All the Presidents Men

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt & Abraham Lincoln

Affectionately known as Georgie, Tommy, Teddy and Abe.

(Is that similar to Jim, Johnny, Jack, and Jose'?)

This place just oozes patriotism!

It was an honor to be there!

Hugs, M

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods is a drive-thru park just outside of Colorado Springs.
The natural rock formations are incredible!

People were driving thru, hiking, and biking.

What a fabulous place to explore.

We arrived at the park about 2-3 hours before sunset. The sun was just creeping behind the mountains when we were exiting. Sooooo beautiful!

Hugs, M

Waterpark fun

The day we visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wall Drug, Bear Country and the Dinosaur Park was L-O-N-G!! So we found a fun motel. It had a WATERPARK --YAY!!

What a great way to end the day.

"Look Dad! Isn't this place COOL!"

"Hey Buddy! Look!"

Holy big SPLASH!

It was a great way to end a very long day.

Oh, and they had a lazy river area and a waterslide to the right of this picture.

Mom and Dad participated in a bit of waterslide action!
So fun was had by all.

Hugs, M

The Big Horn Mountains

In my opinion, this was one of the coolest parts of Wyoming.
The landscape in this area is constantly changing.
Plains, foothills, mountains, forest, pastures, mountains, and back to plains.

This is the eastern side of the Big Horns.

I do not recall the little city at the base.

But you can see for MILES!! I'm sure you can see all the way to South Dakota!

Hugs, M

Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame @ Colorado Springs, Colorado

The one place Craig wanted to stop and spend some time.

Go figure. :)

I would have liked to go, but we had just come from Steve & Jodi's wedding, and had one pooped little man. So Wyatt and I stayed back at the hotel to catch a little rest.

Chris Ledoux

I would guess that he is Craig's favorite rodeo-er and definitely on the top of the list for favorite singers. (Had I known, we would have stopped in Kaycee, WY to the Chris Ledoux Museum.)

Famous cowboy someone.

Hugs, M

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

The legend states that a group of sister were being chased by a bear. The girls climbed a tree to get away from the bear. But the bear clawed and clawed at the tree. (Hence the striation in the side of the tower.) But the tree grew and grew, and the bear could not reach the sisters. It is also said that a grouping of stars is above the tower, which represents the sisters.

Personally, I like the scenario from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" better. :)

It is pretty amazing!

Hey tough guy!

Hugs, M

Guns, Guns, Guns

Within the Wild Bill Cody Museum in Cody, WY is the home to the National Firearms Museum. VERRRRRYY interesting. Old, really old, really really old, some new.

A unique look at a the history of the firearms.

Some old semi-automatic.

Some that changed the course of wars.

Old Canon.

This is actually in the Wild Bill Cody Museum area.

It is a skeet thrower that Bill Cody used.

And these are the glass clays.

A unique look at our country's history, and the world.

Hugs, M

Dinosaurs @ Rapid City, South Dakota

Rapid City has a great little public park called Dinosaur Park.

It is filled with about 7-8 concrete dinosaurs.

The kids can climb all over them.

We had been on the road for 8 days at this point.

It was a great place to burn off some pent up energy of Wyatt's.

Oh, and he thought they were pretty cool too.

For an idea of the size of some of these concrete dinos.

A great way to spend an afternoon, or an hour in our case.
Hugs, M

Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Beyond words.

Oh and YES that's snow!

In early September!

This is our beautiful view driving to Yellowstone's South Entrance from Dubois, WY.

Hugs, M

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo @ Colorado Springs, Colorado

If you ask Wyatt, he will tell you that the giraffes were the best part of the zoo!! He thought they were really interesting.

Hugs, M