Another Caravan Tour, this time we are headed to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Flying into Grand Rapids, SD we joined our tour group of 44 other folks ranging in age from 87 to 8 year old twin girls. This jam packed tour covered 5 states.....South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah.....traveling about 1,300 miles. Our tour guide for the week was Dennis and our bus driver was Brian, both were great guys and did a great job.Our first stops were to take in the Crazy Horse Monument and Mount Rushmore! Crazy Horse was amazing, and we loved the story of the sculptor and his dream for the monument to Crazy Horse and the American Indians. Started over 50 years ago, it is still a work in progress with family members carrying on the vision."Never forget your dreams" - Koraczak Ziolkowski
Next stop was Mt Rushmore, American's Shrine of Democracy, Mount Rushmore National Memorial feature the 60 foot faces of four great American presidents who represent the birth, growth, development, and preservation of this country.
From Rapid City we headed to Billings, Montana with a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield where Custer and his men were defeated by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Leaving Billings we headed to Yellowstone and our room at The Old Faithful Inn. This old rustic inn is one of the largest log structures in the world. It has a large outdoor balcony which is a perfect spot for viewing the Old Faithful Geyser. Old Faithful shoots thousands of gallons of steaming water into the air about every 90 minutes. We hiked among geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots. We saw bison, elk, antelope, bald eagles, and deer! The 30 degree mornings were very pleasant, although it did warm up during the day. Old Faithful was the most spectacular geyser and drew a huge crowd!
From Yellowstone we headed to Jackson, Wyoming and the spectacular Grand Tetons. Our two hour float trip down the Snake River was amazing, and our river guide, Chris was great. We enjoyed a brown bag lunch on the river while enjoying the breathtaking backdrop of the Tetons. It was the highlight for me of the trip....wishing it lasted longer. After checking into our lodge in Jackson we went into town to enjoy dinner, have a drink at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, and find some yummy ice cream.
Up early, bags out and on the bus we headed to Salt Lake City and the end of our trip. Along the way we stopped at the National Oregon Trail Center and experienced life on the Oregon Trail. We had our final farewell dinner and said our goodbyes after a great week together.
It is amazing to me that you can put 46 people together on a bus for a week, from all walks of like, different religions and occupations, different ages and abilities and you just seem to gel. We were strangers when we boarded the bus in Rapid City, but friends went we disembarked the final day in Salt Lake City.
