Center. We just walked through it to go to Printing and Engraving. On the way to Printing and Engraving, we stopped in the Holocaust Museum. It really makes you think and is worth several hours to go through.
We got to walk by the Washington Monument on our way to the Museum of American History.Lots of people, lots of cars and 85 degrees. In all we visited the American Indian Museum, Air & Space Museum, American History Museum, Printing & Engraving, and the Holocaust Museum. Not enough time in some, but it was a good day.
You may have to click on this one to get it big enough to read. I think this was on the Newseum Building, right next to the Canadian Embassy. By the time we got here we felt we'd walked way too many miles and we were ready to get back to Union Station and our car. In all we got to DC about 10 am and got back to Union Station about 6 pm, a long day of walking and standing.
On Saturday, we decided to drive to Delaware so we could see that state. We had decided not to take the coach into Delaware because you can't get into the state without going over some kind of toll road or bridge. This is a scenic view looking over the WWII Monument across the river at the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
The Naval Academy reminded us more of a really old college campus. It is a really pretty campus and has LOTS of really old buildings. We only drove around the campus because we couldn't find any parking anywhere (there was a wedding at the chapel).
This is Camden, DE just outside Dover. There was street after street of these row houses built really close to the road. Delaware was a surprise to us, much more rural and smaller town instead of so much urban.
This is a farm in Delaware. There were lots of farms and vegetable stands. We also saw fields of asparagus, we haven't seen that since Walla Walla! Once we crossed the Bay Bridge over the Chesapeake Bay we were in much more rural country. It was a really pretty drive and we had a really good day!

Colonial Williamsburg

This is the old Colonial Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg. The governor was appointed by the King and he had full power over the Virginians. This was at a time when Virginia covered the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and West Virginia -- a huge area!
There are fun carriage rides through the streets of Colonial Williamsburg. We walked quite a ways between the craft shops. We visited a blacksmith, silversmith, print shop, gun smith, taylor, and saw a wig maker.
This is the Colonial courthouse. Trials in this courthouse would have mostly been for misdemeanors (missing Sunday services, swearing), all felony cases (grand theft, murder, kidnapping) were tried by the Governor in the courtroom in the Colonial Capital.
This is the interior of the Williamsburg Courthouse building. Lots of woodwork. The stocks were outside so everyone walking by could see who was being punished.
All the arms and ammunition for the Colony were stored in the building on the right. The building on the left was the guardhouse. The Colonists couldn't pick up any arms from here, they had to request what was needed and they were sent out to them. Every man from 16-60 was in the Militia and required to have a weapon in their home.
This whole wall of arms are actually from the pre-Revolutionary War era. Every wall on this level was covered with arms, but these were the only authentic weapons.
These are just some of the homes on the street where we were walking. Some were really tiny and others were quite large. Private homes were mingled in with businesses all along the street.
This is the front of the Capital Colonial Williamsburg. The building on the left was where the Governor and his 12 appointed directors were located. The building on the right was where the House of Bourgeois was located, where the likes of Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson represented their respective counties. The met twice a year at the pleasure of the Governor, but if the Governor didn't like what they were doing he could send them all home!
This is the front of the House of Bourgeois. The Chair was elected by the members of the House and sat in the chair on the raised platform.
This is the back of the House of Bourgeois. The coat of arms is a wood carving and really beautiful. Colonial Williamsburg is part of the historic triangle. There is Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown. We were only able to go to Colonial Williamsburg, but would like to come back to the area to visit. There is so much history around here it's just amazing!!