Denver
The Colorado Capitol Building
The
15th step to the Colorado capitol building is precisely one mile
above sea level, although we're not sure if that's at high tide
or low tide.
The Denver Mint.
Vail
The
Continental Divide.
The scenic town of Summit (one of many), on the way.
Beautiful downtown Beaver Creek
Local statuary.
Ski lifts were pretty much idle in May.
As was the entire town.
Although this shop was open.
Upscale
pizza restaurant at Beaver Creek (closed for the season).
Cheyenne
A lunch
stop on the way to the Black Hills from Denver. A park in town
included one of the original "Big Boy" steam locomotives,
the largest ever built.
Plaque, stating same.
Nebraska
We took a side trip to Nebraska, just to say we'd been to Nebraska.
This is the northwest corner of the state.
So is this.
The Wife's sister did all the driving (1300 miles of it), with
her Subaru racking up all the mileage. And don't think we didn't
appreciate it.
The Black
Hills
Custer State Park, home of very large free-roaming buffalo herds.
Of which this guy is part.
And this guy isn't. He's one of the occasional panhandling donkeys.
Local critter: Mountain Goat
Local critter: Magpie
Local critter: Prairie Dog
Mount
Rushmore
At
the main entrance.
The walkway of the states.
The Wife and her sister at the grand viewing area.
The Husband and the Wife's sister, being impressed.
A closer view.
A closer view still.
The trail that leads to the closer views.
Deadwood
SD
The town from Mt. Moriah
Downtown Deadwood.
The saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was shot (the actual site was
across the street, but the saloon had moved since then).
Would you drink a beer called this?
The final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok.
Which is right next to the final resting place of Calamity Jane
(by her request).
The final resting place of Buffalo Bill (which is actually in
Denver and nowhere near Wild Bill or Calamity Jane).
Devil's
Tower
A natural 800-ft. rock wall (can you spot the climber halfway
up?), it was once the core of a volcano in which the lava lining
the crater had hardened, then over thousands of years the surrounding
soil had eroded away, leaving this edifice (which you may recognize
as the alien landing site from the movie Close Encounters
of the Third Kind).
There is a 1.3 mile trail surrounding the Tower that offers interesting
views.
And exposure to the local residents (the Wife fearlessly walked
up to this guy and took his picture).
To rock climbers, this place is a magnet.
This (thanks to the Wife's digital zoom) is a hundred-year-old
wooden ladder attached to the rock face, originally used to reach
the summit. Other trails have since become the preferred route.
There were many tackling the climb that day.
It was downright crowded.
An example of NJ wildlife next to a
sign about WY wildlife.
:)
