Up to Salt Lake City....

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Hey All

Will try and pick up where I left off...

Went to Chicago after living the 'Windy City' of Cleveland.

When you arrive in Chicago you can't help but notice that the skyline is massive and you get the impression that it is bigger than New York but they tell me that Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US so it clearly isn't bigger, just seems so.

There is a nice beach tehre and very interesting architecture on the buildings. It's a city that would be easy to live in.

Went for a look along the 'Magnificent Mile' shopping street but managed to resist buying anything.

Went to the top of the John Hancock tower which is 100 sotries high and had a look at the viewing platform which gives an excellent view of the skyline.

Finally sorted out all of the problems that I was having with my flights thanks to the help of Natalie's friend Jenny who was an absolute life saver, so all going well that should be the last I hear of flight and tour problems!!! otherwise I'm sure I will scream and you'll hear me in Australia.

We went to the Chicago White Sox vs Arizona Diamondbacks baseball gameat the US Cellular Field which was exciting, as that is the first time I have ever been to a live baseball game.

Following day we went to the Miller Factory to check out some more beer, but like I say, seen one brewery you've seen them all!!

Went to Madison from there where we didn't do much except get some dinner at the 'Outback Steakhouse' which is a fairly popular chain over here, which is an absolute crack up as it is an Australian Themed resturant that clearly wasn't written by Aussies... the served meals with combinations that no self respecting Aussie would ever put on the same plate!! and they tried to use our lingo but it just wasn't working for them!

On leaving Madison we headed out through farmlands of the midwest where many of America's crops are grown. We passed through Sioux Falls, South Dakot's largest city, which is situated on the banks fo the Big Sioux River.

Then it was on to the Badlands National Park. The park spans 244,000 acres and is a cross between Monutment Valley and Grand Canyon landscapes. It was once covered by sea and when it disappeared it left the landscape scared with the perfect setting for westerns!

We then went onto to Deadwood, South Dakota, which is apparently one of only 3 frontier towns left in America. I like thta town, it has character and is old style just like the westerns. It was full of indian shops and rural stores. We stayed in the franklin Hotel which is 100 years old and regal.

Kevin Costner stayed in Deadwood whilst filming Dances with Wolves in the area and he liked it so much he bought a hotel and bar there.

There was a festival on whilst I was there so what was going to be a quiet stop turned into massive nights out with entertainment in the streets and $1.50 beer refills!!! They were playing country music live in the streets and there were plenty of country folk there so as you can imagine I was feeling quiet at home!

Headed off then to Moutn Rushmore to see the National Memorial that took 14 years to carve out the faces of four American Presidents into the Cliffs of South Dakotas Black Hills. It features Washington, Jefferson, Rooservelt and Lincoln.

The memorial was started in about 1923 I think!! and took 14 years to complete, however due to the Great Depression work ceased so it was only actually physically worked on for 6 years out of the 14 years and cost a total of $1 million which as you can imagine was an absolute fortune back then.

The heads stand 20m tall and Lincoln's nose is 6m high alone - although from the viewing areas it just doesn't look that large at all.

We then headed across to the Crazy Horse Monument where work started in 1949. It was and still is a privately funded project and over the years they have turned down two grants of $10 million from the government due to the role they played in Crazy Horse's death back in the day.

It is a work in progress and they say that it could take another 100 years to complete at this rate. I got some rock from the mountain that was blasted out which is pretty cool!!

When it is finished it will be the largest man made monument in the world. The monument is a memorial to the Sioux Warrior famous for the Battle of Little Bighorn. The monument will be so huge that the Mount Rushmore monument will fit in the head alone of the Crazy Horse Monument. It will be 135m x 200m. The whole that they have just blasted out for where Crazy Horse's arm will go could fit a 10 storey building inside of it. It truely will be a site to see when finished.

We then left Deadwood for the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. Stopped at Devils Tower on the way - which is the 'rock' out of the movie 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. The Tower is 275m high and you could fit a whoel football field at the top of it. Legent has it that eight children were playing, 7 sisters and a brother when the brother turned into a bear and started chasing the sisters and scared them into running away, they ran to a stump where a giant tree spoke to them and tld them to climb onto the stump. When they did it began to rise into the air. They were beyond the bears reach, so the beat clawed at the bark leaving marks over the 'rock' and the sisters were borne into the sky and became the 'Big Dipper'. Did a bit of a hike around it and then headed out again.

Along the road we stopped to look at the Prarie Dogs which look like a goffer x ferrit type thing and they are so cute and playful with one and another.

Legends of the Falls was filmed in this area. Wyoming is a land of extreme landscapes from the flat ground to the snow capped mountins. There is snow laying amongst the pine trees at ground level, however it wasn't cold and it sure was beautful.

We then went inot another Frontier town called Cody, named after the Western legent, Buffalo Bill Cody.

Went out to a rodeo that evening and nearly froze to death!!It makes me laugh to watch the city people getting upset about the rodeo events... then the girls saw a horse with the leg support straps on and thought that they were leg warmers!!

Heading on over to Yellowstone National Park - America's First National Park and they say that the 52 mile drive to there is argueably the most scenic drive in all of America.

Once again, Contrasting, snow capped mountains, pine forsts and great lakes. We saw a couple of moose, some elk and buffalo/bison. There is about 600 black bears in the park, 400 Grizzlys and 3,500-4000 buffalo.

We stayed at 'Old Faithful' and that evening there was a buffalo right near our cabin so got some close up pictures, wasn't expecting to see them that close!!

We watched the 'Old Geyser' erupt. It erupts every 97 min like clockwork and shoots steam, Sulphur and water about 100m up into the air and is one of the most spectacular Geysers in the Park. We also had a look at the hot springs which are at boiling temperature.

I went to a viewing point at one of the waterfalls in the park with Michael, from the tour, as not everyone decided to hike down the millions of steps!! and as we went down really quickly we missed the change in instructions of where to meet back up and ended up going right back the way we came, which was such a difficult climb I nearly passed out!!! and found our tour waiting for us for about 30 min, so we got a round of appluse for that...

We then headed through the Grand Teton National Park in the state of Utah. Grand Teton is loosely translated to mean 'Big Tits' our tour guide tells us - it referse to the big/high peaks of the mountain range that runs through it.

Finished up in Salt Lake City, home of the 2002 Winter Olympics and one of the biggest Morman Communities in the states - the worst thing about Salt Lake is that most bars there don't serve full strength alcohol - the breweries specially brew light drinks of all kind for this area - something to do with the Morman faith.... but alas, contiki managed to find just one bar that served 'normal' drinks!

Then through to Bryce Canyon where we viewed the Hoodoos which is 8000 feet above sea level.

Anyways, I'll leave it there as I need some sleep!! but thought I'd better send some sort of update out at some stage!! So that's my travels up to the 23rd of June - will try and keep the updates a little more regular from now on I promise!! be easier with a bit of luck now we've finished the parks and canyons section!

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Photos

Sioux Falls
Adam,Trav, Nat, Myself & Colleen out at the Bar in the Ramada

Mt Rushmore
Mt Rushmore National Monument