When we walked through the sand dunes to the Pacific ocean from Jessie Honeyman state park in Oregon it involved getting onto the beach. The sand ‘cliff’ was very very unsound and this was Alex arriving on the beach.
There is a similar video for me, however it’s far longer and involves me getting back up the dune. Anyone wishing to view this will be subjected at your leisure on our return.
Apologies – this blog is very late. People might be forgiven for thinking that this is some sort of holiday and we have been enjoying ourselves… but truth be told we have had a few dramas this last week – mainly of course meaning we have had no Wi-Fi to post online with – but Matt will write about that separately – so this is all about the week before.
When we left you last, we were in Oregon and recovering from our boozy wine tasting lunch. The next day we came back to the coast and pitched up for three nights in an Oregon state park – Jessie P Honeyman (for all the anoraks out there) which was beside the Pacific but not on it. Two miles inland in the middle of the national dunes reservation area.
The camp was very striking – huge pines, a couple of lakes and most impressively access to the sand dunes. The dune within the park was 150ft high. We struggled up it for about five minutes and took about 30 seconds to run down it! Great fun but not so much fun that we wanted to do the climbing bit again.
Our fellow campers had an assortment of items to surf down – surf boards, snow boards and just plain old pieces of wood. More off road vehicles were in this park than we have ever seen before – but they are banned in some places along the dune coast as of course the area is stunningly beautiful and also very important for breeding birds.
The site was very chilly of an evening as there seemed to be quite a strong sea breeze at all times and the pines obscured the sun for most of the day. As a result, we spent the whole three days smelling of bonfires – not my favourite thing as it does so linger.
Anyway, we went off exploring the route to the Pacific Ocean – up and down some massive sand dunes and had a complete adventure. Between the dunes large amounts of water had been deposited and vegetation had taken root. We turned back at one stage as the water on the path was over our ankles, but the desire to get to the sea was so great that we got brave and waded through the stagnant water. It was rather muddy, insects galore and I kept asking Matt if there would be leeches!!
It reminded us of our trip in the Everglades where we just had to be brave and wade in the water – but without a ranger saying it was safe – we took our chances. We are still alive two weeks on – so I guess it was ok. Mind over matter.
We get to the ocean and the beach is beyond beautiful. Vast – completely deserted and once again we had a view completely devoid of any human activity – no boats, planes, roads or buildings. Amazingly beautiful. The snowy plovers were nesting and there was a designated path so as not to disturb them (I suppose that does count as human interference in the scene – but in a good way!). We scrambled down a 4ft sand cliff and went and bathed our feet, cleaned our shoes and counted our mosquito bites from the journey there. All good.
However, we had to get off the beach and the scramble back up the 4ft sand dune was comedy gold. We have a video of this farce which we will post shortly. Every time you tried to get a footing you fell down and I was beginning to worry of course that we might miss lunch!! In the end the good old belly flop and a bit of momentum saved the day – but it was very funny. I am sorry Oregon for the coastal erosion on behalf of Matt and myself.
After our three days at Jessie – we then set off back inland to Crater Lake. What an odd place – even in our year of odd places. This is a volcano that erupted 7,700 years ago. The eruption made an enormous hole which has over that 7,700 years been filled with snow and rainfall. There are no streams or rivers that flow into or out of it – so the result is some of the purest water on earth. Man has only examined 2% of the bottom of the lake – so plenty of opportunities for anyone interested in becoming the next Jacques Cousteau. It also has the Guinness Book of Records record for the clearest water. The test showed you could see 139ft down with your naked eye.
It is a stunning shade of blue as you can imagine and the level nowadays is fairly constant through seepage and evaporation as every year Crater Lake has about 40 feet of snow. It was one hell of a climb up there in Reg – (he does not always share our enthusiasm for volcanos and mountains) and the usual story of there being snow causing the trails to be closed happened again – even though we are now in July! To add an extra spice the campground also had no water – but nothing could spoil the beauty of this place. You must see it…
After Crater Lake, we headed back south and to the coast to go to the Redwoods National Park. Crossing into California at this point we were met by these giant trees. We stayed just outside the park – near a town called Crescent City which we thought was a bit misty and gloomy. Turns out this is why giant redwoods like this area as they derive their essential moisture for growth from the mist. Every morning the mist clears by about 10am and it is another beautiful blue sky day.
We rode our bikes into the park and did a scenic drive which Reg would not have been able to negotiate between the redwoods. They are awe inspiring. Hundreds of years old, hundreds of feet high and incredibly wide. I read again what John Steinbeck says about them in his travelogue- Travels with Charley and could not put it better than what he says – which is that they are humbling. There is a serenity and hush that comes over you as they have been there so long. You feel very inferior and small. The light and mist are fascinating as they evolve as the sun moves.
We stayed at the park a couple of nights and then headed south.
It was a week of nature – huge sand dunes, Crater Lake with its blue hue and then of course the magnificent trees. Everything has been on steroids this particular week!! (Except us!)
After the excitement of the big city it was back to natural beauty for the Travelling Bradburys this week. We started in Mount Rainier, named after a Royal Navy Admiral, which is a member of the Cascades range of mountains and an active volcano.
Our first trip into the park wasn’t particularly successful as we tried to climb above the treeline to gain a view of the mountain, easier said than done when the trees are enormous and the region hosts stands of trees over 1,000 years old that seem to reach to the sky. We walked to the top of a tree covered ridge to survey yet more trees and no sign of the mountain that we’d had no problem seeing from Seattle.
As it was July 4th we wanted to experience more than simply the fireworks set off by rowdy youths the night before, unfortunately after asking the campsite we set off to the local high school to discover no fireworks whatsoever. Our Independence Day turned out to be a damp squid!
The local supermarket had got into the spirit and had a sign up wishing the United States a happy 241st birthday, which we felt was appropriate.
The next day was more successful and we walked up a steep trail to view Comet Falls, another majestic and awe inspiring natural falls. We can’t get enough of waterfalls it seems, although Alex seems less keen on my description of Doubtful Sound and its cousins in New Zealand that experience rain 300 days a year but have stunning waterfalls because of it.
OK, enough about the land of sheep and Anchor butter, after the falls we drove to the main visitor centre in Mt Rainier which rests at the bottom of the mountain. We were assured the Skyline trail was open and set off confidently, hmmm … still covered in snow and while it had a number of people struggling up it we chose to simply find a spot for lunch and look at the majesty of Rainier and its numerous glaciers while eating crisps and energy bars. On the way back down Alex took a comedy fall in the snow, not captured for posterity I’m afraid, we both got wet but were pleased to have seen the mountain close up. On our way out of the park we stopped to view the Grove of the Patriarchs, a stand of ancient forest more than 1,000 years old protected in the park from the numerous logging operations outside.
Thursday, we drove to the second volcano named after a British ambassador this time, Mt St Helens. Alex was really excited as she remembers the original John Craven’s Newsround reporting of its explosion in 1980. The Oregon state visitor centre had a film of the original newscasts describing the series of events leading to the major eruption on the 18th May, 1980, starting with a number of earthquakes, the evacuation of people from the surrounding areas, the ‘growth’ of a bulge on the north face of the mountain and the final eruption. It included poignant footage of Harry Truman, who had lived on Spirit Lake under the shadow of the mountain for over 50 years, who refused to leave his home and whose remains have never been found.
The Park Service visitor centre had more geological information and the last recording of a US geologist, David Johnston, who radioed his colleagues at the moment of the eruption and who also was killed by the eruption. The mountain itself was completely altered by the eruption with one whole side sliding into the local area, sweeping all before it followed by a lahar, a mixture of snow meltwater, debris from the eruption and thousands of the trees knocked down by the blast. It is a really awe inspiring sight to see the mountain close up, still with large barren areas but also the way vegetation is making a come back already.
What is also humbling is the power nature still has to overwhelm human development and that both Rainier and St Helens are both active and part of a chain of volcanoes that could erupt. Rainier in particular give volcanologists worries because of the glaciers on its flanks that could melt and send literally waves of destruction down into Seattle itself.
After Mt St Helens we drove across the Columbia river into Oregon and spent the night in Astoria, a town built onto a hill overlooking the river and a series of enormous lumber yards for all the timber harvested from the forests in the region (there are a lot of them, all getting smaller I suspect from the amount of timber in these yards!).
From Astoria we drove down along the Oregon coast past cliffs, beaches stretching for miles and rocky outcrops in the sea to Tillamook Bay. Tillamook is famous for its cheese, I believe they produce all three American varieties, i.e. White, Yellow and Orange, it is though a very beautiful part of the coast with an area called the Three Capes that we drove along, stopping for lunch on our travel further south to Salem, Oregon’s capital and on the edge of the Willamette Valley the major wine region of Oregon.
Sunday found us in cycling distance of a vineyard serving brunch, the journey there was going to be about 30 minutes, the journey back wasn’t so certain. Eola wines tasting room was a large shed which did have a lovely garden where we sampled the majority of their output, predominantly Pinot Noir but with a very nice Cuvee II, at $60 a bit steep for our quaffing requirements.
M
WARNING: This last week was very busy – even by our standards. I am tired just thinking about it – never mind attempting to write it up – so here goes. Do not read if you are feeling a bit off colour as it might tip you over the edge!
So, Monday dawned and we were still in Glacier National Park. We think this might be our favourite of all the great national parks as the meadows were superb with the spring flowers out. The paths on the hikes through the rock were like a Dulux colour chart – pale purples, greys, reds and blacks.
We called B early doors to wish her a happy birthday which was a bit of a palaver as we had to buy a phonecard and do it from a payphone – just like Hammond House – but it was lovely to hear that she was having a super day. Glacier might be beautiful but it is very isolated and we had no wifi or phone signal during the time that we were there. I think it added to the appeal in some respects, but you are always slightly nervous that everyone at home is ok.
We set off on our hike up to the Grinnell glacier. This one is fading fast and will be melted by 2030, but it is still very much there at the moment and we could not complete the last part of the climb as there was still too much snow on it. The trail was busy when we set off and someone warned us that there was a moose with her calf nearby. Well Lucie Moosie as we christened her was quite the star turn. We walked very close to her – she was wading in the water with her little ginger baby (one for Dave!) as we trailed along the path.
We were so close it was amazing and we took some photos as you can see. She was very calm but we felt we would let her get on with things so Matt strode on and came to standstill beside some trees that were between us and the water just in case Lucie came out.
I was having a complete faff around after all the excitement – binoculars caught in my camera, camera caught in my sunglasses, sunglasses lost on my head – you get the idea when Matt turned around and we suddenly saw that Lucy and the ginger calf were now watching us!! It was completely hilarious. Less than six feet away so we had to get a move on and left her to it.
The walk was superb – blue skies, wild flowers, a grizzly bear later on the same trail feeding down below and to top it all a lovely picnic beside the lake. The picture shows my feet so that you can see how high we climbed. Glacier was just beautiful.
After the trail was over we set off in Reg to go camping in another part of the park. This time down a road which warned vehicles over 21 feet long not to use that route. As it was the only route in to where we wanted to go – we chanced it. Absolutely fine, but all the camp sites were taken so we had to relocate into the town of East Glacier and drive back in the morning to do our last trail which was to see another waterfall. I know! How many can one couple see!? Who would have thought they were so different – but they are.
Later that day after a restorative pizza in Reg – we set off on the longest drive ever – to Canada. We needed to come in and out of the US before July and it seemed to make sense on the map to go up past Glacier as we could not drive through it (as the roads are still closed for snow) and do a loop in Canada and then be back down into Idaho on the way back.
So far so good – few issues – one was that it was incredibly hot and we began to suspect that Reg’s AC had stopped working, so it was pretty uncomfortable in the driver’s cabin. The other issue was that we were not exactly sure what would happen when we got to the border – we had rung the helpline – but no one felt like helping us – so it was a leap into the unknown.
Get to the Canadian border and the guy is charming. I am driving and handover the passports and to my horror there is a £20 note stuck between them. It looked just like a bribe! Thank goodness it was this way and not coming back in! He had a good laugh about it and we assured him that if it was a bribe we would have offered more!
The loop in Canada was very scenic, but long. Matt was driving by now and we spent nearly half an hour stationary at some road works, which we filmed on the Go Pro if anyone is interested in watching… no idea why!
So, we get back to the US border and are told to exit Reg as the first batch of questions have not gone well. ‘Were we carrying fruit and veg’ – I admitted to some broccoli and Matt had no stamp in his passport from Miami in January.
We had to go into the office and I immediately feel that we have a van load of Mexicans not to mention the heroin stashed under the seats. I think I should never have watched Midnight Express as a teenager!
Funnily enough after 15 minutes the immigration official is much more charming and has checked online to see that our story is true – but probably our sweatiness due to the AC malfunction also counted against us!
We arrived at the campsite at about 9.30pm – but no matter the time – I was determined that we eat the contraband broccoli!
After the excitement of Canada, we had a long old drive to get to our destination of the Boeing factory by Friday morning, just outside of Seattle. We crossed into Washington, and had one night in a nice place called Moses Lake. There we got Reg’s AC fixed as we could not stand it any longer. The drive was very weird – great, dusty, hot plains – but irrigated to within an inch of their lives in places and then huge fields of potatoes, orchards of fruit and hills covered in vines. We also drove through the Stevens Pass – which is a ski resort very close to Seattle.
Boeing was amazing. We did the factory tour and saw where they assembled 777, 787 (the Dreamliner) and 747’s. Not allowed to take any pictures of course lest we sell them to Airbus – but the scale was incredible as you can imagine and stats like there being 6 million pieces in a 747 will no doubt cross your mind when you are next sitting in one! Three million of those parts are rivets by the way.
Late afternoon on Friday we saw real Seattle traffic jams down the freeways – but the sun was shining and the surrounding area excited us – hills, water and lots of trees as you would expect from a place called the evergreen state and the emerald city.
Pulled up in the worst campsite so far on this trip. On one side, we had a man who was ‘Travelling with the Lord’ emblazoned on his wagon, and on the other a mad cat woman who had paw print tattoos and matching paw print seat covers in her pickup. We had beer inside that night and spoke to Gemma thankfully until they all went inside.
Fancying some culture away from camping we went into downtown Seattle on Saturday using their light railway and buses. Very impressive system and it all worked like clockwork. The city was charming. Very hilly, sunny, multi-cultural and buzzy. We had the most superb food and drink all weekend and stayed at a hotel in the centre. It was great to walk around and see what was on. A tiny bit of grunge was found at an open-air festival near the Needle – the charmingly named Thunderpussy band had just finished their set, but we did hear a little bit of the next act on – Black Pistol Fire. To be honest the whole of Seattle could hear them!
We went to the Bill and Melinda Gates visitor centre where they explain what their foundation is aiming to do around the globe. Very inspiring and we walked out ten-foot-high and determined to solve global issues. Sadly, we stopped by a rooftop bar and our enthusiasm for tackling the aforementioned global issues became slightly more diluted than the killer punch the chap on the door had served to us as we arrived!
Highly recommend Seattle to you all, or for those that are not working for Microsoft! On Sunday, we got the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and had a long boozy lunch just like the locals – who all seemed to be very young, fit and tanned – but we tried our best to keep up with them!
So back to Reg late last night. He had not been corrupted by the cat woman luckily and we are all poised for fireworks tomorrow and a public holiday here – do they all know it is my nephew’s birthday?!
Have a great week and enjoy Wimbledon!
A x
Another hectic week with bad internet access means that I’m late to the press, again! So, Alex left us saying goodbye to Marie and Shaun in Spearfish after a night of cock sucking cowboys (ask an Aussie) and burgers.
We set off from Spearfish and South Dakota for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, but first we had to sort out Reg’s feet (tyres) so we made a stop in Rapid City at a truck tyre place. On our trip to the Badlands we had a full-on emergency when one of Reg’s tyres burst as we drove along, we stopped at the side of the road looking at ‘The Wall’ in the park but also in the middle of nowhere. We had to wait over an hour and a half for Brian from the tow company to arrive and patch up Reg, he still needed to have his tyres replaced and we had to carry the burst tyre inside for the next three days. The tyre people were very efficient, however we had to purchase three Michelin tyres to replace the two which had worn unevenly and the spare which was burst. We are now running on a complete set of Michelin truck tyres, strangely they weren’t too complimentary about the tyre we bought from Walmart!
With Reg now reshod we set off to Theodore and the town of Medora. We stopped to view the Painted Canyon, very beautiful layered rock wall, more attractive than the similar wall at Badlands and then on to the Medora Campground. Medora is the location of the main entrance to the south unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) and is also interesting as it was renovated and revived by a man called Harold Schafer, who made his fortune by inventing a bubble bath.
Medora was originally a stop on the rail road and the nearest railhead to Theodore’s Elkhorn ranch where he recuperated after losing both his wife, in childbirth, and his mother, from TB, on the same day. He loved the area despite not making a success of his ranch and returned even after becoming president.
Medora muddled along, however it built itself a theatre on a hillside and had a show featuring their most famous resident, Theodore. It was its history and the theatre that attracted Howard who renovated the Rough Riders Hotel and bought the theatre. He and his wife instigated an annual musical show and built a newer and bigger theatre, which are still going strong today after 50 years. We went to the Medora Musical show on Tuesday evening, walking up the steep hill to the entrance with other guests stopping to offer us a lift (we think they thought we must be crazy to walk). The show’s set is impressive recreating the town with the natural beauty of TRNP as a backdrop. The performance was OK, starting with musical recreation of Teddy’s charge and the introduction of the theme of Heroes. This was our biggest issue in that all the heroes seemed to be male stereotypes, e.g. cowboy, farmer, trucker, soldier, the only female heroine was the maid from the hotel. I think Medora needs to up its aspirations and get a few more female heroines, perhaps physicist, doctor, quantitive analyst?
During the day we cycled into the TRNP and walked a loop trail to an high plateau with an enormous prairie dog town, all barking away at us as we walked through it. The day was enlivened (Helen you may wish to stop reading now) when Alex shouted ‘Snake!’ and I looked down to see a rattle snake next to my right food and raised up as if to strike, seems old deafo hadn’t heard it’s warning and had startled it. Thankfully it didn’t bite me and we were able to continue our walk without Alex having to run for help while I began to hallucinate. The walk was also memorable for both of us picking up ticks on our legs, which are horrible mini-crab like creatures that can latch on and suck blood and if not gotten rid of quickly infect you. So, a beautiful walk but impinged by closed encounters with local fauna.
Wednesday, we drove to the north unit of TRNP and had a far more uneventful walk, this time above a bend in the Little Missouri river which was glittering below in a wide flood plain surrounded by large numbers of cottonwoods trees. After the TRNP we drove to our campsite at the Lewis and Clark State Park, what we didn’t realise is that the town of Williston is an oil boom town for the Bakken Shale field and the good burghers of the town have decided to ‘improve’ their road infrastructure all at the same time. At one point the road seemed little more than a ploughed furrow with earth movers either side of it. Reg was not happy and we decided to try and detour on to county roads not realising these are not tarmacked and consequently we created a dust storm and both Reg and we became filthy.
The next day we set off early and took a large detour around Williston and then along US highway 2, which runs from coast to coast, the wind had got up and we were buffeted for the whole 350 mile journey we made that day. We stopped in Glasgow for a coffee, it seems the railroad named the towns along the route after random European locations (there’s a Malta, Devon, Chester etc.) the local town signs feature tartan and the local high school teams wear tartan uniforms. Our destination was a campsite in Havre (you guessed it, named after Le Havre in France but pronounced Hav-ver). We encountered benign sexism at the campground when the owner, Roger, was startled to see that it was Alex who manoeuvred Reg in reverse into the tight site, saying she was ‘better than many men with her driving’, not sure she was too impressed.
Friday, the wind had died and we drove the rest of the route to Glacier National Park, it was on this drive that Reg’s odometer ticked through 15,000 miles. We bought him with 283 miles on the clock in November 2016 and in general he has served us pretty well, we’re hoping the next 15,000 miles are similar. We arrived at Glacier National Park (GNP) in the afternoon to discover the most highly recommended attractions, the Road to the Sun and the Highline trail were both closed owing to the volume of snow still up on the top. The rangers weren’t able to give a definitive date for their reopening with only vague ‘in the next two weeks’ statements.
We persevered and over the next three days walked several incredibly beautiful trails, highlights were walking up to Iceberg Lake which sits in a natural amphitheatre below the mountains with waterfalls all around. We walked to Florence Falls which tumble down a series of rock terraces, this was after a boat trip across a beautiful blue lake. We had to walk 12 miles out and back with four hours to do it, it seemed we were running by the end but the falls were worth it.
Our Moon’s Road Trip guidebook recommended stopping at Park Café in St Mary for their pies, which in America are sweet fruit pies rather than savoury, and we had a slice of huckleberry pie. Huckleberries seem to be similar to blueberries and grow wild throughout the region forming a major part of bears diet, they can eat up to 100 lbs during the season to add weight before hibernating.
Alex will pick up next week, however we both love Glacier and can’t recommend it enough, we preferred it to Yellowstone and will definitely be back another year when Going to the Sun is open!
We stayed at the Kampgrounds of America outside the park, which has one of the most beautiful backdrops of snow-capped peaks we believe in the US, unfortunately its wi-fi is one of the worst we’ve encountered. They did deliver a pizza to Reg’s door, so not all bad!
M
So, after the excitement of the election night – do watch the video – (I think even Jeremy Corbyn did not have as good a time as us… but I am pretty sure that I felt as sick as Theresa May the next day) we headed east to Custer State Park to await the arrival of our dear pals – Shaun and Marie.
We were like kids waiting for 25th December – we were so excited to see them that we did not know what to do with ourselves. We cleaned Reg from top to bottom and then sat and waited until they happily pulled up in their hire car. Sooo good to see them and have a laugh – all week, just like when we go skiing – interspersed with political chats and even God got a look in one night when we were on the second bottle! Students across the land would have been proud how after all these years we are still trying to get to the bottom of that issue!
Armed with goodies from home via Mummy, we settled them into their sleeping quarters and they were the perfect guests.
We had a full itinerary for the week – Sunday and Monday we spent time in Custer State Park. South Dakota has recognised how outstanding the Black Hills are and have protected and cherished a great park. Sadly Ray, still no sighting of Calamity Jane or Doris Day – but as she says the pines are so high that they touch the sky… There are bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs, mule deer, coyotes and of course a lot of birds in the park.
Shaun was very patient with the amateur Bradbury birders. Matt, we discovered is a lot more eagle-eyed than any of us thought and did a great spot of a sap sucker on Monday afternoon which was one on Shaun’s to see list and then he followed it up with a nighthawk on Wednesday. It was wonderful to be able to have someone say what everything was without Matt and I having to go through all the birds we know (about 30 and eliminate them one by one!). Both Marie and Shaun you could tell have done this a few times before!!
Tuesday dawned and we headed off to Mount Rushmore. Slightly nervous that we would be spending a whole day at a man-made monument instead of just being in the Black Hills, we stopped on approach and saw the ‘faces’ from afar. Of course, they are great presidents and as the morning progressed we all became a lot more impressed with Mount Rushmore.
For example, the road to get there was a complete 360-degree corkscrew – never seen that before – so that was exciting and we had to go through a couple of stone tunnels that framed the monument perfectly. On the plaza in front of the monument we sat and had a coffee and tried to name all 50 state flags (your next task H) which is ok when they helpfully put their names on them – not so easy when they are just emblems.
We walked around the site and ended up with a ranger talk in the artist studio. The scope of the project and the dedication of the sculptor – Gutzon Borglum was humbling, as was the timeline and potted histories of the four presidents. We all came away having found the experience a lot more intellectual satisfying than perhaps we had thought it would be. If we were American I think we would have been even prouder!
After Mount Rushmore which of course you may have noticed that we recreated in Reg on our last night with Shaun and Marie (we hope that you can spot the difference…) we went to Crazy Horse. Now everyone with young children should come to see this now as it is unfinished at the moment and we may not live long enough to see it completed.
Crazy Horse was a Native American leader who was basically stabbed in the back by a US soldier back in 1877. On some land in South Dakota, the Lakota tribe commissioned a Polish sculptor, Korczak to complete a huge statue out of the rock of Crazy Horse on his horse. The scale is larger than Mount Rushmore, but unlike that project it is self-funded. As visitors, the admission goes to the project and their progress is dependent upon how much funding they have. It started in 1948 and Korczak himself died in 1982 – but his whole family have carried on the project and the dream to make Crazy Horse come to life. It is a nuts idea – but very impressive and actually very moving.
So rather like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona this is a modern-day marvel happening before our eyes. There is no completion date at present, so I might not see it finished but some of our younger readers might.
Wednesday, we called into Wind Cave which is another National Park in South Dakota. Not as exciting as Carlsbad Caverns – it is nonetheless a bit mind blowing. Over 100 miles in length, it was full of weird water made patterns in the limestone. No stalactites or stalagmites as it is completely dry now, but instead they have formations that are called box work. We did the candlelight tour which was exciting as we had to scrabble around in the dark – just like the original tour guides. We emerged blinking into the sunlight without any broken ankles – phew!
Thursday, we headed off to the Badlands which is in a nutshell (apologies for any geologists out there) is the debris that has eroded off the Black Hills from when they were mountains. It has arranged itself in these glorious mounds of layered sediments. All sorts of colours – black, maroons, oranges, greys and beiges. Some are very high – 100ft in places and some just look like a cement mixer has spilled on the ground. Totally unlike anything we have at home and great as a backdrop to more wildlife.
We had some great sightings in Badlands – long horned sheep, golden eagles and most excitingly an owl with long legs – a burrowing owl who is happily active in the daytime. We had been trying to get this little fella checked off the list – so when we spotted him we were rather excited. He duly went back into his burrow!
So, after two days in Badlands we headed back to civilisation and Spearfish. The end of our time with Shaun and Marie – but a good place to say goodbye. Spearfish is in a delightful canyon, back in the Black Hills and a good location for them to continue their trip down to Wyoming and Colorado. We have headed to North Dakota – but Matt will tell you more next week.
We had a great dinner, went to a bar and did some shots. For our Australian readers, sadly Matt still does like to buy everyone a cock-sucking cowboy or two… even strangers in the bar!
It was wonderful to see Shaun and Marie and we are now very excited to see B and Tim in a few weeks’ time – although we have to get to California by then.
South Dakota was wonderful. The people were lovely, loads to see and do and the countryside was stunning. If you ever get the chance – do come and visit as the towns were charming and it is still the wild west.
A x
Travelling Bradburys 