I'm beginning to feel like this trip is 70% riding on the motorcoach and 30% actual seeing stuff. Okay, maybe that's an exageration, but it does feel like A LOT of time on the bus. Left Sheridan this morning at 8 am, drove from there to the Little Bighorn Battlefield. On the way, we watched the videos that are shown in the visitor's center so we wouldn't have to spend time there getting oriented. The battlefield itself looks like a big field of grass. With scattered white gravestones (and a few red ones). The National Monument is two separate sites, about 4 miles apart. One part is the Reno-Benteen battlefield and the other is "Last Stand Hill." I never knew that the battle was actually two different fights that far apart. Custer split up his forces ... read more

So, today was spent at two different big mountain memorials. If you know the history of Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse sculpture, then skip ahead.... The Black Hills were considered sacred land by the Lakota people who lived here. And in the original treaty between the US government and the Lakota, the Hills were part of the territory ceded to the tribe. However, once it was discovered that there was "gold in them thar hills" the Lakota were forced off the land. When mining started to die down in South Dakota, the powers that be decided to try and up the tourism business. Gutzon Borglum was working on the Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta, and was approached by the South Dakotans to do something in this state. He decided to do 4 presidents. And you ... read more

So, today was spent on the bus. From 8 am to just about 4 pm. As Jack (our tour guide) put it, today is a long airport transfer. It's a lot simpler for many people to fly into Denver than into Rapid City, so Globus starts the tour there. Bus ride was pretty uneventful, cloud cover when we were leaving Denver meant that we couldn't see the peaks of the Rockies in the distance, but it cleared up as we got into Wyoming. About 20 people on the bus, and according to Jack there are a total of 45 on the tour. A bit more than I've had on the last tours, but such is life. And apparently, some folks are only going as far as Salt Lake City. Saw some free range antelope as we ... read more

After dropping my stuff in my hotel room (nice view of some mountains and a big blue bear statue), I set out walking. The altitude isn't really bothering me, but I am taking it a bit easy and not rushing. Walked over to the state capitol building and walked up the stairs so that I can actually say I was a mile above sea level. After that I walked over to the 16th Street Mall, which a shopping district about 3/4 of a mile long. It's closed to cars, but there is a free bus that runs along it. Walked to what was marked as the "Millenium Bridge" on my map, but was disappointed. To me, Bridge means a longish stretchover water. This was a very short span over train tracks. I'd hoped to get some ... read more

I wanted to jot down a few thoughts about this Samuel L. Jackson/Angela Bassett play, since if I don't do it now, I'll probably forget what I want to say while I'm away on vacation... Let me say that both Jackson and Bassett are incredible on stage. Jackson's Martin Luther King Jr was a complex character, and Jackson played the complexity well. Angela Bassett's Camae is a fictional character, who at first seems to be a simple sounding board for MLK's need to talk to someone in the Lorraine Hotel after giving his Mountaintop speech in a Memphis church. Spoiler Alert- Spoiler below Those familiar with history will know that the speech was given the night before MLK was shot, and thus may not be surprised when Bassett's room service maid turns out to an angel ... read more