One very, very long freight train (the white dashes across the middle of the picture) crossing the Nebraska plains as viewed from the top of Scotts Bluff, NE.

Driving south from Scott's Bluff, NE on our way to Denver, CO. Panoramic views of beautiful country.

A field of sunflowers in Nebraska.

The state capital building in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The beautiful ceiling dome in the rotunda.

Our Penny the Pace crosses into her 44th state, Colorado.

This is a mighty big chair. That horse is life-size as is Phil ;-)...

State Capital Building - Denver, Colorado.

Our stop in Denver included a visit with Joy's cousin Jonelle and her family.

L-R= Jonelle's son Dane, Jonelle and Jonelle's son Beau.

Thanks Cuz for the wonderful meals and family time!

On to Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

L-R= Phil, his cousin Carol, her sister Joanie and their mother, Phil's Aunt Marie.

It has been 17 years since he has seen Marie and Carol and even longer since he has seen Joanie.

We hope to come back a little bit soon than that next time.

Lovely ironwork on this gate into town.

Downtown Manitou Springs, CO.

As many times as Phil had been to Colorado Springs he has never been to the top of Pike's Peak.

Here comes the train!

These are the teeth (cogs) that keep us from sliding on the rails.

This "bus conversion" caught our eye parked in a gas station along side the main street. Quite the paint job and how about that second story?

The Cog Railroad Station in Manitou Springs, CO.

Here is Joy waiting patiently to board the cog railroad.

Although I was a tiny bit concerned about the lack of oxygen at the summit, I was excited about taking the ride to the top.

What a view! You can see forever from up here. That is Colorado Springs down in the valley.

The air was thin and it was very cold ... brrrrr!

Reservoir on the flank of Pike's Peak.

"World Famous 14,000 foot donuts."

Obviously, their claim to fame is being deep fried over two miles above terra firma because otherwise they are ordinary cake donuts with no embellishments. One of these and a big cup of hot chocolate hit the spot at the summit.

Phil and Joy, all bundled up on the Cog Railroad heading back down Pike's Peak.

Phil loves this place. He has fond memories of visiting these exotic rock formations when he was a teenager.

Famous balancing rock.

People were letting their children crawl around underneath it ... made me wonder what they were thinking!

2:04 pm Sunday, October 7, 2007

This is our final day in Truth or Consequences NM. It is 80 degrees already at noon; the coach is heating up so we have the air conditioning on. I felt less than 100% well yesterday so we stayed home all day and have not gone out exploring like I had hoped. I feel better today so maybe we will get out and about later this afternoon.

My last post left off with our visit to Lead and Deadwood, SD. From Rapid City we traveled to Scottsbluff, NE. We actually had several reasons to turn our Penny the Pace south into Nebraska. The first being we had missed NE on our trip back east in 2005 and wanted to get that state on to our magnetic USA map. This map (on the front end of our slide-out) is where we display for all to see the states we have traveled in our coach. We had added the state of Wyoming on the way through to South Dakota.

We also wanted to see historic Chimney Rock and Scottsbluff. Since it is fairly certain this is the trail my great grandmother traveled on her way to Lead (City) from their farm in NE after it was sold, I wanted to experience the area and view the terrain. Serendipitously, we discovered that the headquarters for our favorite outdoor store is located in Sydney, NE so one day we drove down. Phil loves the little short pieces of black licorice and Cabelas has the best we have ever found around the country. There were only four packages on the shelf and we bought them all (usually we buy at least six). Phil also found a couple very nice shirt/jackets to replace his worn out Levi shirt/jacket ... on sale even!

We cross the Nebraska State line in the modern day version of a "covered wagon" ... our wonderful Penny the Pace.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the trepidation felt by my beloved progenitor as she and her family headed their wagons toward South Dakota that fall of 1890.

Wow ... awesome vistas!

Another marker along a trail my great grandmother may have taken on her trek to South Dakota in 1890.

A long, lonesome road ...

Miles of prairie ...

Sign at the Chimney Rock Visitor's Center.

Very informative.

These signs always get my attention!

I can't help but wonder how many pioneers were bitten as they walked across the prairie. Conversely, it seems plausible the noise and dust chased the poisonous vipers away before the children and animals came along.

Historic Chimney rock. Still formidable but eroding as I speak from the relentless wind and weather. Today it is several hundred feet shorter than when the intrepid pioneers used it for a navigational aid. All the traveler's names, carved so diligently into the sandstone have disappeared as well.

This sign to commemorate the short lived (1860-1861) Pony Express is located very close to Chimney Rock.

The Cabelas Store in Sydney, NE.

This fellow wanted his nose scratched. Isn't Joy brave?

Phil thought this stuffed elephant was pretty cool.

Simply gorgeous sunset on our way back to Scottsbluff from Sydney, NE.

3:19 pm Sunday, September 30, 2007

Apparently my blog has become a weekly series. I always hope to put fingers to keyboard (formerly known as putting pen to paper) more often and enjoy other blogs written daily, but for me (at least for now), that dedication seems beyond my capabilities.

From September 10 through 14, 2007 we chose this stop in Rapid City, SD because of the wonderful attractions located nearby and the fact that my maternal great grandmother who passed away 75 years ago spent three years of her life (1890-1893) not far away in Lead (City), under very stressful conditions. This history imparts strong family ties for me and whenever I am in the area I cannot help but feel closer to her. I will post a few pictures of modern day Lead and Deadwood.

Our visit to Crazy Horse Mountain was as wonderful this time as the last. Here are a some new shots to show you what it looks like today.

Crazy Horse Memorial, the world's largest sculpture, now in progress, is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota on US Highway 16/385 just 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore. The work was begun in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski at the request of Native Americans. Korczak died in 1982. His wife Ruth and their family continue the project working with the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation

Phil checks out the beautifully embellished teepee inside the museum.

Inside the Crazy Horse museum. The exhibits continue to be superb although not much has changed since we visited in 2005. However, this fantasy buffalo was a new edition.

"My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too." These are the words Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in 1939 urging him to visit the Black Hills and carve a mountain sculpture honoring American Indians. Fifty-five years after Ziolkowski began carving Crazy Horse Memorial, his family continues the dream and work progresses on the world's largest mountain sculpture. When finished, Crazy Horse will stand 641 feet long and 563 feet high

This statement will be engraved on the finished sculpture.

Photo-op on the viewing deck in the doorway of a replica of America's first traveling homes. Penny the Pace has a bit more room inside ... but not much!

Entrance to Lead (pronounced as leed). Founded in 1876 as a company town by the Homestake Gold Mining Company. The Homestake was the largest, deepest (8240 feet) and most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere. It closed in 2001 and has been selected as the site of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, a proposed NSF facility for low-background experiments on neutrinos, dark matter, and other nuclear physics topics, as well as biology and mine engineering studies.

This plaque is the only information available.

West Lead Cemetery, obviously abandoned and left to ruin. It is a shameful thing to neglect the final resting place of so many citizens of this town.

One of the nicer homes on a very steep, dead-end street in Lead.