Monday, July 6, 2009

2009 07 06 Travel Day

We enjoyed a wonderful week in South Dakota. The diverse landscape is incredibly beautiful and rugged. Sights not to be missed. Historical events of our ancestors forever changed an ancient culture. The Indian Nation is made up of proud people eager to preserve and share their amazing culture.

We continued our westward journey to Cody, Wyoming. Man! what a day! We were on the road for almost 8 hours and we were certainly happy to get the bus parked and hooked up. It wasn't so much the distance, more the time behind the wheel. Our route took us West on Highway 90, then onto Highway 14 into Cody. Spectacular vistas abounded. The contrasting landscape is difficult to describe. We climbed higher and higher through mountain passes with remnants of Winter snow clinging to the cliffs. We were in the awesome Bighorn Mountains. Granite masses and spires, red and cream colored limestone vistas, every shade of gray and green imaginable. Tufts of grasses, mosses, lichens, and lupens abound. You could see for great distances - it felt as though you could see for hundreds of miles.

A summer storm brewed on the horizon. Dark skies and lightning strikes along the horizon in front of us. Wind gusts kicked-up dust, pelting us as we traveled along. As we made it to the top of the pass it was time to go down. Signs warned us to be in a low gear and to test our brakes. I confess I had sweaty palms as we made our way down grades of 10 percent that went on for 10 miles, let me add that we had to round dozens of hairpin curves. I hated to leave the beauty, but I was glad to be through the pass.

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