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.

* WARNING *  Remember when the neighbors used to invite you over to see a slide show of their vacation.  This is that.  Granted, it’s an acquired taste, easier to handle with wine. The next several of these episodes will reflect our most recent jaunt through the great American West.  Several places we had been to before, several others were new to us.  All in all, we circumnavigated 3,852 miles in 13 days.  If you plan on joining us, please fasten your seat belt – we do go through multiple elevation changes.

[We began our adventure the morning of March 15.  It was tough to leave the shores of beautiful Lake Darling that day.]

[For all you Jackrabbit fans out there, our first stop was at South Dakota State University in Brookings.  We had driven through a slight SW Minnesota snowstorm to get there.]

[Because we were already getting homesick, our second stop was in . . . Alexandria!  🙂  ]

 [Coming on down to the Missouri River, the longest river in the United States.  The Mississippi is the second longest . . . which may explain why Missouri beat the Gophers in the bowl game.]

[My driver, through most of the trip, because she always wanted to be an over-the-road trucker.  Besides, I’m the camera man.  😉  ]

[The only signs of life (?) for countless miles are the hay bales, making a unique landscape feature.]

[Moving from one empty 10,000 hectares to the next?]

[Well, I like ’em!]

[Miles from Nowhere . . . ]

[Nowhere’s water tower?]

[If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen millions!]

[If you’ve never driven across the South Dakota prairie, this is it.  I called it “In Search of the Elusive Tree.”]

[Not a Gopher (as far as I could tell).]

[This is like a hint.]

[This is one of the places we had been to previously.  (As Rita would say, “It’s bad, bad, bad!”)  Always worthy of return trips.  We did not see any mountain goats this time.]

[Warning at several places along the way.  No, we did not see any.  Though the weather was mild through the entire trip, probably a little early in the season for much reptilian activities.]

[Apologies upfront for the numerous “selfies” you’re likely to encounter.]

[I recognize that person in the middle photo as someone with whom I shared a car.]

[It is quite the unique and mesmerizing place.]

[And the Emmy goes to . . . ]

[The South Dakota Badlands aren’t huge, which makes them all the more convenient.]

[70 years old and still scrambling around on the rocks?  At home, it’s usually something about arthritic knees?  😉  ]

[Driving through the park to the . . . ]

[Visitors Center.  We usually watch whatever movie is playing about the Parks we venture to – gives a good introduction as to what you’re going to find.]

[Then it was back on the drive-through, watching the heights to see if we could spot any mountain goats or bighorn sheep.]

[Keep looking . . . ]

[No critters yet, but another beautiful overlook!]

[By now the Supervisor has repaired back to the car to peruse maps.  Maps take priority over everything else on these trips – heart attacks, landslides, earthquakes, et al, are trivial in comparison.  In the absence of the Super, “selfies” become a form of providing perspective.  As you can see, my head is as large as half the park.]

[SNAKE!!!!  No, but did I scare you?]

[Finally, critter sighting!  I was told they’re not Gophers, but members of the canine family . . . some kind of “dogs”?]

[Still “in search of . . .”]

[And there they are . . . big critters, right along the road way!]

[Reverse “selfie”?]

[Even in the camera’s little “screen,” I could tell this one was going to look like a museum display.  But really, they’re real!  A slow drive by and you can almost touch them.  Neat!]

[Always end with an “end” shot.]

[So, how do we get out of here?]

[One last expansive overlook, and we were off to . . . ]

[Our first overnight was in Wall, South Dakota, you know, home of the billboard famous drug store.  Anyway, Fat Boy’s BBQ was not yet serving BBQ (later in the season when the tourists swarm), so we opted for nachos, enough to feed two small countries.  (Editor’s note:  All food presentations herein are done at the request of the Fat Boys Walking Club, whose members all enjoy a good nosh.)]

If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.  ~  Catherine Aird

Up next:  Day Two.

This is St. Paddy’s Day . . . in the morning we would be heading west

Thanks again to Mikko and friends for a fun evening.  And it was great to see the Bruce Kelly videos to keep the tradition rolling!  🙂

[Sami was hoping she could make it, but it’s a long way from Colorado.]

[Almost a full house.]

[PARTY ANIMALS!]

[Sing along with us!]

[As usual, we had front row seats.  Still, at intermission, we always manage to be the first ones out for cookies?  🙂  ]

[I think we got everyone in this picture?!?]

[Erik was home from his 2-month escape to Arizona, and he and Al were entertaining at SAWA.  After closing St. Paddy’s AAAA event with the traditional “Parting Glass” (you know, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here), we and others, including the cast, joined in with Erik and Al, with each new arrival receiving an ovation from those already there.  It turned into one of those special evenings you can’t really plan.  🙂  ]

“I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “Where’s the self-help section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.”  ~  George Carlin

Up next:  The Road Trip (The Onslaught Begins!)

The winter sports season is over . . . so now what do we do?  Congrats to the girls’ hockey team for making state and to the girls’ basketball team for missing state by one point.  We’ll spring ahead now for remembrances past (OK, redundant but I like the alliteration).  I now do this on two computers so I missed some things for the first “stuff between games” post.  Remember the above?  That was less than two weeks ago!  A week later will still had temperatures of 20 below zero.  Now the snow is totally gone!!

Ole Slushball reports:

***

[On March 3, Jami and I went out to enjoy our last (?) winter snowfall, shovels in hand.]

[Back inside, feet up, enjoying a taste of the grape.  Ahhhh, I miss it already!]

[March 6 at SAWA, a pastry thingy . . . mmmmmmmmmm!]

[Vick . . . need I say more?]

[Dan Mahar’s semi-annual visit.  Great show, as always!  🙂  ]

[Happy Birthday, Dad!]

The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.  ~  Helen Hayes (at 73)

Up next:  Road trip ahead!