Blogs from Gillette, Wyoming, United States, North America

As I was approaching Devils Tower, I was amazed how it is just there. Sticking up 50 million years ago, molten magma was forced into the sedimentary rock near the ground surface. As it cooled, it contracted and fractured into columns. Overly millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower. It is 867 feet tall from the base. There is a great 1.3 mile walk around Devils Tower. It was very cool to see all sides of the Devils Tower. Even saw a snake right next to the paved trail in the rocks. Yes, there were several people climbing the Tower. I was told by a Ranger that it takes about 4-6 hours to climb the Tower but only 1 hour to come down, unless you make an error of course.... read more

Bonjour à tous, Le contre temps hier, avec cette erreur de porte d'accès au parc Yellowstone, et surtout le monde, me font bien modifier mon parcours, mais peut être est ce un bien pour un mal. J'avais prévu 2 jours à Yellowstone, mais vue la foule je ne serais peut être pas retourné. Je vais donc me rendre plus tôt au Mont Rushmore. Mais avant il me faut traverser le reste du Montana et le nord du Wyoming. Le Wyoming, comme je l'ai dit il y a pas longtemps, est l'État le moins peuplé 2,2 habitants au km2 juste avant l'Alaska, 0,48 . 563 000 habitants répartis sur une superficie de 252 000 km2. La capital Cheyenne 60 000 habitants. L'économie repose principalement sur des ressources minières. Le charbon 1er état producteur, gaz naturel, pétrole. Le ... read more

We're back! So the night before last we stayed at a KOA in the Black Hills. THis was our first KOA and I loved it. It had everything you could ask for including a restaurant, waterslide, rental cars, fully loaded bathrooms and anything else you can imagine. Basically home away from home in a tent. Ang, of course, thought it was way too much. I was quite happy there. It was our coldest night out; I think temperatures dipped into the 20's. A hot shower was quite nice after that. We left pretty early and went to our first stop, the Crazy Horse Memorial, which was only about 10 miles away. This was probably the most important, historical, and most enjoyable stop on our trip so far. To give you an accurate description, I've attached the ... read more

After a violent thunderstorm the previous evening, after which we finally ate a delicious dinner in the Mural Room with a table by the large picture windows looking out onto the mountains, we headed north again. By driving back through part of Yellowstone, we were able to save substantial mileage.That turned out to be fortuitous, because the drive out the East Entrance of Yellowstone was one of the more beautiful drives we took. After passing Mary Bay, underneath which lie the hottest parts of the park, you climb out through a high pass with new snow patches and waterfalls around every bend. Eventually, on the other side of the pass, you enter an area of fantastically carved hoodoos in soft welded ash and rhyolite rock. Streams and lakes abut the highway. Eventually you come out onto ... read more

*YAWNS* i am BUSHED! This morning we had MORE waffles (this time the cooking part turned out great! They only sucked today because of there only being suger free syrup...ehem.) then went to the corn palace! It wasn't what i expected. There was a lady making pop corn balls and she gave us free samples and told us about how they ship them to the soldiers and blah blah blah (that's what her stories turned into as i focused on the pop corn...). After that mom saw a giant Jackalope statue that she INSISTED we stop and take pictures on despite. Despite my curses on her life, she pulled over and promptly walked straight into a puddle full of mud and algae!HA After she fished her shoe out and made me stradle the weirdo thing RIGHT ... read more