June 26-29: Going East

We exited I-90 onto Wyoming Hwy 14 early in the morning on the 26th. We were headed north to Devil's Tower. The clouds were low and misty on the rolling hills and cattle land, and we couldn't help but feel the difference in our landscape. We had said our goodbyes to the mountains when we descended out of the Bighorn Range the day before. As we crested a small hill and caught sight of Devil's Tower, with dark clouds rimming the top, I understood how one might experience a sense of foreboding when seeing the tower for the first time, but it was hard for me to identify with that sensation with these two pixies in Craig's arms.



We made our way to the visitor's center and then started our hike around the base of the tower. During the month of June, there is a voluntary cessation of climbing activities so that native american groups can hold ceremonies. Being voluntary, not all climbers observe this break in activity. I'm sure the numbers were down, but we still saw quite a few ascending. We watched as they moved, hand over hand, up the columns of basalt.



The trail around the base is paved, which made for easy hiking for the girls. There were also lots of stops with built in binoculars, and we all enjoyed watching birds circle the summit. I think it took us a little over an hour to complete the loop and then it was back in the car and back to I-90 as we made our way into the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Like the stretch of highway between Yellowstone and Cody, this portion of I-90 was very familiar to me as well. Half of the field camp I attended and taught was spent in the Black Hills mapping metamorphic and igneous rocks. For anyone that's been to this part of South Dakota, you know how magnificent the geology can be. You also know how terribly touristy it is as well. Keystone, the town closest to Mount Rushmore, reminds me a lot of Pigeon Forge, Tennnessee (home of Dollywood and other Appalachian mountain tourist traps). I'm all for making the natural treasures of our nation available to everyone, I'm just not a fan of the commercialization that crowds these spaces. Thank goodness for national parks.

In any case, with rain spitting on us from above, we arrived at Mt Rushmore by mid afternoon.



There have been so many changes to this monument that I didn't recognize any of the old facilities. This is a good thing. Fifteen years ago, I didn't think Mt. Rushmore was much a monument, and now, every part of the visitor experience is geared toward celebrating our nation and the presidents whose faces are carved into granite. Grace thought it was cool because she had learned about Mt. Rushmore in school. Julia thought it was cool because it seemed so civilized.



Getting out of Rushmore (and all the tourist crap/traffic that surrounds it) took us more time than we would have liked. We still wanted to see the Badlands before we called it a night, so we had to cover a fair amount of ground in a short period of time. We stopped in Wall, South Dakota (home of Wall Drug, another tourist wasteland) to grab some sub sandwiches, and then continued onto the park for dinner.

I love the badlands. Chalk that up to spending six years as a fossil preparator. Badlands=fossils. Badlands also equals beauty.



I feel right when I'm in badlands.

We took the long route through the park, stopping to see fossil exhibits and prairie dog villages. I could have stayed for days. We only had three hours. As we left the park, I took one final picture: our hats resting on the dashboard. I've had that field hat for 15 years. It's been to India, Pakistan, and Turkey, and yet, this summer, this trip, was the best time I've ever had. The memories we made as a family are priceless. We changed during those three and a half weeks. We grew individually and as a whole. I'm so thankful to Craig for making the trip possible, and to Grace and Julia for being game.



We spent two more nights on the road, and we learned just how much we don't like to stay in hotels. Finally on the 28th, we arrived in DeForest, Wisconsin, where my Aunt Bev and Uncle Dave opened their home to us. It had been over three weeks since my kids had been in a house, and boy, they were ready. Bev and Dave have grand kids, so their house has toys. Julia and Grace were THRILLED. At bedtime that night, we gave Julia a choice: sleep in a bed or in second cousin Mason's crib (note that she's been out of a crib for 9 months). No contest. She wanted the crib. I think she probably would have stayed at Bev and Dave's indefinitely, but we had a few more miles to go.

On June 29th, we boarded a ferry to take us from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan. Months earlier, when we were planning our trip, the girls were most excited about the ferry ride. At that time, they couldn't conceive of mountain ranges and wildlife out the window. Regardless of everything we had seen and done, the ferry was still a major highlight though. The girls couldn't wait for the ferry to arrive (and had an even harder time waiting to board).



We finally boarded a little after lunch and three hours later we made land, with Grandma and Grandpa waving from the shore.



While we still had three weeks left of our vacation (divided between Michigan and Indiana), the western part of our trip was done, and likewise, this travelogue is concluded. I'll upload the pictures from visits with the grandparents at another time. My apologies for taking such a long time to finish this series. Who would have thought that we would be so busy when we returned? Of course, we were busy. School started for everyone except me with all associated responsibilities. Whole weeks flashed by in an instant, it seems, and I marvel that we had such a long spell this summer of uninterrupted time off.

I'm happy and relieved that this log is finished. I hope that years from now the girls can look back and see the trip anew. I'll remember our summer as a magical time. I can always transport myself back to a moment in the Tetons when I asked Grace, "What do you want to do next summer? And she answered, "This. Can we do this again? Because this has been the best summer of my life." Mine too.

As always, here are the slideshows.





Thanks for reading (and thanks Mom for prodding me to finish the series).