Devil’s Tower and Yellowstone National Park

After Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, we hopped back into the truck and headed off to our next adventure!   The scenery along the way just gets better and better!  WOW!

Devil’s Tower was our next destination, and we didn’t know what to expect – WOW were we surprised when we drove up to our KOA campground that literally sits at the base of the Tower!

HOW THE TOWER CAME TO BE

“American Indians know many oral traditions and sacred stories about how the Tower formed.  Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa and Lakota histories tell of a Tower growing tall to help people escape bears, which once lived in the region.  Arapaho talk of a bear-girl who slips and scratches and enormous rock.  The oral traditions are rich and complex, and we are privileged to hear them from the people who learned them from their ancestors”

The name DEVIL’S TOWER originated during an 1875 scientific expedition to the Black Hills.  The commander in charge of the military escort, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dodge, wrote that “the Indians call the shaft ‘Bad God’s Tower’.  He modified the name to “Devil’s Tower”

It was magnificent and we took a 2-mile walk on a trail that goes all the way around the tower!

AT ONE POINT ON THE TRAIL, WE LOOKED UP AND SAW A MAN CLIMBING THE TOWER – HE IS CIRCLED IN RED!

What a fun day we had!  On to Yellowstone National Park the next day, but on the way we made a stop at a place called Greycliff Mill – wow! What a great place!  It is a greenhouse, a gift shop, a restaurant, a farm, a weaving shop, and much more.  After walking all around and looking at it all, we had lunch in the cafe.  YUM!  Leonard and I split a roast beef panini and then we shared what is supposed to be their specialty drink – AN ESPRESSO MILKSHAKE!  It was the best milkshake I have ever had – and I was proud that I actually SHARED it – for those of you who really know me, that’s not my favorite thing to do with ice cream!

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As we approached Yellowstone National Park, we all noticed that the sky was getting dark and it looked like rain – WELL, IT WASN’T!  It was snow!  We had a snowstorm come up on us as we were driving through the mountains heading to the campground!

We arrived safely at our campground and “set up shop” – then we just hung out at the campground that evening – it’s tiring for Leonard and Bob who are doing all the driving!  The next day we headed into Yellowstone bright and early!  We grabbed a map at the visitor’s center and followed the knowledgeable park ranger about what to do on our ONE day in the park!

She told us to go to Old Faithful first – it’s an area with LOTS of geysers, in addition to Old Faithful – and then come back and do a loop in the park that is known for lots of wildlife!  HOW FUN!

We stopped and saw a few springs and mini geysers, and were just amazed at how neat they are!  So unique!  Next Stop – OLD FAITHFUL!  It did not disappoint!  What an awesome display to see!

The park ranger was right about the wildlife – we saw so many things!  But I MUST tell you and show you two of the HIGHLIGHTS of our day!

First, we were driving along and all of a sudden the traffic slowed way down and then stopped – we figured it must be some sort of animal that people were looking at – well, we were NOT prepared for what we saw….

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(HOPEFULLY THE VIDEO WORKS WHEN YOU CLICK ON IT!!!)

I took the video out the sun roof and it was amazing and at the same time, a little freaky wondering if they would “stay in their lane’ or not!  THEY DID!

Then later in the day we encountered another traffic jam – this time it was a GRIZZLY BEAR!  Of course I had to jump out of the car and go into the woods (with the rest of the people doing the same thing) and get pictures and video!  Someone said to me “you know that bear could have decided to come towards you” and I figured I just had to outrun ONE other person there taking video!
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(HOPEFULLY THIS VIDEO WORKS ALSO!)

What a great day we had!  We all four are just amazed at God’s creation and the beauty that is all over this country! We also had beautiful weather – and the day after we left, we were notified that 5-9 inches of snow had fallen and some of the entrances to the park were closed because the roads were too bad!  Thank you Lord for clear skies and roads!

NEXT STOP….MOAB UTAH!!!  We will be going to Arches National Park, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon! Can’t wait to see it all and then share it with you all!

UNTIL NEXT TIME…