Road Trip: Day #3

After breakfast at the lodge we headed to Mt Rushmore. We took advantage of the good weather and walked the 1/2 mile Presidential Trail which included 400 stairs. We stopped at the Sculptor's Studio and then took in all the displays & short films at the visitors center. Some interesting facts: The sculpture was created by Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers and took 14 years (October 4, 1927 - October 31,1941) to build. Why did they choose these 4 Presidents? George Washington, as the 1st president, was the father of the new country and laid the foundation of American democracy. Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence and purchased the Louisiana Territory, doubling the size of our country. Theodore Roosevelt provided leadership when America experienced rapid economic growth as it entered the 20th Century. Abraham Lincoln held the nation together during its greatest trial, the Civil War.
"Did You Know? Mountain Goats are not native to the Black Hills? The population can be traced back to six goats, a gift to Custer State Park by Canada in 1924, that escaped from their pens and found their home among the Black Hills granite peaks. There are now approximately 200 mountain goats in the area." And look! We saw 3 of them!!

Next on our agenda was the Crazy Horse Memorial, about 17 miles south of Mt Rushmore. It is the world's largest mountain carving and is privately owned. The dedication blast was held in 1948 and below is how it looks today. And below is what will eventually be carved in the mountain. Millions of tons of rock have been removed and they are currently blocking out the 22-story-high horses head. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started the work and his wife & children are continuing it since his death in 1982. "The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high."

Unfortunately, it started to rain quite heavily on our way to Crazy Horse Memorial, so we did not venture onto the muddy trails to walk closer to the sculpture, but took our views from the observation deck and the visitors center. Rather impressive none-the-less!
I had googled restaurants before we left on our trip and thought Dickey's Barbecue Pit sounded good. Found one in Rapid City, so we headed there to enjoy BBQ on Father's Day. After eating there Audrey decided we NEED one in Spokane! You go through the line to order your meat and your sides. We tried a little of everything (pulled pork, sausages, beef, beans, loaded mashed potatoes) and it was all good. When you go to pick up your silverware and napkins there is also a large pickle jar and of course, all the barbecue sauces to choose. And finally, after your meal you can get self-serve, soft-serve ice cream for dessert. I like it when we choose well for meals!
After lunch we got in the car and started our 75 mile one-way trip to Wall, South Dakota. What a quirky and fun tourist trap! For most of the 75 miles there were billboards advertising Wall Drug. And not just one or two.... I had Audrey take pictures as we were cruising down the freeway - below are just a few:
And then when we got there, wow. Wall Drug is billed as the world's largest drug store. I think it was 4 city blocks? They still fill prescriptions, but you can also find western clothing, jewelry, books, fudge, pottery, gifts, donuts, souvenirs, and taffy (just to name a few). Or you could go to church, eat at the restaurant, play arcade games or take a picture on the 6 foot jackalope. Interesting place!
We headed back the 75 miles to our hotel and waited until it was time to head back to Mt Rushmore to see the lighting ceremony. Though it had stopped raining about mid-day, it started pouring rain again while we were at Mt Rushmore. So we tried to huddle where we would not get too drenched, but finally gave up and stood in the gift shop. We were not able to hear all the program (which I would have liked to see) but when they finished the evening, the audience sang America the Beautiful and they piped that over the loud speakers. As we sang that song, in a beautiful free land and a beautiful setting, it was very moving.

Road Trip: Day #2

Destination: Keystone, South Dakota
345 miles
5 hours 32 minutes

Last night we watched National Treasure 2 in anticipation for the next destination of our road trip = Keystone, South Dakota (Mount Rushmore). After we woke up this morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and then checked out. John detoured us by the Boothill Cemetery just up the street from our hotel, which was a clue as to how our hotel got it's name.

"BOOTHILL CEMETERY-MONUMENT - Boothill Cemetery is a burial ground for two score residents of Coulson - a rough and ready forerunner of Billings - most of whom "cashed it in with their boots on." Buried here is Muggins Taylor, the scout who carried the news of Custer's Last Stand to the world. The last burial at Boothill was in 1882."

We headed out of Billings and decided to stop next at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. It was not a planned destination, but we decided that this road trip was definitely "the journey", not always the destination, so if any one of us wanted to stop - we did just that. While we were walking around the grounds looking at the gravestones and displays, John pointed out that "I" was included on the monument = "Noisy Walking" as my tennis shoes were incredibly squeaky whenever I walked and had been all through our trip. It was even annoying me!!
"This area memorializes the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry and the Sioux and Cheyenne in one of the Indian's last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, died fighting several thousand Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors."

Amazingly enough they did not have a souvenir spoon at the actual memorial, but we knew they'd have trinkets at the tourist shop just down the road. We had a fun time browsing and trying on hats. We found a spoon and loaded up on beverages for the road.

We drove through Epsie and then had to stop for about 20 minutes for road construction. The road crew handed out candy as they came to each car to alert them of the delay. That was kind of nice. We got back on our way, then stopped for gas in Broadus and continued through Hammond, Alzada (MT) and to Belle Fourch (SD). There we ate at Hardee's for lunch. (Keeping to our restaurant rule, technically we don't have a Hardee's available in Spokane. Since they were bought out by Carl's Jr their menu duplicates Carl's Jr rather than what a Hardee's looked like in the 80's however). We continued through Spearfish, Sturgis (famous for the bike motorcycle rally) and to Rapid City, South Dakota.

We took another detour when we got to Rapid City as we started seeing billboards for Reptile Gardens and thought it would be something Audrey would enjoy. Well, we ALL enjoyed it! We watched the Bird Show, the Snake Show and the Alligator & Crocodile Show. Between shows we toured the dome that included rooms with tropical plants and a large collection of reptiles and birds. Even had an actual crocodile from the James Bond movie "Live and Let Die".
Keystone was just down the road about 30 minutes, but the terrain definitely changed in that short distance from prairie to the scenic Black Hills. The turn from the main highway down to Keystone was just beautiful. We had reservations at the K Bar S Lodge which was nestled in the mountains. Here is the few from our lodge:
Below is the view of downtown Keystone, a western town complete with gun slinging cowboys and a saloon. It was a fun and busy atmosphere that we enjoyed while we browsed the shops on one side of the street. We ended up eating in a period style restaurant, Ruby House, which was located next to the saloon. The salad and rolls were OK, so I was pleasantly surprised our main dishes were pretty tasty. After dinner we checked out the shops on the other side of the street and then headed back to the lodge.

Road Trip: Day #1

Destination: Billings, Montana
540.18 miles
7 hours 48 minutes

Today we started our road trip! We drove through Idaho and Montana, stopping first at the Lincoln's Silver Dollar in Haugan, MT. This is a favorite traditional stop for Audrey so took some time to look at the various trinkets for sale. We made a planned stop at Wheat Montana Farms in Three Forks for lunch as I had read an article about the establishment. Our sandwiches were great and if we could have, we would have tried their huge cinnamon rolls, but our lunch was filling. This also helped us with the "Carter trip plan" of eating at restaurants that are not available at home (if we can help it). We drove into Billings where our hotel reservations were. I had chosen a hotel off the internet called Boothill Inn. We thought it was great! The staff were very friendly, beds were comfy and they served cookies & milk at night and hot breakfast in the morning. I especially loved the soaps and shampoo = all orange scented! We asked the front desk staff for dinner suggestions and they suggested the Bull Mountain Grille. We were not disappointed as you could tell the dressings were homemade and the rolls were divine. What a great start to our road trip adventure.

Early Father's Day

Because we would be on our roadtrip on Father's Day, we decided to celebrate early and take John to Texas Roadhouse. First he had to open his presents. He had been catching a few episodes of Burn Notice, so we got him the series DVDs plus a couple shirts for work. Then we headed out to CDA to try out the new restaurant. While waiting for our table, we partook of the full ambiance by grabbing a peanut, shelling it, eating it and tossing the shell on the floor like the rest. Once seated they brought the hot, soft rolls with the honey berry butter to the table. We could have eaten these all night! Audrey and I had steak, John had ribs. I tried the green beans & salad; John tried the loaded mashed potatoes; and Audrey tried the beans (a little too spicy). All of the food was fresh and delicious. Definitely would go again! Especially liked when the wait staff would stop and line dance to a number, all synchronized. Fun place!!

Graduation Festivities

This week was packed with lots of graduation events. Senior Finals were Tuesday & Wednesday; Grad rehearsal #1 was Wednesday afternoon and Audrey's graduation party was Wednesday evening. The Senior Breakfast was Friday (at the Spokane Convention Center) and the final Graduation rehearsal was afterward. We also went to a few graduation parties on Saturday.

Sunday, June 12th, was the big day! We attended Church where the Young Women presented a Quilt to each of the graduating seniors. The YW theme was on the front along with signatures of all the young women and leaders. The back was Mickey fabric! Does Kathy Thompson know Audrey or what? (Kathy is who coordinated & completed the quilts).



After church we headed home to rest and then went downtown for the graduation. We had to be there at 3:30pm. Graduation commencement was at 4pm in the INB Performing Arts Center. It was the 100th commencement for West Valley School District, so in addition to the normal agenda items (processional of graduating seniors, senior speakers, band & choir performances), they also had a historical perspective speech and slide show by Jodee Cahalan, history teacher. (Fun fact, I was one of the students in her class during her first year as a teacher). The seniors got a special cap & gown set, as the orange portion that they wore over their black gown had "100th commencement" inscribed on it. We sure are proud of Audrey!


The commencement and picture taking got done about 6pm. We raced home to change & grab a bite to eat and be at the Seminary Graduation as soon as possible as it started at 7pm. I have to admit that originally I was a little frustrated that both graduations were the same day, but it was such an uplifting experience and a wonderful way to end the day. The music by the seminary choir was wonderful and those that spoke had a great spirit about them. It was a combined graduation with the East Valley, West Valley, Central Valley & University High Schools - so they served cake in the various school colors after the graduation.


After we got home, Audrey headed to the Senior All Nighter at 10pm and arrived safely home around 4pm? I honestly cannot remember, except that she had a great time and won a little ($20) at the bingo table. (I might have to have her add something to the official record here).

CONGRATULATIONS AUDREY! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

POTC 4

Since we had basically spent the last few months working on this:


We decided we could enjoy the afternoon watching this:



After running a few errands and John helping lay tile at a friends' lake house, we met up with Uncle Steve and one of his grandsons and watched Pirates of the Caribbean 4. I loved it! We know Audrey loved it as this was her 2nd time watching it in the theatres (and it stars Johnny Depp). I would put the original POTC movie as #1 and this one actually in the #2 spot. I enjoyed the story line and the movie flowed along very nicely. We always stay for the "after credits" and this one did not disappoint either!

Graduation Party

Right before Audrey's graduation party was set to start, Jodi & Scott Riggin stopped by with this awesome sign! They put it up on the front of the house which just added such a great festive flair to the event. Jodi is so talented!!! THANK YOU!!

We had literally spent the last three months working on the yard in the evenings and weekends to prepare for Audrey's open house to be held in the backyard. We put in new landscaping rock (2 & 1/2 tons), flowers and plantings, and even added 3 yards of dirt to the front yard along with new grass (from seed). The lawn was not "quite" full by the party, but still looked pretty good. The backyard looked great and the afternoon was looking very promising on a nice but not too warm sunny day:

The party started at 5:30pm and by 6:30pm the winds were starting to build up and the rain started falling. But by 7pm the rain was coming down in buckets!! We had guests stranded in their vehicles in the driveway waiting for it to "clear up" a bit. Thankfully someone had brought an umbrella so we sent Mariska's boyfriend out to rescue them. We had chairs set-up inside so guests were able to stay indoors and enjoy visiting without braving too much of the weather. For treats we paid a very talented baker duo to prepare the desserts and they did a fabulous job: Chocolate Pie Bites, Jumbo Snicker doodles, Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt, Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange frosting, Graduation Cap Sugar Cookies and the most popular - Brownie Pops (dipped in caramel and then dipped in chocolate). Yummo!! Thanks Susan and Meredith for doing such a wonderful job. The added benefit for me not having to stress about the baking was very much appreciated and allowed me time to spend on the yard. I did add fresh fruit to the buffet - pineapple, raspberries, green grapes, red grapes and strawberries. We served ice water with sliced oranges (instead of lemons) and then had a big orange bucket of ice with "Orange" and "Black" Cherry Pop. You do know that WV's colors are orange and black? If not, you do now!


We are so grateful for those that were able to make the open house and also those that sent their best wishes to Audrey in the mail. She was very appreciative of everyone who thought of her during this fun time in her life.