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2017 Adventures – Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family who enjoy reading about our adventures. It was a great year and plans are already in the works for the new year. We will celebrate our 5th year of Adventures in Travel in February, yaay!

We apologize for not publishing much over the last couple of months, life has kept us quite busy over the fall months and Christmas season. A highlight of the Christmas season was the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train coming through Columbus. Al got a great video over 1000 people have already viewed. See it here!

Another highlight of the season was a house with a 40 minute synchronized music and light show. See it here!

We will be spending the winter catching up on trips that took place after Labor Day. Also updating older posts that need it. Our “Westward Ho! South Dakota and Wyoming” trip was amazing! Go back to begin reading about our trip here. Made some new friends along the way, as well as with enjoying time with long-time friends.

We hope you had a great year too, see you on the road! Happy New Year from Al and Laurie!

Sundance, Wyoming-Gateway to Devil’s Tower

Days 4 & 5

4-27 and 28-2017

After our visit to Devils Tower, we arrived in Sundance at 4:45 PM. There was quite a bit of snow here, the elevation is 4,750 and population is 1,182 and located in Crook County. Another snowstorm hit overnight, blowing out of Montana, where they had a winter storm warning. It was Winter Storm Ursa.

We were tired after being on the road for 12 hours and checked into our home for the night, Bear Lodge Motel. We had a pleasant night here, notice no vacancy. It’s a popular place!

After checking in we had dinner at the Long Horn Saloon + Grill, great food in a relaxing atmosphere. They show the front of the steer in the front of the building…

and the back end behind the restaurant. Cute! He was repainted black and white in July.

Inside the restaurant and our dinner, yum!

On the left of Longhorn is Deluxe Harley Davidson and Vilas Pharmacy.

Right of Longhorn is Mae Mae’s Gifts and Jewelery.

On the corner right of here is Dillon Sundance Hardware, across from the bank.

The people we met in Aladdin in the afternoon are members of the Wyoming State Historical Society.

They have museums all over Wyoming, including Sundance. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see it inside.

Sundance is famous for being the namesake of the Sundance Kid. Just outside on the left is a bronze statue of the Sundance Kid on a bench that you can get a selfie with. He was covered with snow on April 28 😦

Learn more about the Sundance Kid here.

The historic Sundance State Bank that he robbed is still here too and still in business. They are now operating out of newer, larger building a couple blocks away.

To the right of the museum is the Crook County Courthouse.

Other businesses downtown. Next door to the Bear Lodge is the Arrowhead Motel, affiliated with Budget Host.

These businesses are right of the bank. L-R, the far left and far right buildings are unoccupied.

Security Insurance Agency

Wyoming Pioneer and Sundance Times Newspapers.

STEVENS, EDWARDS, HALLOCK & CARPENTER, P.C

The Crook County Museum will be expanding into a larger building at some point.

This poor tree is trying to tell us spring is here.

Bearlodge Engineering and Surveying

A Veterans’ Memorial

The Dime Horseshoe Bar

This bar is a major gathering place during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

On the left is 1875 Gallery, Wild West Espresso, Sundance Realty LLC and Higbee’s Cafe.

A few remaining places downtown.

Country Cottage Flowers and Gifts

NAPA Auto & Truck Parts

Both of these gas stations are on Cleveland Street downtown too.

Rolling Metal Sinclair

Fresh Start

A beautiful mural on a wall.

After filling up at Fresh Start, it was time to depart from Wyoming. Maybe we can stay longer next time. Not long out of town we saw Bear Butte Mountain which was soon lost to sight.

It is now the 5th day of our trip and we turn eastward toward home again.

Waiting for a Starship at Devils Tower

Day 4- April 27, 2017

As we continued to head west, the more snowy it became at the tops of the highest hills. We had to take a selfie at the state border, we reached it by 1:50 PM. After a stop in Aladdin at 2:06 PM, Devils Tower became visible by 3:30 PM, partially obscured by the incoming mist and rain.

There was also a marker at this pull-off giving an overview of Devils Tower.

This view was seen shortly before entering the park. Also in the view are cattle grazing, a tranquil scene.

We’re here! It is really amazing to see it in person. We arrived at 4:04 PM. Get a souvenir at the Devils Tower Trading Post.

The staff at the booth went off shift at 4:00, so we just took care of business at the self-service kiosk and drove into the park.

The road curves to the left and we saw Prairie Dog Town. They made cute little squeaks when they saw us.

Closeup of the cute little guy, they are quite skittish.

Another great view of the tower from within the park.

We could hear thunder in the distance, it was time to go. One more picture before leaving, we tried flagging down that space ship but they didn’t see us 🙂 We love that movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Belle Fourche SD-Center of the USA!

Day 4 / April 27, 2017

After leaving Sturgis, our journey took us to Belle Fourche.

It just so happens this is the geographical center of the United States and there is a really great marker here. It is located at the Tri-State Museum and Visitor’s Center. The states represented are South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. There wasn’t enough time to stop in but there was plenty to see outside.

This is a lug tractor, named for the studs on the back tires.

There is also a great historical marker describing this unique spot.

There is also a bust of George Freeman Mortimer, a man who contributed a lot to the health and vitality of the citizens of South Dakota.

Belle Forche is also important geographically in another way, it was an important part of The Great Cattle Trail . That would not have been possible without the railroad.

There is also a historic log cabin at the museum too.

Peace Flowing Like a River sculpture.

You can also take a walk on the Belle Fourche River Walk from here.

And now for the best part of the museum, the center of the country!

A fun but short visit here, about 15 minutes from 1:13 to 1:27 PM. We continue onward toward Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

Aladdin, Wyoming-A Coal Mining History and Custer

4-27-17

Aladdin, Wyoming has only 15 residents currently, up to 500 when coal mining was done here. It has a charming General Store. This tiny town is also for sale for $1,500,000. We stopped by the store, it attracts people from all over.

We also paid a visit to the nearby Coal Tipple. a structure built to assist in the mining. It was built in the late 1800’s. After parking in the lot, we walked up the path leading to the top.

Plaque near entrance.

The tipple is on your left. We could hear some people talking at the top and we went up to investigate.

Almost to the top. This is where the fan housing was,this is on our left.

It turns out we happened upon a meeting by the Crook County Historical Society. We met local historian and author Pam Thompson, also Treasurer Rodney R. Knudson and a couple of engineers.

The were discussing whether the tipple should be restored or torn down. It was becoming unstable and if anyone tried to climb it, it could cause injury. The fence around it is easily scalable by someone who wanted to get in. They were happy to talk to us fellow history fans from two states away and I recorded a message they had to our readers.

Pam wrote two books on the area,

Around Aladdin

Sundance co-author Rocky Courchaine.

It was a pleasure meeting all of them and we hope the coal tipple can be saved. The view at the top was great!

Behind us was a coal car and Hoist House building.

Other signs there.

Not far from here is the spot where the Custer Expedition was. We went to see the marker.

The picture in the sign.

Our visit to Aladdin was short but very educational. Well worth the stop if you are in the area.

Mitchell South Dakota – World’s Only Corn Palace

4-24-17

One town we HAD to stop in was Mitchell, South Dakota. See their visitor guide here. Stop by the Visitor’s Center across from the Corn Palace. It’s the same building the gift shop is in.

Out front is a sculpture and a plaque. Photos by Al.

Corn is the theme of this community. It is even on the bottom of the lampposts downtown.

The World’s Only Corn Palace is a must-see for any visitor to this state. Of course we did! It has been a centerpiece of Mitchell since 1892, still looking brand new with recent renovations.

We arrived at 12:40 after leaving Madison at 5:30 AM. You could see it on your right as you approached downtown, the turrets reaching toward the sky.

The Corn Palace is an entertainment venue, inside is a large auditorium for shows. They were setting it up for a circus performance that was going to take place that evening.

When you come inside the lobby, friendly volunteers welcome you and have some information available about the Corn Palace and other South Dakota attractions. The columns inside even look like corn cobs.

On the main floor and the 2nd floor and displays and pictures of the Corn palace years ago. A plaque dedication the “new” Corn Palace upstairs.

The LED lights add an elegant accent above the entrance.

The pictures outside are new every year and are made of corn and other agriculture of South Dakota. These pictures are on the front of the building.

These are on the right side of the building. Here is this year’s pictures, beginning with Elvis, the largest picture. Then the 5 smaller ones just right of Elvis (click on image to enlarge).

Across the street is the corn palace gift shop and mall and a chance to get a great selfie like we did.

Stop at the Corn Palace, you will have a great time!

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