Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

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Moab to Mount Rushmore was a 700 mile + drive so we decided to hit the road early and get as far as we could in one day, but would try and see some countryside and not just highway. We therefore turned off to take a leisurely route through the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado which was really a good decision. We actually saw some greenery after the desert phases of the previous areas. High mountains with snow, thunder storms and once again spectacular views from the overlooks that are numerous on the route. One worry was that we almost ran out of petrol as the on board computer went from stating we had 150 miles of gas left to very low warning in the space of 2 miles. It would have been a long walk to the nearest gas station. Stayed in a motel in Fort Collins for the night but was so knackered we did not investigate the area that much and just wanted to sleep. We still had a couple of hundred miles to go to get to Mount Rushmore and then we wanted to get as far West as we could before going to see Yogi and Boo Boo in Jellystone area.

Mount Rushmore was great to see with the Presidents carvings, but we are not sure the 1200 mile detour was worth it. They are great to visit, but the parking of $10 for the privilege seems excessive for the time you actually stay there. Although the parking is good for a year, which is great for the locals but not for the tourists. From there we went to Deadwood famous for Wild Bill Hickock. It was slightly on the commercialised side of things but still worth a trip. Lots of saloons and similar western things. From there we wanted to get as far west as possible towards Yellowstone so basically stopped at what looked a reasonable sized town on paper and on the same route so Buffalo Wyoming was an obvious choice. On paper it was an obvious choice, in reality when looking for a restaurant or diner that may have a vegetarian choice don't go to a town that has an animal name. Unfortunately we could not find a suitable town name such as Tofu or Egg. That aside the town centre seemed pleasant but we were so knackered we just wanted to eat and hit the sack.

Obviously Gary cocked up the timings and we did not need to rush to Yellowstone as we were not due to arrive for another day. So we had leisurely drive to Cody, Wyoming, which is a real western town, as everyone seem to have a Stetson or similar, but then the timings coincided with their stampede which of course we had to attend. It also was the charity night were everyone was asked to wear some pink in respect of a local lady who had recently succumbed to cancer. Lucky for us we had loads of pink stuff following our stay in San Francisco and seeing George Michael in Las Vegas. We knew the pink leather chaps would come in handy.

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Photos

Rocky Mountain National Park
This photograph was put in to show the first wildlife we had seen since the trip started. We are hoping to see something more exciting by the end.

Rocky Mountain National Park
It was our first snow of the trip. It was much colder when we got out of the car for the photos. It was near freezing point (or felt like it in our shorts and T shirts)

Rocky Mountain National Park
The weather turned a bit.

Deadwood, SD
A typical western town with many saloons and mock gunfights.

The Cody Stampede
Just a taster of things to come from the Calgary Stampede.

Cody Stampede
A cheaper version of a horse box.