July Road trip. cont’d

Big Sky country scenery….headin’ to Anaconda to visit with Marcy’s last remaining Aunt, Hazel, and Marcy’s cousins!

A little history…..

Taking a break!

And we finally arrive at Hazels, a high point of the trip! Hazel is doing good!

Marcy and Hazel!

Marcy is busy showing Hazel and Rose some pictures and catching up on family news……

Nyla was having a birthday back in SD, so Marcy called her and had Hazel wish her a Happy Birthday! They had a nice visit on the phone….

Marcy and Cousin Walter….

Marcy and Cousin Rodney….

Cousins Rodney and Rose….

Marcy and Aunt Hazel….

We all went out for supper….was hoping the rest of the cousins could be there also, but they had previous commitments….we did get to see most of them at Hazels house, but the visiting was so intense we forgot to take pictures….

Ready to hit the road again!

Going down the East side of MacDonald Pass on Hwy 12 was interesting! Can’t see it here, but there was still quite a bit of snow on the higher peaks!

We stopped in Helena and had dinner with John Barrows…..John is a former Northern Pacific Ry telegrapher and we had a good time talking about the “old days”…..John is very active in providing demos to various groups and functions on the art of telegraphy…

After enjoying a fine dinner with John, we headed for Great Falls to visit with Barb (Richter) and Norman Henry….

Barb, Marcy, and Norman…..

While waiting for Barb to get off work, Norman gave us the Grand tour of Great Falls! The following pics were at the Big Springs. It is located adjacent to the Missouri Rivr, and the outflow of the springs forms the nations shortest river (201 ft.) as it flows into the Missouri….

Next was a beautiful downtown park…..

Back at Barb and Norman’s house, we were introduced to………

RUFUS!

Rufus lives in a large tree by their house, and Norman has him trained quite well….he just goes outside and gently says “Rufus” “Rufus?” and the squirrel comes scampering down the tree and wants to be fed! Cool!

Norman keeps a good supply of peanuts on hand for
Rufus   He told us that last Winter, some of Rufus’s buddies beat him up and he was in pretty bad shape….Norman took him in and nursed him back to health!

Saturday evening, we took them out for steaks…..I think they enjoyed them!

July 17th, Sunday afternoon, we said our goodbyes and headed East for good old North Dakota……stay tuned for that portion!

July Road Trip

 

Last Winter, we discussed a road trip to see friends and relatives we had not seen for many years. After several modifications, we finally set a schedule and ventured out on July 15th….Marcy had a big smile on her face….

Headin’ down 281 in SD….

The scenery gets more interesting crossing the Mighty Missouri at Chamberlain, SD…the water was up quite high, flooding some trees….

Al’s Oasis is a neat place to stop for lunch…..5 cent coffee and pie to die for!

Marcy is ready to hit the road again…..

Now we’re out where the West begins….

Complete with Indians attacking!

Next stop……the infamous Wall Drug!

Marcy was flirting with the this old geezer…..

And this gal was flirting with me…..

It was a busy place, but we have places to go and things to see yet today….

We stayed in Deadwood, SD at the Super 8….I done OK at the slots, Marcy was disgusted……

This little stream ran right by our window….pretty cool to leave the window open and listen to the water gurgling by all night…..

Here’s the newest casino in Deadwood….the “Mountain Grand”…..it’s an old mining building that was preserved and remodeled on the inside…..

And another new place….”The Lodge”….quite a nice place….

Going up Hwy 85 to Spearfish….

And Welcome to Wyoming!

Ride ‘em Cowboy…..Yahoooo!

Then Marcy showed me the proper way to ride a horse…..

And their were dinosaurs in the same building! No, I’m not referring to myself!

Montana….Big Sky Country!

Next stop….Custer Battlefield near Hardin, Montana…..Little Bighorn Battlefield…..

I took a bus tour…Marcy stayed in the main building as it was terribly hot….

The tour guide was a native American lady. She done an excellent job in describing the history of the battle and effectively told both sides of the story while merging the cultures……

It was easy to see how General Custer was defeated…if he had only listened to his scouts…..hindsight is 20/20 as they say…..read about it HERE

Some pics of the battlefield…..

Within the battlefield site, there was a herd of wild horses…beautiful animals….

And this was the leader…..magnificent!

 

To be continued as Part 2………