...the rest of the story

You thought that there was no more pictures of our vacation, didn't you? Well here is the rest of the story. I really wanted to see the Grand Tetons which was just south of Yellowstone and on our way home so that was the route we took. After almost two weeks I finally got brave enough to drive Mona. I had driven her to many places in Iowa getting her ready for the trip but never on highways where I needed to drive at least 55 mph. So here I was all ready geared up for the adventure and we go through the Tetons and ROAD CONSTRUCTION! Not just a little lane closing but full fledged road construction. Have you ever seen the kind with nothing but gravel and piles of dirt on both sides, with heavy equipment driving right next to you as you follow a PILOT car through endless miles of gravel and bumps? I had not and now I was in a 24 foot, 25 year old Motor home named Mona! What the... after I had driven probably 20 miles at the racing speed on 15 mph, I took my white knuckles off the steering wheel and Ken took over! My idea (it might be a little risque) just close the darn road and re-route the traffic!

Being silly at Flagg Ranch, Grand Tetons

We finally made it through the mess and Ken decided he would really like to see Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We were out west after all. Since I begged to see the construction of the Tetons I thought it only fair to head back North of our route to check out the monuments. The boys had been getting a little too close for comfort so we made all of the them lay down to nap while we drove north. By the time we got to Crazy Horse they were out. We donated our $27 to the organization that is now trying to finish Crazy Horse and I snapped one picture of it from the parking lot before we turned around to exit 5 minutes later. I am sure that the visitor center and Indian museum they have there would have been interesting but I was more interested in having a few hours of peace and quiet while the boys were sleeping. Then just a little down the road was Mt Rushmore. Same situation with the boys. So Ken and I ventured toward the viewing level to snap some quick pics and off we went. I got closer while Ken went back to the boys and I must say it was rather impressive that they were able to sculpt 4 different faces with such detail and at such a grand scale.




This part of the post is for my brother-in-law; the Harley Rider! It was Sturgis Bike Week during the time we were in South Dakota so motorcycles were everywhere. I was a little uneasy about getting that close to Sturgis with the boys and what they might be exposed to but for the most part it was unremarkable. The only thing we saw was this poor woman who could only put together enough money to buy some black undies to go with her black leather chaps! I hope she didn't get to cold at night!