Ididaroad travelers on the move

[asirimarco]

Don't know if it's still there but we told Liz and Carol about a wonderful restaurant in Rapid City. Downtown on the main street - It was called Al's or Big Als or something with Al in it. Southern cooking bbq - wonderful. After we left the area to go to Spearfish, we even drove back there for another meal. We were there about 5 years ago though. Hope you can find it. Didn't serve dinner.
The house if finally painted and the sun is shinning.

P.S. Be sure to go to Mt Rushmore for the night program. WONDERFUL and worth it.

[snowball]

that night time progame is so good!! agree you won't regret it
enjy your trip
sheila

[Liz]

I’ll have to try to catch up in the next few days on our travels…I’m way behind due to computer troubles. I’ll start where I left off in Iowa.


Carol and I toured several of the “Bridges of Madison County” as featured in the film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. This ford was at the state park where we camped and was where the grown children in the movie discussed their mother’s diary.



Holliwell Bridge, 1880



Imes Bridge, 1870



The Cedar Bridge was destroyed by arson in 2002 and rebuilt.



The City of Winterset Park has a hedge maze and another covered bridge. A picnic scene in the movie was in the park.



Roseman Bridge….there was a wedding taking place here when we arrived.



John Wayne’s birthplace is also located in Winterset.





On our way to visit my friend Charlotte in Panora, we passed through the little town of Stuart and Carol happened to notice the sign on this old bank. Notice the building now houses the police station.



Across the street was this building, an old Masonic Temple.



The clock tower up close..



Stained glass window over the door.



An old church undergoing renovations.



Then on to Panora to visit with Charlotte and her daughter Meg. Free camping in Charlotte’s yard. Her lilacs were in full bloom.



Charlotte took us to “The Howlin’ Coyote” for some great BBQ dinner.



We saw these wild turkeys on our way back from Meg’s house.



After a nice visit with Charlotte we headed up the west side of Iowa along the Loess Scenic Byway



Here are some of the sights we saw:
An old Danish Church



A lady was cleaning the inside in preparation of a memorial service.



Looking back down the road.



The banks of loess….very old dirt.



Saw this rv fixer-upper when we stopped for lunch.



Camped at Louis & Clark State Park on the Missouri River….it was tough, but not as tough as they had it.





We saw and heard…one piping plover piping..



Countless geese a’ laying and a’ honking…



Three geese families all in a row….two adults brought up the rear guard, not in the picture.



Well, we’re now in South Dakota and have joined Beth. So you know the stories can only get better. Soon.

[Bethers]

Ha. We went to Deadwood today (see my blog, sorry - only had time for one update tonight) - Liz was leading - where did she take me FIRST? The cemetery. Now, I ask you - do I look dead? (Don't answer that).

[retiredhappy]

where is Belle? Did you take her to Deadwood with you?

[Liz]

Ok, here’s a quick tour through Nebraska and SD to bring you up to date.

Entering Nebraska we learned that this state originated Arbor Day.



I think I know why that was important.



In eastern Nebraska we saw mostly newly plowed farmland. Later they will be fields of corn or soybeans.



Central NB was Sandhill country



And in western NB we began to see the buttes.



Red Cloud Buttes



We met up with Beth at Fort Robinson SP and saw more buttes. See Beth’s blog for more pics of Ft. Robinson



Then we drove to Rapid City, SD where we camped at Walmart for 3 days while Beth established her SD residency (at Walmart’s parking lot) and I had repair work done on the rv and my computer.



Yesterday we toured Deadwood. Hey, you can learn a lot about the history of a town by visiting the cemetery first. L to R, Liz, Beth, Carol



One of Deadwood’s most colorful residents (besides Wild Bill and Calamity Jane) was Potato Creek Johnny. He claimed to have found the biggest gold nugget ever, but rumor has it that he welded several nuggets together. Anyway he’s buried in Mt. Moriah cemetery near Wild Bill.



We had lunch above the rebuilt Saloon # 10 where Wild Bill’s “death chair” is located. This is the chandelier in the ladies restroom.



We had a good view of main street from the balconies.



Other way



The actual location of Saloon #10 before it burned.



Door handles



Recreated shooting scene





Wild Bill’s first burying place was not nearly as fancy as where he rest’s now (see Beth’s blog)



Upstairs was an old bar.





Beth cutting up in the ice cream/gift shop



Check out this video as Beth reveals hidden talents. Notice her new hair too. Sorry you’ll have to turn your head or computer sideways to watch it…forgot you can’t take a video vertically.

[dpf]

If you enjoyed visiting Deadwood...you might be interested in reading the book "Forgiving" by LyVerle Spencer. It is fiction but she did a lot of research on Deadwood during the gold rush. Being from SD I enjoyed it immensely.

[avalen]

great pictures, now I need to get over to Beths blog and check it out as well.

[Nasoosie]

I LOVE Beth's new curly hairdo! Makes me think that maybe I should try something like that again...did it once in my life, and vowed, "never again"....but, what the hey-----'never again' shouldn't be in the English language!

Great pictures...thanks so much for posting these...I so love to see what I am missing, or what I need to go see when I get 'free'!

[mtngal]

Great pics Liz, and hi to Carol and Beth! You guys are having too much fun.

[snowball]

Wish I'd thought about it would have suggested that you wonder through Pella Ia. It's a Netherlands community and maybe the tulips would have still been about but then maybe not. Really good pictures thanks for the tour
Sheila

[AlmostThere]

Great pics per usual, Liz! Love tagging along on your journeys!

[Cedar518]

When you post pics Liz I always feel like I've been along on the trip! thanks!

[Liz]

My friend in Iowa also mentioned Pella, so we've added it to the list for another trip.