Hill City, SD

Crazy Horse was first on our itinerary today. Fascinating and very informative. We then went to the National Museum of Wood Carving which was interesting. We spent the rest of the day in Custer State Park. The scenery was breathtaking. Did some hiking at Cathedral Spires. During our drive we saw huge herds of bison and more pronghorns. Early night as we are doing a sunrise hot air balloon ride over Mt. Rushmore.

Rapid City, SD

Forgot to mention that on our hike to Fairy Falls we met Bob and Sherry from central Wisconsin. We compared notes on places we had seen while hiking the last 1/2 mile to the falls. Today we had a killer breakfast at Peter's in Cody and then went to the Trading Post. Went the northern route across the Bighorn Mountains. We stopped at Shell Creek Falls-what an awesome sight. There was plenty of snow at 10,000 feet. Saw numerous pronghorns and a weasel. New adventures await us tomorrow.

Cody, WY

Went to Fountain Paint Pot which has all 4 types of geothermal activity in one location. The next stop was Fairy Falls where we did a 5.2 mile hike to enjoy the splendid spring water run off shooting 100 feet down to a crystal clear pool. On our hike back to the car our path was nearly blocked by a 2000 lb. bison, but we managed to persevere. Once back to the car we were greeted by a raven on the hood. We then visited Old Faithful General Store and had a snack and did some shopping. We then waited on Old Faithful to erupt for 1 1/2 hours. While waiting we visited with some people from Joliet, IL. After the eruption we toured the historic Old Faithful Lodge, a spectacular example of rustic architecture. Our road out of the park was closed until 8 pm due to avalanche danger. Fantastic scenery but quite the challenging drive. Arrived in Cody at 10 pm. New adventures tomorrow.

West Yellowstone, MT

Traveled into Idaho for a short road trip before our Wildlife Tour. We saw pronghorns and a moose. Tour was a blast. We had a grizzly walking beside our van. We saw another one up in the forest. Went to Yellowstone Grand Canyon and saw several magnificent falls. Saw geysers and hot springs. Bison and elk were abundant. Went to Mammoth Hot Springs where we lost a member of our tour group. He was from Poland. We we're supposed to meet in 45 minutes at the bottom of the terrace. Our tour driver was moving the van and he thought we left him. He hitched a ride back to the motel but we didn't know that. We spent about an hour looking for him. The other two people on the tour were guys from Australia who were doing a motorcycle tour of the US. The hotel called the tour company and finally let us know the missing person had been located. On the trip back to the hotel we saw baby bison and actually had a huge male bison walking down the road beside the van. Finally back at the hotel after a long day. Travel plans for tomorrow are in question as the road we need to take is closed due to avalanche.

West Yellowstone, Montana

Traveled through Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Still snowing but not as bad as yesterday in the Bighorn Mountains. We saw mule deer, momma black bear with cubs, numerous bison, uinta ground squirrels and elk. The scenery was absolutely amazing. Every turn was more spectacular. We bought a wildlife guide so we would know what we were seeing. Our hotel has a 100 ft. water slide.

Jackson Hole, WY

Took South Pass through the Bighorn Mountains. It was snowing and chains were required which we did not have. It continued to snow through the Shoshone National Forest. Once we arrived at Farson the snow stopped and it was a spectacular drive through the Bridger-Teton National Forest. We saw numerous antelopes along the way. We also identified one of the critters we had seen previously-a marmot. Arrived in Jackson, WY and explored the town.

We're having problems uploading photos with the IPAD. So here is what we saw yesterday: we went to the Badlands and saw some bighorn sheep. We also visited the Corn Palace-that was quite unique. Today we saw Wall Drug, scenic highway through Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood, Devil's Tower and scenic byway across the Bighorn Mountain Range. The sites were spectacular. We ended up in Thermopolis, WY. Tomorrow our plan is the hot springs in Thermopolis and off to the Grand Tetons weather permitting. Today we saw prairie dogs, antelope and various other unidentified critters. We need to procure a book on Western wildlife :). More tomorrow.