Crazy Horse Memorial

We visited the Crazy Horse Memorial many years ago when your imagination was all you had to envision the completed site.  A lot of  progress has been made as the original sculptor's family continues his work.

The structure on top is used as a caliper to determine which areas need to be blasted.

When completed, the back side will also be carved.

This white sculpture is a model of the completed memorial.

While we were there, we had dinner in the restaurant.  I had that traditional Indian dish - Chicken Fried Steak.

Mount Rushmore

Visitors get a very good view of the monument from the terrace at the visitors center.

We took the trail to the base of the monument for a closer view.









 

This is the original sculpture that was used as a model for the monument.

Deadwood, SD

Besides the discovery of gold, Deadwood's claim to fame is the place where Wild Bill Hickok met his doom.

He was shot while playing cards in the saloon.












Mount Moriah Cemetery is on a hill overlooking the town of Deadwood.  Many respected and not so respected citizens rest in this spot.

Wild Bill is conveniently buried near the road so he can have many visitors.  An elaborate tombstone marks his burial plot.

Calamity Jane is buried next to Wild Bill (instead of next to her husband).

We saw this motorcycle as we drove through the canyon near Deadwood.

Devil's Tower

Next on our agenda was a stop at Devil's Tower.  It's a strange site out in the middle of nowhere.  Every time I looked at it, I heard the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind in my head.  Our campsite was very close and many scenes from the movie were filmed here.  The campground played the movie every night for any interested campers.

As we were walking along the trail which surrounds the bottom of the monument, a couple asked me to take their photo with Devil's Tower in the background.  They had a very heavy and complicated camera.  I kept backing up to get all of the monument.  It's a good thing I finally figured out the zoom before I backed over the edge.

This was the only form of wildlife we saw at this stop.

It is a weird place, but luckily we didn't encounter any aliens.

Nebraska

We took a short side trip into Nebraska to see Scott's Bluff along the Oregon Trail.

View from top of Scott's Bluff

Wagon wheel ruts caused by the endless wagon trains of settlers seeking a new life in the West.

Settlers also carved their names into the surface of Register Cliff. We looked for our ancestors, but they must have missed this stop.

The real reason we went to Nebraska was to see this important American icon.

Originally this art work had two Japanese cars among the other vehicles.  As a patriotic move, the two Japanese cars were later removed and replaced with old Cadillacs.

 On the way back to Wyoming, we couldn't pass up a stop in the town of Bayard. 

Fort Laramie

After Rawlins, we took a short trip down to Longmont, CO to see how the city had changed since we left 25 years ago.  Then it was back to Wyoming and on to Fort Laramie.

The enlisted men's barracks was a large two story building with a large porch out front.

Sleeping quarters were upstairs and eating areas and other rooms downstairs.

 
 
The officers had individual houses furnished with elegant furniture.

 
The most heavily populated structure was probably the stockade (jail).  Amusements were scarce so drinking and gambling were frequent pastimes.  The offices were on the main floor and the cells were in a walkout basement.








 
The cells were narrow and dark - not too bad in the summer, but it must have been very uncomfortable during the long Wyoming winter without heat. An earlier stockade had cells that were four feet wide, four feet deep and only four feet high. The idea being that the soldier could not stand or lay down the whole time he was incarcerated.

Outhouse Races in Rawlins, WY

We pulled into Rawlins on an overcast day, but decided to go downtown for the outhouse races despite the start of a slow drizzle.  There were several heats before determining which teams would be in the finals.  Each outhouse had wheels on the bottom to make traveling the downhill course easier.

This is the Fire Department entry.  The team consisted of one fireman sitting inside and four others pushing.

The entry on the left was sponsored by the local newspaper.

When the starting bell sounded, each team had to weave down the street through the orange posts and back to the starting line .

After tagging the starting line, each team raced to the next station where they had to toss three gold toilet seats onto one of the orange posts. 

At this station two members from each team stood back to back holding a roll of toilet paper between their bodies then squatted down.

 

A third team member shouted directions to the duo while they tried to thread the roll of toilet paper on the handle of a plunger.

Once three rolls of paper were safely on the plunger, the team raced to the next station. 

Basketball ball skills came in handy at this station because the seated team member was required to shoot three baskets with a roll of toilet paper before progressing to the final station and the finish line.  Numerous judges assured that the rules were strictly followed by all.








At the last stopping point, each inside team member quickly jumped out of the outhouse and raced to a gold toilet with toilet paper unrolling from their structure.  The first one sitting down on the toilet with their unbroken stream of toilet paper won the competition.

The Fire Department won again this year. They must have more outhouse practice at the fire house.