Before we leave the wonders of the Badlands behind . . .

[A search of my copious photo archives discovered the Super there almost 11 years ago to the day.  The indigenous Indians do not like the term “Badlands,” they think their land is beautiful.  I would tend to agree, though wouldn’t want to live there.  😉   ]

[On day two, we turned south.  Through Wyoming on the way to see Auntie Pearl in Loveland, Colorado.]

[As you can see, another calm day on the prairie.  Our car doors almost went airborne, taking us with them, when we opened them!  And we had to be alert alert for flying debris, such as cattle, minivans, and mobile homes.]

[Reminiscent of the Sauk River on I-94, we crossed Old Woman Creek several times. Never caught sight of her though?]

[Do you see ’em?]

[Here they are closer up.  The pronghorn antelope (fastest land animal on the continent) was much more prevalent than during previous trips to the West.  It’s hard to get photos of them though as you only see them flying by at 70 – 80 miles per hour.]

[Maybe because we weren’t that far away from the real deal, there were lots of Devils Tower wannabes along the way.]

[Lusk rang a bell with me.  Don’t know why?]

[Nope, not Devils Tower.]

[More pronghorns!  And in the background, a snow fence.  The snow fences were ubiquitous throughout South Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming.]

[The Super was upset that the horse wasn’t named!]

Crossroads of a Nation Moving West

Originally established as a private fur trading fort in 1834, Fort Laramie evolved into the largest and best known military post on the Northern Plains before its abandonment in 1890. This “grand old post” witnessed the entire sweeping saga of America’s western expansion and Indian resistance to encroachment on their territories.  ~  National Park Service

[Interesting historical place.  Pretty nice day.  Let’s continue our walkabout.]

[Still walking . . . lots of stuff here.]

[OK, there’s everything you ever needed to know about Fort Laramie!  And this cowboy was such a good horseman he ultimately made enough money at it to build the 3-bedroom, split level house in the background.]

[The next stop, not far from Fort Laramie.]

[The Super, with her bad wheels, takes to the trails again!   🙂  ]

[Where is she going now?]

[Aha!  I’ve always found the pioneers to be utterly amazing people!  What would prompt anyone to load up a wagon with all their earthly possessions, and just start traveling into unknown and uncharted lands.  What about water?  Food?  Cable TV?   I mean, really?]

[Here are the wagon wheel ruts . . . and we’re at altitude here!  I wonder if the kids had to worry about No Child Left Behind standards on the trek?]

[The Super ponders it all while the two other people on trail approach in the distance.  A mother and daughter, on spring break together (?), requested I take their picture.  I told them I charged a quarter for that service.  When we got back to the parking lot, “mom” was walking over to our car to put a quarter on the hood . . . well, pretending to.]

[And here you can see how far above the valley floor the wagons had to climb.]

[Our fellow hikers told us if we walked farther down the trail we would find even deeper ruts.  Here the Super negotiates a tricky passage to find them.   🙂   ]

[Yup, the Fat Boys Walking Club does not even leave ruts like these on Y track!  Must have been more than a few wagons to cut those ruts into solid rock.]

[The sights and sounds along the road from Wyoming to Colorado.]

[Snow fences along I-25 in Colorado.]

[Loveland Lake in . . . Loveland!]

[We stopped at Auntie Pearl’s to take her out to dinner.  I spilled red wine on her carpet.  The next morning I spilled coffee in the lobby of our motel.  You can’t make up this stuff!  If there is a neurologist among the readership, maybe I could get a prognosis?]

[We had a nice evening with Auntie . . .]

[And were reminded it had been 25 years since we had last seen them in Colorado (we lost Uncle Ted a couple years ago).  What a change.  Auntie said the population of Loveland was 11,000 when they moved there 40 years ago – now it’s 77,000!]

I never married, because there was no need.  I have three pets at home which answer the same purpose as a husband.  I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late every night.  ~  Maris Corelli

Up next:  Day Three.