Plan "C"

This was the summer of change.  At least it was for us, especially the last few days.  Within a three day period, we had changed from Plan A to Plan B, until Plan C came along unexpectedly!

Original plan:  Stay at Cherry Creek State Park on Saturday and Sunday nights, Sept 26th & 27th. Start on our homeward journey on Monday morning.
Plan B:  After realizing that would be 1000 miles in 2 days (too far with a trailer in tow), we would leave early on Sunday afternoon, and drive to Trinidad, Colorado. Next stop would be Gallup.
Plan C:  This was NOT included in our options, but a blowout certainly changed everything.

We both heard the tire "pop" just south of Colorado Springs.  We limped to the shoulder, with heavy traffic on I-25 on Don's side of the road, and an on ramp on my side.  Time to call AAA!  The hour wait seemed long as it was rather warm outside, with no shade at all.  At least it wasn't in Arizona where the temps are still in the low 100's.  If that had been the case, we would have been like chickens in a roasting pan....only they would have smelled better!

We were both thankful when the Pepto Bismol pink truck showed up.

 You can almost hear the guy saying "Yep, it's flat alright!"

No way was Don going to even attempt changing the tire with traffic whizzing by us on both sides at times.

Plan C: Make it to Pueblo State Park, about 40 miles from where we were stranded.  We wound up situated under a tree that looked like it was struggling to survive.  By hey, shade is shade, even if it is sparse!

 At least we could look out and see the beautiful sunset over the Pueblo Reservoir.

And where we the next morning??  Yep, good ole Discount Tire! Don had gotten on the Internet the night before and made an appointment for 8 AM, the earliest they had.  We were the first in line and sitting in the parking lot before the first employee arrived. 

We did make it to Gallup, even though it was a long day for both of us.  Like they say, "Alls well that ends well".

No Fault with The Vault

There is a "new kid on the block", so to speak.  Well, maybe not brand new, but the Vehicle Vault in Parker hasn't been in existence very long at all, and has some really unique cars on display.  Right now, there is only a showroom, but in the future, owners of expensive and rare cars can buy a vault to house their precious commodity.  It will be set up just like a condominium, where they will buy the area to house their car and will have monthly fees.  Interesting concept, not that I have a car that requires such an expensive garage.  My lil' ole PT Cruiser is perfectly happy at home in our Avondale garage all summer long.

 Our daughter and son-in-law took us yesterday afternoon, and we all enjoyed gawking at the luxurious cars.  Some of them had engines that were themselves longer than my car!  Or at least it looked that way to me.  Can you even imagine trying to get the 1914 Mercedes below into a parking spot?  Forget even parallel parking unless there are 3 open spaces!

Most of the cars are highly polished and seemed to enjoy their royalty status as cream of the crop.  The 1919 REO Speedwagon was in a completly different category.   I'm familiar with the band by that name, but had absolutely no idea there was really a truck named this.  The vehicle was purchased in 1945 from a small repair shop in Cedar Rapids.

A couple from Louisiana actually lived in this, traveling from carnival to carnival to sell Kewpie dolls.  They even had room for their shotgun by the ceiling.  This view is from the back of the truck.

 But the thing I loved the most was this hand signal, complete with red nail polish!  You'd have to be careful with that.  If you got too close to other vehicles, the arm would be broken.  Or maybe it would have just a couple of chipped nails, necessitating a trip to the manicurist.

The 1935 Hudson was low and sleek, complete with suicide doors.  The sign says everything works on it.  Wouldn't you just love to give it a spin?  Maybe if you're brave enough, do a few doughnuts in an empty parking lot?

 Another cool looking car is this 1954 Mercedes Gullwing.  If you look closely, you can see that the doors slide open and aren't hinged.  Only 146 of these were made in 1954. and it has all the original equipment.

I think I'll name this the Arizona car because it has a roadrunner theme to it. The Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird was specifically built for NASCAR and only 2000 of these cars were built.

 Look at the steering wheel!  Beep!  Beep!  Time to outrace Wiley Coyote!

 This Corvette doesn't look like anything special when you first look at it.  The black/grey color combination isn't particularly eye-catching.  But, when you read the information on the card, you realize it is very distinctive and special because:

It was found in a Chevy dealership that closed in 1999, has only 17 miles on it and the factory plastic has NEVER been removed.   It also still has the original paper mats on the floor and the sticker price on the window,  The Vette was never dealer prepped.  Makes you wonder why it was "forgotten about".  All types of scenarios pop up in my mind:

1) The owner came down with Alzheimers and couldn't remember his name, much less where he put his car  2) The owner was in the process of a divorce and was hiding from his soon-to-be ex-wife, 3) He had two teenagers that wanted to drive it and he knew it would never be the same, even if it came back in one piece, etc.

Time to quit the blog for tonight.  It's getting late and my mind is wandering all over the place, as you can see from the paragraph above!  Each scenario was getting a bit more preposterous as I typed. Thanks for putting up with my wandering and meandering mind!

Wind Cave National Park

Day 3 of our visit to Custer State Park and the surrounding area had us heading over to Wind Cave National Park.  Posie the pig had been pouting, since we had forgotten her several times and left her in the truck while we explored and did our thing.  She was grateful to Ron and Patty, who reminded me to pose her in front of the visitor's sign.

The natural opening to Wind Cave was found in 1881 by two ranchers, Tom and Jesse Bingham.  By the late 1890's, it was already becoming a tourist attraction and a hotel was erected right near the hole's location.  The South Dakota Mining Company had bought the mining rights to the land in 1889 and hired the McDonald Family to run it.  However, a dispute between the Stahler and the McDonald families went to court, and they both lost.  The government wound up with the land.

This resulted in President Roosevelt adding another national park under his belt in 1903.

 We were lucky enough to get tickets for the last tour of the day.  As we were sitting there, waiting for it to begin, we heard the office staff telling the other tourists that the tours were all full, and to come back another day.  All the staff commented on how unusually busy it was this week and not having enough people to lead tours.  All the college age people that led tours during the summer had returned back to school.

Down we went, following the ranger, into the 53 degree cave.

 The Civilian Conservation Corps built most of the steps and pathways inside the cave in the 1930's as well as the visitor center and surrounding buildings.  The steps up and down inside the cave were steep, with many puddles of water to try and avoid.  Even the rails were cold and wet.  I was thankful for the sweater and long pants that I was wearing, although you can see in the picture below that some people came in shorts, short sleeves and flip flops!  What were they thinking?!

One of the most common formations in this cave is called boxwork since it looks like little cardboard boxes.  It's unlikely you'll see this in any other cave, since 95% of the boxwork is at Wind Cave.

Our tour last approximately an hour and a half.  However, there are other different tours.  One that we will NEVER take is the Wild Cave Tour.  That takes 4 hours, and you have to crawl on your hands and knees or stoop for most of it.  The park provides kneepads, hard hats and lights.  I think our grandchildren would love it.  Personally, crawling in cold, wet, damp and dreary places is not my cup of tea.

After the tour was over, Ron, Patty and I headed over to the hole that was originally found in 1881.  It's not large, and you can't see very far down.  I can't imagine being one of those brave ranchers going into the unknown.  The wind was flowing outward that day, which you could tell by just standing near it.

If there is a high pressure in the area, the air outside is sucked in as the cave tries to equalize the pressure, and vice versa.  That concludes our science lesson for today.  Happy spelunking!

No Whining in the Wineries

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do".   Boy, I've heard that at least a bazillion times, or at least it seems like it.  So, does it mean that when we were in South Dakota's wine country, we needed to become winos? Does it count if we visit a winery, but just have a few tastes?  No matter, the advertising for Red Ass Rhubarb Wine piqued our interests, so we just HAD to stop at the winery in Hill City to give it a try.

Don, Patty and Ron led the way, while I lagged behind, taking pictures as usual.

 

After all, the day was turning cloudy and getting cold, so we opted for the best solution: stay inside and taste the wine!  We each saddled up to the bar and selected our 5 free (love that word) tastings.  The Red Ass Rhubarb was accidentally created when one of the owners put raspberries into the rhubarb juice.   Turned out, it was a good mistake, unlike many of the mistakes I've made!

 Well, we did end up buying 5 bottles of wine and one delightful smelling candle for our older daughter, Heidi, who is a teetotaler.  Patty also wound up with some good tasting sweet wines that she prefers.

Next stop: Hill City, where four Ninja Turtle carvings were keeping an eye on us from across the street.

 And right beside the cute turtles was this great carving with bears.  Just the perfect opportunity for a photo of Ron and Patty!  Wouldn't this be a great thing to have in your yard if you lived in the mountains?

 By this time, all of us were hungry, and we scurried to a small cafe on the main street in Hill City.  By the time we finished our meal, the wind had picked up, the temperature had dropped and the fog was quickly settling in.  Time to head back to our campground!

No Deadbeats in Deadwood!

Well, maybe there are some deadbeats in Deadwood, but we didn't see anyone sleeping on the streets like we did in Portland last summer.  We did see a lot of other tourists browsing the shops and walking down the main street.  I know some of them were on tour buses because I had recognized a lady that was at Wall Drug the day before.  She definitely had on a wig that had way too much hair, and that caught my eye both days.  Let's just say that "senior" ladies don't have lush, thick, curly hair like they did when they were in high school and leave it at that.

 Deadwood has a colorful and interesting past, and most of the buildings here have been either well preserved or restored to their former grandeur.  Years ago, the town was deteriorating and they came up with an innovative way to fund the restoration of the town by allowing gambling!  In 1989, gambling was declared legal, and the first five years pumped $30 million dollars into the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission.  

This sign caught my eye and I can think of a few people who maybe the beer was named after!

 Signs like this one are seen above the windows and doors of the old buildings.  As history tells it, Wild Bill Hickok always sat with his back to the wall, and had his right had free if he needed to fire his pistol.  However, one fateful day, his friends cajoled him into sitting with his back to the front door.  Wrong decision.....he was shot in the back while playing cards.  Guess we'll never know if he had the winning hand....

Don't you just love this picture of Patty and Don?  We all were laughing, as well as a group of ladies behind us.  I still have a hard time picturing Don with blue hot pants on.....

 From the side it looks like he has an extra pair of legs (kind of like that two-headed calf in Montana)!

We knew before we got to Deadwood that we wanted to eat at Kevin Costner's restaurant called Diamond Lil's.  It wasn't easy to find, since it isn't located on the street level and there is only a small door on the street side.  Patty had the address on her phone, and I had seen the picture of the front of the building on Facebook, which made it easier to locate.  You enter via the door with the blue shade above it and walk up a flight of stairs to the second story.

 The lunch was good and we enjoyed at looking at the different pictures on the wall from his various films, plus the original outfits.

 After lunch, we walked around town, trying to get rid of some of the calories we had accumulated. Don and Patty were interested in the large scale at the old railroad station.  They finally gave up trying to make it work, especially since it over estimated their weight by a lot of pounds!

 I never fail to delight in taking pictures of the beautiful old buildings where ever we go.  The same was true of Deadwood, the buildings proudly displaying their intricate details and choice of colors.  As they say, "They don't build them like they used to".

We're not "Wall-flowers"!

What is there to do when you drive all the way to Wall Drug in South Dakota? This is the place where you can go shopping and find just about everything and anything.

Maybe you can be silly, and spend half your time sitting by wooden figures, just like the four of us did! We may be old, but we refuse to grow up.  At least our children and grandchildren weren't embarrassed  by us since they weren't along.  Patty and I found an interesting card-playing, stone-faced and cigar-smoking lady and decided this was where we wanted our pictures taken.

 Don and Ron also found "Annie Oakley", who looked a little disconcerted that she was sitting between these two fellas.  Her eyes look like they're about to pop out even though Ron and Don seem to be enjoying the experience.

   And finally, I cajoled Patty into riding the over-sized Jackalope in the open area between the buildings.  She was a good sport about it, and climbed up the critter in no time at all.

Needless to say, a fun time was had by all.  I know our families know us well enough to know that we can be crazy and a bit daffy at times without a drop of liquor in us! So don't be a like the guy below with the pout on his face.  Be happy and enjoy life to the fullness.  We do!