Because of the flight schedules, we could not leave home at a reasonable hour and make it to the Monday afternoon Road Scholars sign-in and orientation in Rapid City. So we decided on a saner approach and leave a day early. Neither of us has been to Rapid City before, and we figured we could relax and maybe do a little exploring on Monday morning. Linda hoped to find some Black Hills gold.

When we checked in for our flight to DFW, I was very happy to see that my boarding pass had “TSA PRECHK”. What a surprise! Linda normally gets this every time, but I usually have to go through the whole security check-in rigmarole. Of course I really should have known better – when we reached airport security, we were informed that Pre Check was not set up today, and that we had to go through the normal screening!

The trip itself was fairly uneventful, although an equipment problem in Dallas caused us to be late getting into Rapid City. All our luggage showed up, however, so I am not complaining too much. The shuttle service safely delivered us, and three other Road Scholars who were on our flight, to the Hotel Alex Johnson — our home for the next three nights.

It was a very pleasant morning and we took a gentle stroll for a few blocks around the hotel. We were surprised to see a statue of George Washington right outside the hotel so I took Linda’s picture with George. When we crossed the street we found Ronald Reagan for another photo-op. Walking to the next corner we found John Adams and later Thomas Jefferson. It gradually dawned on us (Duh!) that they might have statues for all the presidents, which indeed they do. No way were we going to do them all so we stopped with just these.

I was very impressed with Rapid City. For a city of about 70,000, they have a great many parks, a civic center, a fine museum and a neat downtown area with a delightful Main Street Square. This is a public space used for all sorts of activities, including a water fountain play area for the kids — they were having a blast

In the afternoon we convened at the hotel and met Marilyn, our leader, and Ron, our coach driver. There are 31 of us on the tour and we all climbed onto the bus for the first time to travel to the Journey Museum.

While we explored the museum, there was a very impressive thunderstorm with wind, rain and hail. We then had a very nice meal there at the museum. Marilyn handed out the detailed itinerary for the trip and explained the ground rules we need to follow to have a pleasant adventure. We all then introduced ourselves to the group, after which we returned to the hotel.

We were up early for breakfast at the hotel and then loaded onto the coach for a big touring day. The temperature is much cooler this morning after last night’s storm and the cold front which passed through. Also, a pretty stiff wind was blowing. Marilyn explained that one of the reasons for Rapid City being such a clean city is that the wind blows all of the trash down into Nebraska.

We headed down to the Black Hills, which were apparently so named due to their dark appearance from a distance caused by their cover of Ponderosa pines. Several areas in the hills have suffered large forest fires, and the pine bark beetle infestation has also caused damage, although what we saw of the beetle problem did not look as bad as we have seen, say, near Big Sky, Montana.

Our first stop of the day was at the Mt Rushmore National Memorial, and we got there fairly early before the crush of other tourists arrived. It was with this remarkable backdrop that Marilyn’s husband took our group photo.

Of course everyone knows about the huge carvings of four of our presidents, and it is indeed an impressive sight. The carvings have stirred up a lot of controversy over the years, mainly due to claims of sacred territory by the Indians. Nevertheless, they continue to be a major tourist draw and may be among the most recognizable sculptures in the world. The carvings would never have come into being without the efforts of the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, and his bust is displayed on the walkway up to the viewing area.

Leaving Mt. Rushmore we took a short drive to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This enormous sculpture was the brainchild of Korczak Ziolkowski, and he started work there in 1948. His wife and now their children have continued with the effort ever since. No public funds have been accepted to pay for this work, and obviously there is still a long way to go. Maybe the grandchildren will take over and see it to completion. It looks to me like an exercise in futility.

Next we drove a little further south to the community of Hot Springs for a nice lunch at Woolly’s. Afterwords, we took a short walk up the hill to The Mammath Site, which was a big surprise to most of us. This was the site of a big sinkhole about 20,000 years ago, a lethal trap for over 50 mammoths – both woolly and Columbian — and for various other ice age creatures. The site features an excellent video describing how the sinkhole came into existence and how it was discovered. We then had a tour of the sinkhole dig itself. The Mammoth Site is a fascinating place and should not be missed if you are in southwestern South Dakota.

Next we drove back up through Wind Cave National Park and then through Custer State Park. While the two parks abut each other, the two parks are managed quite differently. The national park is left completely alone, while the wildlife in the state park is carefully managed. As we traveled through the parks, we saw many bison and pronghorns. In the state park we also enjoyed the antics of released burros, which are persistent beggars of the tourists passing through.

We made it back to the hotel for dinner and a short night’s rest, packing up for an early departure on the morrow.

After breakfasting at the Chuckwagon cafeteria just down the block from the hotel, we left on our coach tour of the south unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Our guide with us on the bus this morning was Cowboy Lyle Glass, the laconic cowboy in the Medora Musical that we saw the night before. Cowboy Lyle said that he had been with the musical for 38 years.

As we traveled through the park, Cowboy Lyle explained that the Badlands were created by erosion due mostly to rain, wind and the flowing waters of the Little Missouri River. He pointed out the different geologic layers including scoria, lignite coal, and grey bentonite clay. Also, as we drove though this remarkable park, we saw lots of bison, wild (feral) horses, turkeys, magpies, a couple of pronghorns, and lots and lots of prairie dogs. Lyle explained that we should avoid walking through prairie dog towns because of rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, and fleas that may carry bubonic plague.

We had lunch back at the Chuckwagon and then visited the Chateau de Mores Interpretive Center. The Marquis de Mores essentially created Medora, building a large meat packing factory to process beef locally and ship it back east in rail cars cooled with ice. His wife was named Medora and he named the town after her. In 1883 he built a 26-room house now referred to as the Chateau de Mores, and we took a tour of the house.

Next we attended "A Theodore Roosevelt Salute to Medora", an excellent one-man show starring Joe Wiegand as Teddy Roosevelt. For over an hour, Wiegand told many of TR's most famous stories and gave us a great deal of information on Roosevelt's personal and political life. This show was another big surprise for most of us, a completely unexpected and high quality performance.

After our dinner meal, again at the Chuckwagon, many of us were packing for our departure in the morning when the hotel fire alarm sounded. Since we also began smelling smoke, we decided that it may not be a false alarm. Sure enough the smell of smoke soon became very strong and the hotel was evacuated. The fire department showed up and eventually everything was taken care of. Apparently it was a fire in a dryer in the laundry room. After about an hour we were allowed to return to our rooms. We were also told there would be no additional charge for the adventure.

Its another beautiful morning and we take our breakfast at the ChuckWagon Cafeteria before checking out of the hotel and heading west into Montana. We drove to Glendive, MT, crossing the Yellowstone River, and then turned southwest heading upriver along the Yellowstone. This was the same route that Linda and I followed in 2011 on our Road Scholars Lewis and Clark Program.

As we continued along the route we passed by field after field of mainly wheat, canola, and alfalfa, with thousands of hay bales in the fields. We continued on until we reached the Bighorn River where we turned south and followed it for some miles. Our lunch was at the Trading Post just outside the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Many of us tried their specialty — a fried bread Indian taco– and it was pretty good.

After lunch we drove the short distance to the battlefield, which also has a national cemetary for veterans, and family members, who served up through Vietnam. We were met by our Crow guide, Lou, who described the major phases of the battle as we drove the five miles from the Visitor’s Center to Major Reno’s entrenchment.

Obviously serious mistakes by several US officers led to the disastrous outcome of the battle, but the bulk of the blame must lie with Custer himself. When told by his scout that he did not have enough bullets for the number of Indians he faced, he probably should have changed his plan.

This was clearly a major victory for the plains Indians, but retribution was swift and determined. In just a few years the divided Indian tribes were almost totally subdued, and the large Sioux reservation was broken up and greatly reduced in area.

When we left the battlefield we continued on south to Sheridan WY. After checking in at the Hampton Inn, we then drove on into town to The Historic Sheridan Inn where we had a tour of the building followed by a beef burger dinner.

We had our Hampton Inn breakfast and loaded the coach for our drive west to the predominantly Mormon community of Cody WY. This trip took us through the Bighorn Mountains, much of which is National Forest land. We stopped at a 6700′ overview, a site often used as a launch site for hang gliders. These mountains are much higher than the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Ponderosa pines are replaced here by lodge pole pines. Unfortunately, large areas have been devastated by the pine bark beetle and by an imported fungus. Lots of cattle and sheep are brought up into these mountains for the excellent grazing during the summer months. I did catch a glimpse of a couple of western mountain bluebirds, with their brilliant blue backs in the bright sunlight, but we passed them too fast for me to get any photos.

Coming out of the mountains onto the Bighorn Basin, we traveled through the Shell Creek Canyon. The creek itself is named for the fossil shells found in the area. The geological layering is prominent in the canyon with large deposits of bentonite, and many large buttes rise up along the canyon sides. To be honest the road was a little intimidating to me and I was sure glad Ron was driving and not me.

When we left the canyon we made a quick pit stop at Dirty Annie’s, where many of us indulged in some ice cream, before continuing on to Cody. As we neared Cody, we again saw many large wheat and alfalfa fields, along with a number of beautiful bright yellow sunflower fields. We also saw the distinctive silhouette of Sleeping Indian (or Heart) Mountain.

In Cody we spent all afternoon at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, which is really a world-class museum. We were there for five hours, which was probably longer than we needed, not because of all the things to see but mainly because we were just getting very tired. The Whitney Western Art Museum, just one small part of the center, was especially wonderful – featuring scores of works by Frederick Remington, Charles Russell, N.C. Wyeth and many others. If you are ever in the Cody area, you should definitely not miss this.

Leaving the Buffalo Bill Center, we checked into The Cody Hotel and then rather quickly left for dinner at Bubba’s Bar-B-Que. After dinner we attended the Dan Miller Cowboy Music Revue in a refurbished movie theater on Sheridan Avenue in Cody. This was another of the activities that Marilyn said we must not miss. Most of us were tired and attended rather grudgingly, but once again Marilyn was absolutely right. This was a delightful and gentle musical show by Dan, his daughter Hannah and two friends – a very enjoyable experience.

We slept late this morning and had breakfast at the hotel. We then headed west out of Cody up along side the Shoshone River passing through several long tunnels to reach the Buffalo Bill Dam. When completed in 1910 this was the highest concrete dam in the world. It creates a large reservoir and is used primarily for irrigation although it does have some electric generation turbines as well.

Leaving the dam we traveled back through Cody and then drove up to the Interpretive Center for the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. After Pearl Harbor, approximately 14,000 Japanese, including many American citizens, were interned here from 1942 to 1945. The Center has a movie and many displays describing life in the camp and the impact of the forced relocation on the lives of the internees. Of course the war was a time of great national fear, but the obvious racism was probably not our country’s finest hour.

We returned to Cody for lunch at the Rib & Chop House where the food was good but the service was slow. Many of the group stayed down town and others returned for a free afternoon and some well-deserved rest.

We had breakfast at the Cody Hotel and set off again on the road heading west. We drove up along the Shoshone River passing the Buffalo Bill Dam that we visited the day before and continued on past the large reservoir. We then drove up along the North Fork River passing through the Absaroka Mountains. Most of this is National Forest land, and there are many bizarre rock formations. We stopped at Pahaska Teepee Lodge for a pit stop and to stretch our legs and were visited by a nice white tail deer.

Shortly afterwards we entered Yellowstone National Park, the US’s first national park signed into law by President Grant. We crossed Sylvan Pass at an elevation of 8530 feet, and our first stop was at the Fishing Bridge Visitors Center which borders on Yellowstone Lake. We ate our sack lunches at the picnic tables, viewed the excellent bird exhibit in the visitor’s center and snapped some wildlife photos.

Leaving the Fishing Bridge area we crossed the Yellowstone River and then headed down river taking a short walk at LeHardys Rapids. Next, we walked the boardwalks by Mud Volcano, Dragon Mouth Cave and Sulfur Cauldron. As we continued on, we came upon a large bison herd and even more tourists — with traffic backed up for miles. We made stops at Geyser Crater and Prismatic Spring with its large bacterial mats.

We then made our way to Old Faithful Inn, at an elevation of 7770 feet. Shortly after arriving and before getting our rooms, we were able to see an Old Faithful eruption. Our dinner was at the cafeteria where many of us had their excellent trout.

We had breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn dining room and departed after watching another Old Faithful eruption. We headed back along the Fire Hole River and then Gibbon River, making a quick start at Gibbon Falls. Along the way we saw a lot more thermal activity this morning due to the increased condensation brought on by the cooler temperatures. Our next stop was at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where we had a distant view of the Upper Falls and a closer view of a couple of bull elk. Next we took a walk along the North Rim with beautiful views of the Lower Falls and a remarkable osprey nest atop one of the prominent rock formations. We had a “scatter lunch” at Canyon Village, where everyone chose their own particular eating place. After lunch we headed to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon, bypassing the Upper Falls viewpoint because of the traffic and limited parking. Along the way we saw several tourons (tourist-morons) getting way too close to a bison. We then reached Artist Point for one of the most spectacular views in the park — the Lower Falls and its Grand Canyon. It may not be THE Grand Canyon but it is definitely grand. We then drove to Lake Village for our lodging, again seeing many bison and, according to Marilyn, an alledged bear far off in the distance. We arrived at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel, a beautiful old hotel reminiscent of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Of course our accommodations in the cabins behind the hotel were slightly less elegant but perfectly fine. After checking in, we had a tour of the hotel and then a short ride to the cafeteria during a fairly good rain shower. Shortly, the sun came out again for a beautiful evening.

We had breakfast in the dining room at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel and boarded the bus in a slight drizzle and a cool 48 degrees. We journeyed along the west side of Yellowstone Lake down toward West Thumb. On the way Marilyn handed out the airport shuttle schedules from Park City to Salt Lake City on Saturday. Some of the folks were not very happy–having to leave at 4:30 am for a 10:20 flight. Ouch! We stopped at West Thumb for a pit stop and to walk the boardwalk around the geyser basin. Just as we left the area a pretty good rain set in for a thirty mile drive to the Grand Teton National Park. Along the way we crossed the Continental Divide.

We watched a video on the Grand Tetons as we headed south. Shortly after leaving Yellowstone Park, we made a pit stop at the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway and we then headed on south into the Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at Colter Bay for a nice view of Mt. Moran and a couple of beavers, and we took a soup and salad lunch at the cafeteria.

Further on, we made a quick stop at the Jackson Lake Lodge built by Nelson Rockefeller. The lodge is famous for its impressively large windows offering magnificent views of Mt. Moran and the rest of the Tetons. Continuing along the Snake River we crossed Jackson Lake Dam and made photo stops at several turn-outs, including one at Jenny Lake – beautiful! We also stopped at the Episcopal Chapel of the Transfiguration.

We then drove on into Jackson WY, where we spent about an hour wandering around the town square. Jackson reminded me of a western Gatlinburg, not at all what we remembered from our winter-time visit here maybe fifteen years ago. We then checked into the Snow King Hotel. Only a couple of the group
took a shuttle back into town; most of us ate dinner at the hotel restaurant anticipating the very early departure the next morning.

This was to be a long day, with our luggage placed outside our rooms by 6:00 am and us loaded on the coach by 7:15. However, after our buffet breakfast at the hotel, we learned that our coach had a problem with one of the tires, so our departure was delayed by several hours, and we pulled out of the parking lot at 10:20. This was not a big deal and much better than having the problem out in the middle of nowhere, but just think of the extra hours of sleep we could have had!

Because of our late start, we had to modify our plans and our route, heading south-west through Montpelier ID. There we stopped for our sack lunch and toured the National Oregon/Califoria Trail Center, a very nice center located on the actual campsite used by the Oregon Trail journeyers. Leaving Montpelier, we headed mostly south into Utah and made a pit stop at Bear Lake.

Then we drove on down through the twists and turns of Logan Pass, through Logan UT, finally making it to Salt Lake City about 5:30. After a quick dinner in the City Center Mall, we hurried to the Conference Center to attend a practice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Some of us also got a quick tour of the garden roof of the Conference Center, a huge and remarkable building with an auditorium seating 21,000 people.

We watched the choir practice for about an hour and then left for our hotel in Park City, getting in our rooms about 10:00 pm. As we arrived Marilyn asked us if we were tired. When we all said yes, she said, “Good, then it was a successful day.” I guess we now know her criterion for a successful day.

It was overcast in the morning and threatening rain. After breakfast at the hotel we boarded the coach but had to wait awhile for Robert, our guide for the day — he had gone to the wrong Marriott (there are four of them in Park City). As we drove into Salt Lake City, Robert gave us a lot of information about the city and Utah and the settlement of the area by the Mormons. Rather than following the interstate from Park City into Salt Lake, we traveled down Immigration Canyon, which was the trail used by the original Mormon settlers. We stopped at the visitor center for “This Is the Place” state park. A large monument stands where Brigham Young said the words for which the park was named.

We then rode through parts of Salt Lake City while Robert pointed out various buildings and institutions to include: the University of Utah, several hospitals and medical facilities, Ft. Douglass, and many other places. He explained that the city streets are laid out on a grid with the Temple at the center of the grid. The streets are also very wide; Brigham Young directed that all the streets should by wide enough for a team of oxen pulling a wagon to be able to turn around without backing up.

Our next stop was at the Utah State Capitol building. This is really quite an edifice with beautiful marble columns and steps. Our building guide, Kay, escorted us through several areas in the building including the ornate reception room, the governor’s office and the legislative chambers for the state Senate and House of Representatives. Kay pointed out many of the important symbols displayed throughout the building such as the beehive and the seagulls. This is a very impressive building.

Leaving the capitol we then traveled to Temple Square, where we were met by two cute young missionary guides — one from Australia and the other from Alaska. They led us through the Assembly Building and the Tabernacle. Non-Mormons are not allowed to enter the Temple, but we did see several brides and grooms preparing for their wedding ceremonies in the Temple. One of our young guides explained that Mormons do not marry “til death do you part” but rather “for time and all eternity”.

After our tour of Temple Square we gobbled down another very quick meal and hurried to the bus for the return trip to Park City. Along the way we passed by the stadium used for the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Just outside Park City, we stopped at the Olympics site for several different events: ski jump, bob sled, luge, etc. The site also includes two museums, one about skiing in general and one about the Olympics. People were also setting up tents for a wall-climbing contest scheduled for that evening. The wall is located on the edge of a pool, and the contestants were professionals–many considered to be the best in the country–competing for the $5K prize. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to qualify for the contest.

We decided to skip our visit to the Park City mining museum and returned to the hotel a little earlier than usual. This gave us a short break before our farewell dinner, a nice sit-down meal where we could relax and chat with each other – basically for the last time. We had a contest estimating the total number of miles traveled; I don’t remember the actual distance, but it was approximately 1700 miles, with Bill having the closest guess. We closed our dinner and our program with everyone declaring what they enjoyed most or found most surprising on the trip. Each of us named different trip highlights, but the general consensus of us all was a sense of wonder, even awe, at the amazing sights and experiences of our western adventure. We then said our goodbyes to our fellow travelers and to our leaders, Marilyn and Ron.

This morning we all departed for our separate destinations. A couple of hearty souls were continuing on with further travels, but most of us were returning home. Some unfortunate folks had to catch the airport shuttle from Park City at 4:30 am; we hope they were able to get some sleep on the plane. Nine of us were on the 8:00 am shuttle. It arrived at the hotel right on time and dropped us off at the Salt Lake City airport almost exactly 45 minutes later. It was there that we said our final farewells.

Linda and I had perfect flights both to Dallas and then on home to Huntsville, and surprisingly our luggage also made it home with us. This is beginning to worry me a bit. Our last few trips have been so uneventful that I am sure the odds are building up against us and a really lousy trip is in the offing. Maybe, however, I need to work on my attitude. Having spent the last two weeks learning of the trials and tribulations of our early pioneers and settlers, I should probably quit whining and try to develop a little more of the “Spirit of the West”.