Change of Plans

You know we have had terrible weather throughout the US and our backyard weather has not been "normal" either but at least we can change our plans when we do not like the weather.  Most of you know that we had planned to go to Yellowstone NP on May 28th and across to Mt Rushmore around June 7th.  We looked at the weather situation in Yellowstone and said, "opps, do not want to go there".  Yellowstone NP has 2 1/2 feet of snow on the ground and it was projected to continue to snow over Memorial Day.  Ok, changed our reservations and decided to go to Mt. Rushmore first and Yellowstone around June 7th.  It made perfect sense to us, after all Colorado was going to be in the 80s-90s during this period and it is only 400 miles north to Mt. Rushmore.

We are in the Mt. Rushmore area now and it has been raining since we arrived and the  temps are in the 40s-50s.  Not exactly what we expected but still better than Yellowstone NP.  Hopefully summer will arrive soon and we can really enjoy all the backyard sights in this area and when we arrive in Yellowstone the snow will have melted enough to drive on the roads that are closed for now.

Went to Wall drugs and the Badlands today.  Left in rain and drove out of it before we got to Wall drugs (40 miles).  If you haven't heard of Wall drugs, you have probably lived under a rock for the last decade, it is in the little town of Wall, SD and is a street full of every kind of shop you can image and history is written on its walls including the pictorial early history of the Lakota indians and military of this area.  It is worth a side trip if you are on I-90 near Rapid City, SD.  We spent a couple hours in Wall Drugs before heading to the Badlands NP.  It is a very interesting geological area and has a beautify all of its own (btw - it is not as bad as its title).   Her is a few pics of our adventures in the Badlands.

Big Horn Sheep in the Badlands - it really does not look too bad from this pic!

This is the Badlands!  Yes it is barren but it has a kind of rugged beauty.

Smile for the photographer!  It is not raining now!

You see we do not need perfect weather to enjoy our travels but it would be nice to have a little summer to get into shorts instead of sweatshirts and coats.  Here is hoping you are enjoying your backyards and that the weather is starting to cooperate with you.  We will keep you posted on our travels over the next couple of weeks before we head back to Colorado for another round of chemo treatments.  As you can see, we are still out there enjoying ourselves and we are starting our 3rd year of full time traveling around this wonderful land and do not plan to stop anytime soon.

To all of our friends and family -- Life is short, get out and enjoy yourself !  Take along a friend so you will have stories to swap when you get together the next time around!!!