Harvest

Mount Rushmore

Leif, Jack, and I under the noses of Mount Rushmore.

The View From Above

In a few words... Hot Air Balloons are AWESOME. Try it. You will like it. Guaranteed. 'Nuf said.

 Our hot air balloon ready to go in the South Park Valley in Colorado.

 Some of our high flying company. I think our basket held 12 people.

Inside the envelope of our balloon.

The whole basket crew, minus our balloon pilot (who looked a lot like Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs).

 This is the view from about 2000 feet above the ground. There are dirt roads and cul de sacs mapped across the whole valley and only a handful of houses. There was a Japanese company that went there in  the 70's with big plans for developing the area. They made and named the roads and then realized there was no water anywhere. So this is what was left. The houses that are in the valley must rely on solar power and if they are lucky they find some water on their land, if not they have to bring water in from town. Talk about living "off the grid".

 Being surrounded by mountains on all sides was amazing and the view was beautiful. The mountains were still a bit hazy from all of the wild fires near Colorado Springs.

While there was nothing but desolation and a Bison farm and "compound" directly below us, we were COMPLETELY surrounded by mountains. It was beyond cool. Our pilot pointed out all of the Fourteeners to us.

Makin' Faces in Boulder

Dinner in Boulder involved some rain drops that I yelled at.

 The rain went away and we had the best Eggplant Parmigiana. Happy Day!

Trail Ridge Road

Trail Ridge Road was unbelievable! Not for those with a fear if heights. I didn't think I was afraid of heights but this drive caused me a major panic attack.

Deadwood, South Dakota

Vacation - Day 3

Today Leif and Jill got in ass early in the morning and we got to have breakfast with them and Jack and Anja. I haven't seen Jack since he was born and boy has he grown. He is all smiles and giggles and airplane arms.


We spent all day in Deadwood, SD.

-Walked down Main Street
-Took a bus tour around town
-Toured Broken Boot Gold Mine
-Ate lunch at Kevin Costner's casino
-Watched a shootout of the killing of Wild Bill Hickok
-Saw the sculptures at Tatonka
-Went to a wine tasting and walked around Main Street in Hill City

A scale at the visitors center

The gravesite of "Wild" Bill Hickock at Mt. Moriah Cemetery

Calamity Jane is buried next to Wild Bill Hickock

The view of Deadwood from Mt. Moriah Cemetery

I like the building, but most people know my true feelings for the post office.

Broken Boot Gold Mine

Tatonka

Some Hill City street sculptures

Western Nebraska Driving

Vacation Day 2


I found out that the Arrow Hotel was originally built as a hotel in 1928 and in 1984 it was turned into apartments for retiree's. So the Grandma vibe I was getting when we checked in was right on.


The drive from Broken Bow, NE to Hill City, SD went something like this.

Carhenge - One of America's top 10 wackiest attractions.

My first act of vandalism.