October 27, 2019 – at home and recovered from a very exhausting trip. I will now go back in time and bring you all up-to-date with our adventures taken from my journal.
Monday September 16 2019 – Belle Fourche, South Dakota to Wheatland, Wyoming
We left the Ace Motel about 10:00, fueled up, picked up a Stonehenge quilting pattern and headed back through town on Highway 85. We then headed west on Highway 34 to see Devil's Tower in Wyoming. When we crossed the state line the highway became highway 24. Devil's Tower is a volcanic cone and has nothing to do with Hollywood alien movies or quaint native myths. The earth around the core eroded away leaving the existing monument. We have seen many motorcycles in the past few days from Mount Rushmore area to Devil's Tower. The Harley Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts congregate yearly at Sturgis, South Dakota and 100s ride to Devil's Tower. We did not see the rally of the motorcycles but there sure were a lot of them hanging in the area. Stopping and taking pictures of the monument, buying some magnets and enjoying a huge ice cream cone we continued along route 24 to 14 and south to Moorcroft. We then headed southeast on 16 to Newcastle and enjoyed a drive straight south on 85 to Lusk and west on 18/20 until we hit highway 25. The east part of Wyoming has rolling hills with lots of grassland. We saw pronghorns in great numbers feeding on these grasses and wondered if they are wild or are being farm raised. Pronghorns are known by a more common term- the American Antelope. Lots of oil drills in the east part of Wyoming along with wind turbines. The day was long and very warm so we were very glad to settle into the All American Motel in Wheatland on US highway 25.
September 17, 2019 – Tuesday- Wheatland south to Denver
Today was going to be a day of errand shopping as promised so we headed into Fort Collins to a quilt shop for another pattern. The drive was warm but overcast and after leaving Fort Collins we headed straight to Parker, south of Denver on it's outskirts, for another pattern. With some time spent driving around looking for the store we did finally find it., got the quilt kit and headed back north into Denver for accommodations. We settled into a Motel 6 after a nice dinner at IHOP.
September 18- stayed in Denver area
We visited a cousin and shared some family history with one another, had a wonderful meal and just general chit-chat and left with great memories as we returned to Motel 6.
September 19, 2019 – Denver to Dillon, Colorado
Leaving Motel 6 we gassed up, got coffee and drove south on 25 but there were no signs to indicate Pike's Peak and I drove passed the turnoff about 20 miles. We got directions but noticed the sign northbound that indicated the route. Highway 87 took us to the road to Pike's peak. There were no view points and upon arriving at the park entrance I made a decision not to pay 30$ for entrance to drive up the peak when really all I wanted was to take a picture. Maybe someone will come up with a way to take a picture while being on the peak. So we left, went back to 87 and traveled west to 24 and then north on 9 to I-70. We went through Alma said to be the highest town in the continental US, crossed the continental divide at Hoosier Pass (11,547 feet), and dropped into the Rocky Mountain Basin about 30 miles wide. I had never seen this huge wide basin expanse as it is south of I-70 which I have driven a number of times. We drove through Beckenridge reminding me of Whistler. It had few motels but lots of condos and a lot of ski areas. The day was beautiful and the journey ended with a two night stay in the Super 8 in Dillon west on 70 from 9.
September 20, 2019
Today we drove to Vail to visit another set of cousins. We shared our family exchanges and enjoyed the view from their mountain home, ate munchies and shared stories but then returned to Super 8.
