May 2009 Trip

My Uncle Buddy and I took off on a little trip in May of 2009.  We started out going to Rapid City, South Dakota to visit the place where Buddy was stationed back in the 50s while he was in the Air Force.  We drove up through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and into South Dakota.  We went through the Bad Lands National Park on the way to Rapid City.

We spent a day and a half in Rapid City and Ellsworth AFB where Buddy was stationed.  All of the places where Buddy worked part time were gone and in some cases the streets were even gone, replaced by parks.  We took a tour of the base and it had changed so much that Buddy didn’t recognize much.  It was interesting touring the base and the museum they have there but things had changed in the last 50 years and we saw what we had come to see and we left Rapid City to go to Mt. Rushmore.

We toured Mt. Rushmore and it was inspiring until we went downstairs and toured the museum and saw where they lied about how Texas joined the Union.  They had Texas joining the union in 1850 as a result of the United States winning the war with Mexico which is totally wrong.  After reading that lie, I didn’t trust anything else they had to say in that museum so we left and went through Custer State Park and saw a lot of wildlife and pretty scenery and then we went to the monument they are building for Chief Crazy horse.

   That was interesting but they have been working on it for over 50 years and only have his head compete and they still have his body including his arm and hand and his horse to finish.  They are refusing to take federal funds which is good and the man who started it is now deceased and his wife and children are taking on the project.  I am guess that it will take about 200 + years before it is complete.  I doubt that I will be around to see it finished.

The Grand Tetons was pretty and we saw snow along the highways and of course in the mountains which is somewhat strange for Texans to be seeing in May.  The weather was nice during the entire trip  and we walked up to the snow in short sleeves shirts.

We went into Idaho for a brief drive and then back into Wyoming for a while and then into Utah.  It was the first time I had seen the western side of the Rocky Mountains.  We went into Colorado on the southwest corner and toured the Mesa Verde National Park which was the most interesting thing I saw on the entire trip.  The Indians ruins of Mesa Verde.

We spent one whole morning at the park and then drove into New Mexico through the mountains around Taos and then into Texas and home.  It was a very enjoyable trip of about 3,500 miles and 10 states.