I Took My Kids to Sturgis

Sort of....but more on that later. Actually, our next stop was Crazy Horse Monument and Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Carved between 1927 and 1941, Mount Rushmore was never actually completed. The artists original plans called for President Washington's coat to be carved almost to his waist, Roosevelt's chest to be carved also, and only a few of President Lincoln's fingers were completed. Carving ended with the death of the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, and the beginning of WWII. Borglum's plans also included plans for a Hall of Records, a giant granite room behind Lincoln's head that would have inscriptions carved into the walls and house historic and relevant documents relating to the history of the US. This also was never completed and the general public does not have access to this space.

Originally proposed as a way of bringing tourists to South Dakota's Black Hills, Mount Rushmore now includes an avenue of flags, visitors center and artist studio where Borglum did most of his sculpting and design work. The studio also has a scale model of what Borglum envisioned the completed carving to be and offers the best view of the sculpture on the mountain. We enjoyed a ranger led walk along the Presidents Trail which takes you as close to the mountain as you are now allowed to go and also down to Borglum's last studio. It is a beautiful hike and also fascinating to see how the expressions on the faces of the Presidents change as the sun moves across and the mountain is viewed from different angles.

Here's a fun fact about Mount Rushmore, Thomas Jefferson was originally to the left of George Washington as you face the mountain. As carving progressed it was discovered that there was insufficient rock in that part of the mountain to complete the face and also a crack in the mountain running across Jefferson's nose. So, he was blasted off and moved to the other side.

Compared to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse is huge. Unlike Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument continues to be a work in progress and when completed will be the world's largest mountain carving. Begun in 1948 when Chief Standing Bear of the Lakota Tribe invited Korczak Ziolkowski, a well known sculptor who had worked on Mount Rushmore, to return to the Black Hills and carve a monument that would honor the North American Indian People. To date, Crazy Horse continues to be a private monument and has never accepted any government support. It is funded on entry fees, gift shop revenues and private donations. Ziolkowski passed away in 1982, but 7 of his 10 children continue to work on various aspects of the project and his wife Ruth runs the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.

When completed Crazy Horse will stand 563 feet tall and 641 feet wide. The monument will be visible from all sides of the mountain and the entire project includes extensive plans for museums, cultural centers and educational institutions with a scholarship program for Native Americans. Most of the carving is done by blasting away huge chunks of the mountain. Crazy Horses face is finished, and they are currently working on his hand and beginning work on the horses head. Carving on the hand and fingers is projected to be completed in the next 5 years. The horses head could take the next 15 - 20 years.

We spent quite a bit of time in the Museum which houses many works of Native American art and artifacts as well as a childrens area and a beautifully painted tipi. The buildings that house the visitors center and museum are built from the stone that has been blasted off the mountain and there is a section dedicated to the Ziolkowski Family and how they lived when they first came to the Black Hills to carve the monument. At one point, visitors could walk up the mountain and out onto Crazy Horses arm, but as blasting has progressed that area has been closed to visitors. There is a bus tour available that takes tourists fairly close to the base of the mountain.

A quick note about planning a trip like this. If your going to be spending a couple of days in one area, take a quick peek at the local chamber of commerce website to see if there may be any festivals or other big summer events occurring during your stay. We didn't do that, and as we had made campground reservations well in advance with no problem, were surprised when we arrived in the Black Hills on the first day of the 2012 SturgisMotorcycle Rally. In Custer City, we were greeted by General Custer on the sidewalk waving to incoming tourists and a main road with a row of motorcycles parked down the center. Our campground was in Hill City South Dakota and by or first full day there the main street was closed to all traffic except motorcycles. I have never seen so many motorcycles before in my life! They were parked solidly along both sides of the road with a double row parked down the middle. In all honesty though, it ended up being a very neat experience. The bikes are beautiful, and no two are exactly alike. We walked the main street in Hill City one evening, and stopped in the Harley Davidson shop where the boys each picked out a t-shirt. We met a lot of really nice people at the campground and in town and other than a few traffic challenges had a really great time!

   

Yellowstone National Park

I took over 200 pictures in YellowstoneNational Park. The husband and the boys took almost as many. We spent several days here and in Grand Teton National Park as there is so much to see and do. The wildlife in both parks is spectacular, as are the lakes, mountains and rivers. With seemingly endless hiking trails, bike trails, rivers and lakes for fishing, ranger programs and scenic drives we left feeling like we could have spent a few more days, and are already planning our next trip back.

We headed into Yellowstone from the west toward Old Faithful. The road in leads you through several active geyser basins and we stopped to take a walk through and enjoy them on our way. Most of Yellowstone, like Crater Lake, sits in the caldera of a collapsed volcano. With large magma fields still under ground heating water just under the surface, Yellowstone is home to more than half of the worlds geysers and hot springs.

We reached the Old Faithful Visitors Center just before lunch and had time to visit the museum and grab the cooler full of sandwiches before heading outside. Named for its predictability, Old Faithful goes off regularly every 60 to 90 minutes. Times of all of the more predictable geysers are posted in the visitors center and we found them to be very accurate, never waiting much more than 15 minutes at any of these geysers. Old Faithful is spectacular, and I took a series of pictures as we enjoyed the view.

We spent the afternoon exploring and hiking in the black sand basin, where the sand is...white. Through the ranger program we attended we learned that the basin got its name from the black sand geyser about a mile to the east where the sand is, in fact, black. The colors in the geyser pools are amazing, ranging from brilliant blue water, the result of silica deposits eroded into the water, to vibrant orange and yellow from the tiny bacteria that live and thrive in the warm pools of the hot springs.

I know I've said it before, but really, the ranger programs in the National Parks are excellent. Filled with geology, history and current events, we have most enjoyed the ranger led hikes through various parts of the parks. For example, one of the geysers in black sand basin is named Handkerchief Geyser because in the early days of the park visitors would drop their handkerchief into the geyser where it would be sucked under, battered around, and spit back out, sometimes clean, sometimes shredded, through another nearby geyser. Ranger Landis soon became the little dudes new best friend and spent a ton of time answering questions and letting the boys measure the temperature of the water.

Yellowstone is also known for its wildlife viewing opportunities, and sure enough, we saw a bison just hanging out on the side of the road on our way into the park. Home to mule deer, coyotes, wolves elk, bears, moose, bighorn sheep, pelicans, ospreys and pronghorn, the best place for wildlife viewing happens to be in Hayden Valley, just to the north of our camp ground. There were also several hikes to geyser basins and mud pots that we wanted to do, so off we went. Herds of bison can be found around every turn, but we also saw elk, mule deer, osprey, pronghorn and a wolf. The middle child is our resident wildlife photographer, so many of the pictures are his. He did a great job!

The Park Rangers are all very knowledgeable about wildlife and the park newspaper comes with an insert, on bright yellow paper, with a wildlife warning stating among other things that “Many park visitors have been gored by buffalo and elk.” All the park rangers carry big cans of bear spray and when we asked about the best locations for wildlife viewing the rangers told us “all the bears are in Pelican Valley,” I could have enjoyed my vacation just fine without seeing a grizzly up close but guess what else was right in the middle of Pelican Valley? Fishing Bridge RV Park, which only allows hard sided camping vehicles (a.k.a. “bear resistant containers”) and where we had a campground reservation. So, bear bells in hand, we parked our bear resistant container at our camp sight, heeded the warnings from the ranger that checked us in and the signs that greeted us, and rang our bells furiously every time we dashed to the lavatory.

Seriously though, Fishing Bridge was a really nice camp ground. We could walk (with our bells!) to a general store that also had a little cafe where we had breakfast one morning. There was also a really nice visitors center with an amphitheater with nightly ranger programs and a beautiful black sand beach on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. The boys were able to swim and fish each evening after a long day of hiking. Cut Throat Trout are native to Yellowstone Lake and must be released if caught. However, Lake Trout are a tasty but invasive species and if caught, may not be returned to the water, but may be taken to the Old Faithful Inn where they will cook it for you to enjoy. Sadly, the men in my life did not come through on this one and we ended up poaching some salmon that I bought at the store instead.

Adjacent to Yellowstone to the south lies Grand Teton National Park. We decided to leave the bear resistant container, hop in the rental car and spend a day checking it out. Yellowstone, with its geysers and hot springs, is all about the geology of the region. Grand Teton is where people go to play! With extensive bike trails and hiking paths, marinas and boating and gorgeous glacier topped mountains to view there are endless amounts of things to do.

We spent the day hiking to Jenny Lake and checking out the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve. Featuring a Leed platinum certified visitors center and miles of hiking trails through grasslands, forest, around lakes and streams, it was a beautiful hike.

I could go back tomorrow and easily spend another week in each park. We had a great time and really didn't want to leave. The Continental Divide runs right through Yellowstone, and we crossed it several dozen times during our stay. Very cool!

  

Crater Lake Oregon

Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon is part of the Cascade Range of mountains formed through years of volcanic activity. It is one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen, with crystal clear blue water reaching depths of nearly 2000 feet.

Formed when Mount Mazama, an active volcano, collapsed during a huge eruption 700,000 years ago, the lake is in the caldera and filled with rain and snow melt. The area receives between 500 and 600 inches of snow a year and we were able to still see many snowy patches of the sides of trails and on the sides of the caldera as we hiked. The boys even had a brief snowball fight while we hiked!

Before heading out for a couple of hikes, we attended a couple of Ranger Programs, learning that the whole area is still an active volcano. Wizard Island, a mountain rising out of the lake, is part of a chain of smaller, still active volcanoes. We were reminded that while they have not erupted recently, they are constantly monitored and could potentially erupt at any time, although there has been no activity for many years. The boys were a little disappointed that no volcanoes erupted during our visit.

The rim trail was a beautiful hike with gorgeous views from most every spot. The sides of the caldera are smooth in some places, and rocky in others and the views of Wizard Island and the Ghost Ship were amazing!

 

Our campground in Oregon provided some other interesting moments as well. Along the way we really hadn't had much of a problem with insects. Apparently, they were all in Oregon and we were all covered in mosquito bites within minutes. The combination of itchy bites and a shallow rocky creek helped us burn through an entire box of band aids during our stay. No serious injuries, just lots of scrapes and scratches. Our campground in Klamath Falls was very nice, with a stream and canoes and rowboats along the shore for anyone to use, but it was a bit more rural and rustic than our other campgrounds had been. When the teen headed for the shower at night he found it was already occupied, by several little green froggy friends. He high tailed it out of there and consented to a shower in the King's tiny bathroom.

 

This stop marked our final trek to the north and west, and was also just past the halfway point of our journey. Turning east, we're heading for Yellowstone and back toward home. We've had a great time so far, and still have much to see and look forward to, but have started to realize that our travel days are numbered. While we have seen and done so many, many things, there's an equally long list of things we've missed. I hope we are lucky enough to make another trip someday to re-visit some new favorite places and visit those special spots we've missed.

San Francisco

Heading up the California coast, our next stop was San Francisco. We camped north of the city, in Napa California and drove about 20 minutes into Vallejo each morning to catch a ferry boat that dropped us directly at Pier 41 near Fisherman's Wharf. The boys loved the ferry ride and it gave us about an hour to sit back, relax, and plan our day.

Since we had a few days to spend here we purchased City Passes at the visitors center. These passes included our admission to 5 area attractions plus unlimited use of the buses, street cars and cable cars. We started with a walk through the Aquarium of the Bay, much smaller than Monterey, but it was nice and had some cool tunnels that you walked through as the fish swam all around.

Next, we tackled the public transportation system and made our way across town to Golden GatePark, a beautiful old fashioned space with tall trees, a playground and beautiful old stone structures. Inside Golden Gate Park we visited the California Academy of Sciences. This building has an aquarium, rain forest, planetarium and natural history museum inside and a living roof, 2.5 acres in size, that you can climb to and visit. We grabbed up some tickets to a planetarium show later in the day, stopped to say hi to Claude, the albino alligator, and headed for the aquarium.

Divided into regions, this aquarium has a Philippine coral reef, Northern California coastal exhibit, Amazon Flooded Rainforest, swamp and a tide pool where kids can touch sea stars and bat rays. It was very well done and informative. The boys loved it!

Next we headed up to the living roof, 2.5 acres of native plants growing over the gently curving structure covering the science center. Composed of square trays filled with soil and plants, the roof is completely sustainable and has 40-50 different types of plants. A habitat for birds and insects, it also serves as an insulator and collects storm water runoff.

We took a walk through the rainforest, a huge dome filled with trees, plants, birds and butterflies. When we finished it was time for the planetarium show, a movie about plate tectonics and earthquakes shown on a huge domed screen. It was very interesting, and the boys said it was great!! Truth be told, the husband and I may have nodded of for part of it...

The day ended with a walk outside to see the baby ostriches and a turn in the earthquake simulator. Simulating both the 1906 and 1989 San Francisco earthquakes, which was pretty interesting.

Before heading back to Napa on the Ferry we grabbed some dinner and took a narrated boat tour of the Bay area. Usually socked in by heavy fog this time of year, we were incredibly lucky to have cool but beautiful clear views of Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge. The Bay was quite windy and rough, and I got tossed around a bit out on the front deck with the middle boy. We got some great pictures though!

The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful from the water, but we really wanted to drive across it to. Built to withstand winds up to 80 miles per hour, it can sway as much as 21 feet from side to side. Luckily, we drove across on a very calm day!! After crossing the bridge we drove up the side of a mountain and into Muir Woods National Park to see the giant coastal redwood trees. Muir Woods is a very small but beautiful National Park and the trees really are like skyscrapers. We hiked along the trail learning about the history of the park and the trees while the little dude filled out the pages of his junior ranger book. A little fun fact about the California Redwoods, their bark is naturally fire resistant. It will scorch and turn black in places, but the trees will survive a forest fire.

San Francisco's Pier 39 is the touristy, restauranty, shoppy part of the city, and not surprisingly, where all the ferry boats drop off their passengers for the day and pick them back up again at night. We didn't spend a whole ton of time there, but the boys, especially the middle boy, loved walking out on the pier to see the sea lions hauling out on the docks in the bay. They were really fun to watch, sometimes lifting their noses up to sniff the air and barking at one another when they got crowded out by another sea lion trying to steal some space on the dock. It reminded me a bit of how crowded we are from time to time in the motor home and so we briefly instituted a rule where if you had a complaint about a brother, you had to bark it out like a sea lion. That lasted a few days and produced more than a few giggles!

So, San Francisco was a nice change of pace from the rural and rustic beauty of the canyons in the Southwest. The middle dude's favorite part was the sea lions, the teen loved the boat tour and the little dude could have spent hours (and many dollars) in a little kite shop we found in the city. The husband liked Muir Woods and I really enjoyed Golden Gate Park. There was something for everyone, and I even got to spend a little time strolling through downtown Napa, enjoying a few tasting rooms and picking up some samples as I went.  We did and saw a lot, but could still make another trip just to see and do all that we missed!