After we finished touring the Grand Teton National Park, we headed back over to the Teton Village in Jackson Hole for the gondola ride. During the summer months, you can ride the gondola up over 3,000 feet to reach 9,095 feet above sea level. You can also ride the teewinot chairlift up about 400 feet. We really enjoyed both rides. The gondola gave us the best views of Jackson and the Snake River Valley but the teewinot was a fun and relaxing open air ride. We also saw a bunch of people palying disc golf down the mountain as well as [View Full Entry]

---

---

It's the second day of our vacation and today involved a lot of driving across Wyoming. We drove from Gillette, WY to Jackson, WY. Jackson is a mix of cowboy and tourist town. Everything is done with a Western look to it which makes it unique. Has some great shops and restaurants also unique only to the area. We got into town and settled into our hotel. We then headed off to Bubba's for some great BBQ. It was excellent and we watched my 9 year old nephew devour spare ribs like a rabid dog. We then went and walked a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, we have started our family vacation. Today was our first day and we accomplished quite a bit. We drove from North Dakota after stopping to see New Salem Sue (see previous post), then drove via the Enchanted Highway (see previous post) into South Dakota and then entered Wyoming and stopped at Devil's Tower. I had been to the Tower a few years back but the rest riding along in the car had not. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. A little history...Devil's Tower is the US's first National Monument having been designated by then President [View Full Entry]

---

---

As my previous blog posts have mentioned, I've been trying to hit a number of the off beat attractions in my home state of North Dakota. The vast majority of these attractions I was never aware were there. Here's another that I have been well aware of all my life but had never stopped to actually get an up close look at. It's New Salem "Sue", the oversized Holstein cow perched on a hill in New Salem, ND. I have driven by Sue countless times in my life and never drove up the hill for the close look. Sue is 40 [View Full Entry]

---

---

Who knew you could see Michelangelo's David in Sioux Falls, SD??? Well, you can! According to the city, Sioux Falls is one of only 2 places in the world with full size reproductions of the statue of David by Michelangelo (in doing some research, it appears there may be others in other forms, like plaster, etc.). The replica is located in Fawick Park in Sioux Falls courtesy of a donation by its owners. According to some literature, there was a bit of a controvery with putting the nude David in such an "exposed" area because it could lead to a lowering [View Full Entry]

---

---

Each time I visit Sioux Falls, SD, I am more and more impressed. For midwest standards, it's a fairly large community of 148,000 not counting nearby towns. It has a wonderful downtown which has great urban planning containing parks, tree lined streets, and art which is kind of unusual given the dying off of most midwest downtowns. There are several statues/sculptures throughout the downtown area with historical markers all over. Unlike so many midwest downtowns, it's an attraction that draws people to it rather than the outer parts of town where the retail is. On my first evening in Sioux [View Full Entry]

---

---

A quote from the book "Dakota Day Trips": "Italy has its Leaning Tower of Pisa, and North Dakota as its tilted tower of tin, called the Casselton Can Pile." Having bought the "Dakota Day Trips" book a few months ago, I've decided to hit several of the sites as I travel North Dakota. This is one of the off beat and unknown spots in North Dakota which the book promotes. I can now cross this one off my list. If you're a bird lover, you might want to take a look. The pile is located at a convenient stop in Casselton [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, have returned from New Orleans. It was a week of mixed emotions. We spent last Thursday and Friday volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. We were working in the lower 9th ward and I was amazed how much a bunch of novices like us got done. The amount of destruction which remains floored me considering it's been 18 months since Hurricane Katrina (or post-K as they put it). We saw house after house with the tell tale spraypaint on the front marking the date it had been searched and if any bodies had been found thus indicating that the owners had [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, here's the biggest buffalo one can see in the world, I guess. Located at the National Buffalo Museum/Frontier Village in Jamestown, ND. The "artifical" buffalo is 26 feet high and 46 feet long. It is a 60 ton concrete monument and was dedicated in 1959. Overlooks the city of Jamestown and its prairie hills. There's also a live buffalo herd in residence roaming throughout the hills which also includes a rare white albino buffalo called "White Cloud". I always enjoy seeing these creatures who still look like they probably did centuries ago. Much, much bigger in person. You wouldn't wan [View Full Entry]

---

---

I'm still out and about trying out my new camera and its killer lens. Passed through Valley City on my way to Fort Ransom. Decided to check out some of the things Valley City had to offer. Valley City is home to a number of different styles of bridges because of the Sheyenne River weaving through the City. I stopped first at the Valley City footbridge which is a wonderful bridge built in 1901 to connect Valley City State University to the other side of the River. According to the Visitor's Site, the Bridge "is a three-span, 150 foot long suspension [View Full Entry]

---

---