Pipestone and home!!

 

Yesterday we went to Pipestone National Monument.  This is a place where American Indians came to get pipestone to make their pipes.  They still give permits to people to quarry the pipestone, but you have to be registered with a tribe.  It is very hard to get to because it is sandwiched between layers of quartz.  We hiked around and saw a few of the quarries.  It was very pretty and there were lots of grasshoppers. 

 

I talked to my aunt a few days ago and we were mixed up on the dates they were visiting.  Turns out they were going to be here tomorrow and we weren't suppose to be home till Saturday evening.  We were all tired and anxious to get home so we decided to skip the last two things I had planned and come home a day early.  Our puppy is home and tonight we sleep in our own beds.  Tomorrow my aunt Jackie and uncle will be here and next weekend another aunt and uncle will be here and maybe more family from Tenn.  I haven't talked to them yet to know for sure, but we would love to see them!!!  Also next week is tech week for the fall play.  Anthony volunteered to do stage crew so he has to be at practice every night starting Sunday.  Busy, busy, busy!!!!! 

 Can you find the old man in this picture.

 More prayer bundles.

 Can you see the Oracle in this picture?

 Inside one of the ancient quarries

Junior Ranger's at Pipestone.  I lost count somehow but this was their 7th badge of the trip!!  We visited 9 parks this trip.  Yellowstone and Badlands we had already got badges from before on our first trip.

Badlands of South Dakota

We visited the Badlands on our first trip west four years ago.  But we wanted to see it again so we drove through it and stopped at Minuteman Missile on the way out.  We saw a couple different animals this time.  We didn't see any before.  I know one was a pronghorn deer and think the other was a bighorn sheep.  It just his horns weren't very big, maybe he was just young? 

 

We mostly went just for the drive but we did stop by the visitor center where Jacob and Michael found someone excavating a fossilized bone.  They watched for a while and asked questions then we got back on the road.  We got to Minute Man only to find out that all their tours for the day were full so we just took the Junior Ranger books and decided to head towards the hotel where there is a cool swimming area.  But when we got here we found out the big slide is closed :(  They seem to be having a good time anyway.  Even Anthony swam for a while.

 

Devils Tower and Wall Drugs

 

 

 

 

Today we visited Devils Tower.  I was very excited to see it.  This was one of the places we had to skip on our first trip west and I had regretted it.  This is another sacred place to the Native Americans.  It got its name from a white man traveling through the country.  He saw some native people preforming a sacred ritual and thought "they must be worshipping the devil."  It is a shame that most people think that the way they believe is the only right way to believe.  This place is still held as a special place and people leave prayer bundles in the trees. 

The tower was formed by magma. pushing up through layers of earth but not coming all the way to the top layer.  If it had it would have become a volcano.  Years and years of erosion took away the layers around the hardened magma.

Jacob, Michael and I took the hike around the tower.  We went what I though was about a fourth of the way and I got anxious about the time so we went back the way we came instead of going all the way around.  But as it turns out I am pretty sure we were more than half way around!!  We stopped and had a picnic lunch.  We had an awesome view of the tower while we ate. 

After the tower we drove to Wall, South Dakota.  We visited the famous Wall Drug Store.  It is HUGE and has just about anything you could want.  The boys got their picture taken on the Jackalope again.  And we went to watch the T-Rex try to eat us. 

 Smelling the tree, it was sweet!!!

 The 5th Junior Ranger Badge.

 

 A prayer bundle.

 Lunch with a view!!!!

Tetons again today

Jacob and I got up early and went for a little hike.  It was very cold, we could see our breath.  We didn’t stay out long because of the cold.  We didn’t see any wildlife.  Later after everyone else was up and ready we drove down to Tetons National Park.  We made the loop and got some good views of the mountains.  We went to the visitors centers at Moose and at Jenny Lake.  The visitor center at Moose was pretty cool.  The boys went to a Ranger talk about where different animals live in the park.

We had lunch at the Chuckwagon in Moose, we ate inside a Teepee!  Jenny Lake was amazing.  It was peaceful and quiet.  The view there was spectacular.  None of my pictures come even close to showing its beauty.  I am not really very happy with any of my pictures from here.  I think part of the problem is there are wildfires all around and everything has a haze.

Jacob, Michael and I took a hike before dinner.  We walked the trail behind the cabins.  I love it here, all forest and mountains!!

After dinner we drove down to Snake River to see if we could spot any wildlife.  No luck…I really wanted to see a moose.  I have never seen one alive and in person.  Oh well…that gives me a reason to come back!

 From left to right...South Teton, Middle Teton and Grand Teton.

 

 Moose visitor center

 Lunch in a Teepee!

 Rainbow clouds on our walk to Jenny Lake.

 Jenny Lake

 Fourth Junior Ranger badge of the trip.

The Snake river, I couldn't resist the reflection.