Thanksgiving in Puerto Rico

We started our vacation on the east coast of the island at the El Conquistador Resort.  The hillside setting had beautiful views of the water and spectacular sunset panoramas.  The beach was on a private island a 10 minute boat ride from the resort.

From Puerto Rico

From Puerto Rico

From Puerto Rico

Our vacation wasn't complete without a couple of days in Old San Juan, one of 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

"El Viejo San Jan, the 7-square block landmark zone of the island's capital is a perfectly preserved microcosm of Spanish colonial architecture and a remarkable walk back through history."

From Puerto Rico From Puerto Rico From Puerto Rico Click here for more photos of beautiful Puerto Rico.

Badlands and Black Hills

The Badlands of South Dakota and the Black Hills are both on the  list of 1000 Places to See Before You Die.   If Yellowstone is "the uplands of hell", the Badlands have been described as "hell with the fires burned out."

The Black Hills are considered sacred by the Native American tribes.  In the black shade of the ponderosa pines, the Crazy Horse Memorial is under construction as a monument to the great warrior chief.

Just a little further down the highway is another hillside monument to four American presidents.

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Mt. Rushmore

Traveling East on the Oregon Trail

In Medicine Bow, WY, we stopped by The Virginian Hotel, built in the early 1900s. The hotel is thought to be named for the novel, The Virginian, which was written in Medicine Bow.  The novel was the basis of a popular tv show of the 1960s.

From Medicine Bow, we headed to the site of Ft. Laramie, and along the way stopped by the Oregon Trail ruts.  Between 1840 and 1870, 1000s of wagons rolled across the prairie headed west.  The wagons carved 4' ruts into the sandstone which are still visible today.  

At Ft. Laramie, local wagon train "re-enactors" were setting up camp for a program later that night.  We got an up close look at how residents and transients in Ft. Laramie lived and worked.

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Ft. Laramie and Oregon Trail

Flowers of Grand Teton

Lots of wildflowers blooming.  Check out these photos we took around the Grand Teton Lodge.

Flowers, Columines, and Lake Jackson

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

The world's oldest national park has been described as the "uplands of Hell."  Over 10,000 mud pools, hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles release heat and steam from below the earth's surface.  Old Faithful is perhaps the best known geyser and sends a steaming plume of spray over 180 feet in the air every couple of hours.  It did not disappoint, and we were there for the 4:00 p.m. explosion.  Meanwhile, Castle Geyser was spewing a continuous spray of steam, cinder, and scalding water just down the hill-- a more impressive display, but not one tourist can count on seeing.  It was a bit surreal to walk in this steaming landscape, and easy to see why it is on the list of 1000 Places To See Before You Die.

6 States in 6 Days

Our magnet collection now includes the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.  We drove 1,840 miles and saw some beautiful scenery and visited some historic sites and monuments.

The Mt. Rushmore gift shop had magnets from all 50 states.  We needed Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota.  The rule is, we have to go there before we can get the magnet.

Our trip started at the Bozeman, Montana airport where we picked up a rental car and started driving.

After a short detour into Idaho...

we continued across southern Wyoming...

through the Ogalala grasslands of Nebraska...

 to the Dakotas, and finally, back across MT to turn in our rental car and fly home.

We'll be posting photos and more soon.  Stay tuned!

Fridge Magnet Vacation

Our collection of fridge magnets is biased to the east coast states.  We plan to remedy that on a trip out west in August. 1700 miles in 7 days.  Five states and at least 5 National Park sites.  Stay tuned for details.

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