Archive for category Travel
A Special Day–Wild Horses
We weren’t sure what to expect as we made the drive to Hot Springs, SD and the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. What a marvelous experience. It was just Trisha and me as our guide, Mark, drove us over hundreds of acres of the sanctuary to see some of the beautiful mustangs running free on the vast grasslands. Some of these magical animals were curious and tame enough that they approached us and we could pat their gorgeous snouts and feed them handfuls of grass. It was just so cool to see hundreds of horses living completely free. Here’s a short video…
Custer State Park; Needles Highway
A day of leisure driving. We stopped back at Mt. Rushmore to spend a bit more time at the inside exhibit. Then off to Custer State Park, the Iron Mountain Road with its Pigtail Bridges, the Needles Highway and the Wildlife Loop.
Needles Highway tunnel
Badlands National Park
We zipped out of the Cambria Suites early this morning to maximize our time at Badlands. We did the traditional stop at Wall Drugs where I had mammoth pancakes for breakfast. Yummy! The rest of the day we cruised around Badland National Park stopping countless times for photographs although the overcast sky wasn’t optimal for picture taking.
Mt. Rushmore & Bear Country
After struggling, believe it or not, to find a Starbuck’s for a latte to start the day we spent the morning visiting Mount Rushmore. What a fabulous setting. It was more impressive than I remember as a ten-year-old over 50 years ago. From the famous monument we drove a bit through Custer State Park then stopped off at Bear Country USA, one of those drive-through wild-life parks. It was very cool: in addition to dozens of bears we saw elk, big horn sheep, a wolf, mountain goats, pronghorn sheep, reindeer, bobcats, et al., all very close up.
Butte to Rapid City
Today we did a 543 mile jaunt from Butte to Rapid City, SD. Again, we had beautiful weather with a lovely sunrise to start the day:
But most of the day looked a lot like this…
SD Hwy 212
… lots of rolling prairie, especially the last 250 or so miles between Hardin, MT and Rapid City.
North Bend to Butte, MT
Today was the longest segment of our trip: 573 miles. But the weather and traffic were easy and some of the scenery along I-90 interesting. We are listening to the latest Louise Penny Inspector Gamache mystery so the hours flew by. We ended the day with a terrific meal at Casagranda’s in Butte.
Columbia River Video
Posted by nbdog in Photo albums, Travel on 27-Aug-2013
I made a short video of some photos from our trip along the Columbia River. It turned out nice, I think.
(Click on the photo to open in You Tube)
Lunch at Miner’s
Since we were passing through Yakima, Trisha took advantage of the route to meet with old friends, Starla Gable and her mother. Before heading back to North Bend we had lunch at one of Yakima’s landmark eateries, Miner’s Drive-In where we shared one of their famous eight-inch burgers.
Apple Tree Golf Course
One of my primary destinations for our short trip along the Columbia River was the famous Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima. Thus I was up early Sunday morning for a 7:05 tee time. I enjoyed the course a lot although the heavy overnight watering made for short driving distances. In spite of some inconsistency off the tees, I managed a respectable 89 score.
Ready to tee off at the iconic 17th hole. (I got a par.)
Raptors at Skamania
During the summer the Skamania lodge invites the Raptor House Rehabilitation Center in Yakima to do presentations on their program and some of the birds they are treating. We watched a bit of this and eventually approached this magnificent bald eagle who had sat patiently during the long talk, seeming to enjoy just posing for photos. Among the several owls and hawks the raptor folks brought out this fellow was the most impressive.
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