Road Trip Day 3 ... Black Hills, SD

Our Adventure today took us down through the Black Hills.  We spent time at Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park.  Our day ended in Rapid City, SD where we finally got to meet Collin, Megan's boyfriend and were able to take Megan and Collin out to dinner.  A big thanks to Jeanne and Rich, Quent's aunt and uncle, it was great to see them again and we enjoyed spending the night at their house.

Megan took us on a tour of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where she and Collin go to school.  It was great to see her and see the campus.  Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures with Megan.  We had a short visit as she had a test to study for and work to go too and we forgot to grab the camera at dinner.

Mount Rushmore was different than I had expected (ok not the actual monument, it looks the same as all the pictures) but for some reason I didn't realize it was up in the hills, not out for all to see.  We spent quite a bit of time there, what an amazing accomplishment that is.

Mileage: 170 miles

 Lake Patcola Reservoir, Black Hills, SD

Mount Rushmore, SD

Mountain Goats near Mt. Rushmore, SD

 Crazy Horse, SD

 Custer State Park, SD

Jeanne and Rich

Road Trip Day 2 ... Spearfish, SD

Up and on the road early.  Today's adventure took us up through northeast Wyoming.  We hit Devil's tower National Monument before crossing over into South Dakota.  Neither Quent or I had been through this area before.  Nothing but sage brush, cows and oil fields.

Devil's Tower National Monument was amazing.  Such a unique site out in the middle of nowhere.  We stopped and took pictures of every angle.  I saw prairie dogs for the first time in my life (other than in the zoo), I only snapped a few hundred pictures of the cute little guys.  A great way to start the day.

We hit Spearfish Canyon, the fish hatchery within Spearfish and Strugis before spending the night at Quent's aunt Viv's house.  

It was fun to finally meet aunt Viv and uncle Howard.  I was also able to meet Quent's cousins Dawn and Kurt (and their families).  It was a great night of visiting and great food.  Thanks to the family for making us feel so welcome.

Mileage: 317 miles 

 

Devil's Tower

Prairie Dogs

Sturgis,SD

Spearfish Canyon

 Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, SD

Viv and Howard Jacobs

Road Trip Day 1 ... Casper

Quent and I left this afternoon for Casper, Wyoming.  We're headed to South Dakota for fall break as I have three days out of school and Quent was itchin' to do some pheasant hunting.  We will head out to Devil's Tower in the morning and then over to Spearfish, South Dakota for the night.

Mileage:  427 miles

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

My parents had a BBQ on Saturday night to celebrate their 41st anniversary.  It was fun to see everyone, we hadn't seen most of my family since Memorial Day Weekend.  We all pitched in and got my parents new dishes, 20 place settings.  Now my mom is expecting more grandkids...Slim and Rick better get on that!

 Mom and Dad 8/21/1970

Richard shows off his blonde hair!

20 Years in the Books!

This past weekend was my 20 year high school reunion.  Yes I'm that old!  Somehow I landed myself on the committee so there was no backing out!  Friday night's event was held in the cafeteria at Olympus, the school is scheduled to be torn down after the 2011-12 school year so it was fun to get to go through the school one last time.  The event at Olympus was casual and hot, no air conditioning.  Did I mention it was hot? 

Saturday night's event was held at the University Park Hotel and was a formal sit-down dinner.  We had a great turn out and based on all the comments on Facebook, everyone had a great time.

Quent was a trooper through the event, Friday night he opted to go to Riverton High's football scrimmage with TJ and Morgan rather than hanging out with me all night.  Saturday he hung out with me and was my photographer for the night.  I was a bit busy with registration and the program to even think about taking pictures.

 

The Reunion Committee!!

We made it to 4!

We made it to four!!!  We celebrated our fourth anniversary by sleeping in, cooking breakfast together and spending the day together.  We went to see Cars 2 -- we saw Cars 1 while we were dating -- we went to dinner down in Ogden at Ruby River Steak House, the same restaurant that we went too the night of our wedding. 

It was a great day with just the two of us, I am glad Quent was able to take the day off and spend a day with me.

Around the Town

Have you ever been somewhere so many times it's like a second home?  I have family that lives in Cody, Wyoming and I've visited the town almost every year of my life, some years more than once.  This trip, I realized I didn't have any pictures of the town and figured it was about time.  From the Irma Hotel to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum.  I wish I'd taken more pictures over the years but why would I have?

So today, I post pictures from my afternoon around Cody.

The famous Irma Hotel, built by none other than Buffalo Bill Cody 

Buffalo Bill Cody -- the town namesake

Although I've never been, I hear that the nightly rodeo in Cody is the best around. 

You can't pass through Cody and not stop at the museum. 

Buffalo Bill State Park and Reservoir

 A trip to Cody wouldn't be the same without seeing a line up of motorcycles.

And finally....my mom's alma mater