Yellowstone National Park, Sept 13-15

   We left Rapid City nice and early with packed sandwiches. We chose to go via Route 212 which was shorter in distance than via the interstate. And, it was supposed to be shorter in time, but there was quite a lot of construction, so...it wasn't. But, it was interesting and mostly deserted with miles between little towns, many of which had no gas stations. We also went through two reservations. We stopped for lunch at Little Big Horn which we find a sad place, although beautiful.

Little Big Horn

We are staying at our first Air BnB. It is in the house of a couple who live on a ridge above the small town of Emigrant, MT. It is strange to be in a bedroom on the first floor of their house, but the hosts, Ken and Debbie deGraff, are doing their best to make us feel at home. We shopped in Livingstone and we have a shelf in their refrigerator. Ken helped us plan our route tomorrow through the northern portion of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone River where we had a picnic

    What a wonderful day we spent in Yellowstone today! The weather was perfect - blue skies and in the 70s. Our first stop was to Norris Hot Springs area where we saw geysers, boiling pools of mud and bubbling and steaming springs. 

Our next stop was to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which we viewed from several vantage points. 

Then, we went on to our farthest point- the Hayden Valley where herds of antelope, elk and buffalo are often seen. (Buffalo were there, but very far away.) 

Herd of elk in Mammoth Hot Springs

En route, we picked at a quiet spot which was needed as the main attractions were very full and it was hard to find parking, even with Mark's handicap sticker. 

We left through Mammoth Springs, but will stop there tomorrow morning. There was a really large herd of elk in the middle of town causing the rangers some problems. 

Leaving the park, we saw 5 big horned sheep which was a real treat and a great way to end the day.

They actually seemed to pose for us. Then, we stopped at a grocery store in Gardiner and got some chicken and a tomato and ate at a beautiful roadside stop along the Yellowstone River. We didn't get back to the air bnb until past 6. A wondrous day, for sure.

Big horned sheep ascending

The next day we got up a bit earlier to get to the Park. First, we went and got a day pass to Chico Hot Springs for later in the day. Our goal today was to see Mammoth Hot Spring which we missed yesterday, choosing to go further into the park on the first day. We thoroughly walked both the upper and lower parts of the hot springs. It is a surreal and magical landscape. We also found a cell phone with credit cards in it which we turned in to the Visitor Center and the woman was there to gratefully pick it up while we were in the bathrooms, so we didn't meet her.

Afterwards, we drove to Chico Hot Springs, a resort near Emigrant. We spent the afternoon in the hot mineral pools relaxing and chatting to people. It was idyllic. We tried to get into their fine dining restaurant, but there were no tables, so we ate at the outside grill which was only mediocre, but we were so very relaxed.

Then, we had a nice evening chatting with our hosts.

Hot springs, amazing colors

A killdeer IN the hot springs!

The Black Hills of South Dakota, Sept 10-12

 

When Jecca was little, she slept as we passed Wall Drug. After all the signs along the way, she was not pleased with us!

 We had a lovely day of weather on our first full day in Rapid City. We made sandwiches before we took off for Custer State Park. We went close to the Crazy Horse Monument, but did not go in. (We gave a donation and were able to take some photos. It has definitely made progress since we were here years ago.) 

Then, we took the Wildlife Loop in the park. We saw a huge herd of buffalo alongside a herd of burros and horses and prairie dogs all in one big field. The herds were rather far in the distance, but impressive.   Then we stopped by Legion Lake and then took the fabulous Needles Highway and stopped at Sylvan Lake to eat our picnic and walk by the beach where the kids swam many years ago, jumping from the rocks.

Sylvan Lake

   From there, we went into Custer and had ice cream at Horatio's which is in the old bank building where there was a coffee shop years ago. We channeled Hank as it was a place with homemade ice cream and waffle cones. And, we got a photo from Jecca in Boston with David and Maura eating sandwiches at Dino's. Then we came home to our Home2 by Hilton and watched the U.S. Open Women's Final between teenagers Emma Radacanu (Britain) and Leylah Fernandes (Canada). Radacanu won.

Main Street, Custer

Horatio's

    The next day we drove to Mt Rushmore. We felt quite alien as there were so many people defying the masking or social distancing rules. It seems that Rushmore is a magnet now for the right wing even though you'd hardly call the 4 presidents on the monument right wing, especially Theodore Roosevelt. All 4 were complex men with flaws.

Breezy Point Picnic Area

The souvenir shop strictly enforced masking with a person at the door, but it was crowded. And, the other indoor spots (bathrooms, a smaller bookstore) had no guards and the 2 of the 5 women in the bathroom were unmasked and staring at those of us with masks). So, we did not stay long. We found a lovely and empty picnic area called Breezy Point and had our lunch and felt a lot better about life.

Along the Wildlife Loop

Legion Lake

Week 3 Sept 5 - 9

    We left bright and early on September 5 and followed Route 90 for almost 500 miles. We had some spitting rain, but overall, it was good driving weather. Mark made egg salad and we made sandwiches at a rest stop in NY state somewhere. We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Mentor, Ohio and did Japanese take-out for dinner in our room. 

     Labor Day. We drove from Mentor, Ohio to Lafayette, Indiana, about 350 miles. It took us on some roads we've never been on before which is always nice. Lots and lots of corn fields! We are at a very nice Staybridge Suites hotel about 15 minutes from Purdue. We met Otis around 2:30 by the main parking garage where we were able to charge the Clarity for free. 

Otis walked us around the lovely campus where he is so obviously very happy. The campus was very empty as it is Labor Day and the all classes were cancelled. We drove by the airfield which, in itself is amazing - that the college has its own airfield.

   We had bubble tea at TSAOCAA which was recommended by Jecca. The area is very hip and filled with college kids. 

From there we walked to Taste of India where we had a wonderful meal. We had garlic naan bread. Otis had butter chicken. Barbara had mushroom saag and Mark had biryani rice with lamb. 

We were all very full and pronounced it all very good.

From there we dropped Otis at his bicycle and came home tired as we walked almost 3 miles and it was rather warm. It is so great to see Otis so happy with his choice of college.

Our 40th wedding anniversary! We were happy to spend part of the day with Otis. We drove to the campus and each bought a Purdue t-shirt. Then, we walked to the same bubble tea place and each had a tea. We strolled the area around campus, drove back to our hotel, picking up a cactus for Otis's room on the way. 

We picked Otis up at his dorm and drove to Yatagarasu ramen restaurant which is where the Hutchesons ate when they first explored Purdue as an option for Otis at a time when the pandemic was just unfolding. In fact, they got the last tour given on campus at the time. (March 2020) Then, we dropped him off feeling pleased that he is so very happy at Purdue.

We left Lafayette by back roads for the first almost hour, passing by corn fields and silos.  Then we picked up interstates (74 to 80) and drove 456 miles to Des Moines. (We avoided the interstates around Chicago) We had beautiful blue skies, but a long drive. (Country Inn and Suites) 

And, the next day we had a short (4 hour) drive to Sioux Falls, S.D. We had another truly lovely day of weather. We ate lunch at Sanaa, a Syrian restaurant that Mark had looked up. The owner/chef recommended a beef and a chicken dish for us. It was excellent. Later we went to the Falls Park and walked by the falls.

Today we drove only 350 miles or so along Rt 90 to Rapid City, S.D. It was a hazy and hot day (90s) with smoke in the air. We had thought that maybe we'd take a loop road through the Bad Lands National Park, but the heat and haze dissuaded us. David and Maura are en route to Boston today after a long delay in leaving Missoula. We are in a Home2, a Hilton resort. We got some food at a nearby grocery and ate in our room.