Travels with Cece, Eric and Sarah: I'm Out for Dead Presidents . . .

It was in Cody that I discovered that Cece is obsessed with Anne Oakley. Apparently at around age 4, she dressed as Annie Oakley in a red and white outfit with white cowboy boots and twin holsters and silver toy six shooters. So each day in Cody, she would say, “I feel like I have come full circle” or “I like it here; it reminds me of Annie Oakley.” We enjoyed Cody, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Park, but, for me, the initial point of the trip was Mount Rushmore so I did laundry, packed up the car, said goodbye to the coffee ladies and the “best hotel ever” and we headed out for Rapid City, South Dakota. We set the GPS, saw that it is a 6.5 hour drive and headed east out of Cody on Route 14. Cece asked me if we would go through any more mountains and I said, I did not think so because eastern Wyoming is pretty flat. That might be true, but given that we were in northwestern Wyoming, I might have spoken prematurely.

We stopped in Emblem (population 10). That’s right, population 10. We also stopped in Greybull (population, around 1,900). We stopped because we passed a lovely post office and a taxidermy shop and Wilford Brimley lives there. If you can’t stop in the town where Wilford Brimley lives, then why drive across the country at all. The taxidermy shop showcases (and I quote here from the official Destination 2010 Wyoming website) “outstanding taxidermy works of animals that seem in motion in a natural setting in their front window display.” Sarah refused to get out of the car. The entire display looked like it was alive and the highlight was a deer being killed by a wolf – both of them captured “in motion.” Eric and I were fascinated. Cece was off talking to complete strangers which is pretty much what she did every stop, which always led to us learning more about the area or getting an invitation to lunch, a birthday party, or something like that. Eric and I went to the post office and just had to go back to the taxidermist shop. It was like a magnet for him – dirt, animals, and tools. If it had also displayed rocks, sand and bugs, we might have never been able to leave Greybull. Anyway, as we were looking into the store a guy walked by and he tipped his cowboy hat to me said “Afternoon Miss.” In that moment, I decided that hats and hat tipping should come back into style for men. We chatted for a bit about the weather, the taxidermy store, horses, the Internet, etc. and after Cece came back, she and I and I headed back to the car and headed out of town. Next up: Shell ([population, 50).

All the while as we were driving out of Cody and towards Greybull, we could see this magnificent snow-capped mountain range far off to the left (north) of Route 14. Cece kept asking if we were going to cross that mountain range and I, of course, said no. I mean they were to the north and we were heading east. It seemed reasonable. Then, there came a point when we could not see the mountains off in the distance and the reason for that was that we were in Shell, Wyoming, which, surprise, surprise is located near the base of the Big Horn Mountains. And surprise, surprise, the Big Horn Mountains reach a peak of 13,179 feet and surprise, surprise their highest point has a lot of what I now know is “topographic prominence”, which basically means that it looks really tall and dramatic. The thing about Shell is that after passing through town, you end up in Shell Canyon, with its sheer rock walls leading to Shell Waterfall which is characterized as an oasis in the middle of a high (very high) dessert. Check out the pictures at the bottom. The weird thing about the drive was that we would see bicyclists miles away from anything, some of them with back packs. How did they get there? Surely, they did not bike 30 miles uphill. Are they planning to bike over the mountains? Who knows? If we had been in a valley, we might have found out because Cece would have asked. But as it was, she had her eyes closed for much of the drive, was muttering about trying to find a helicopter service to take her Sarah and Eric out of the mountains but we had no cell phone service and urging my children to be silent. “Sarah, Eric – no talking back there. Your mother is driving.” “Please no music, your mother is driving.” “Guys come on you can’t ask her to look at how high up we are, she is driving.” “Guys, didn’t that sign say 25 mph up ahead? Do you think your mother saw it?” “You know, I have been to Wyoming before and I don’t remember anything like this.” And so on. It’s only about 60 miles up and over the mountains and I think that this is one of the best drives ever and I encourage everyone to try it. It’s not as bad as it sounds. It is the fastest route from Rapid City, South Dakota/Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone. Ranchester marked the point where we more or less exited the mountains and picked up I-90. Since, we were so close to the Montana/Wyoming border, we (and by we, I mean I) decided to pop up to Montana.

That trip took about 20 minutes because when the speed limit is 75 mph and every car on the road is going over 85 mph, it does not take that long to go 20 miles. What is in Montana? As far as I can see nothing. I am going to have to go back next year and check it out in more detail. It just can’t be as empty as it looks.

We turned around and headed back to Wyoming stopping in Sheridan for lunch. Now here is what happens to you when you spend days in northwestern Wyoming passing towns with populations of 10, 50, 700, etc. You get to Sheridan (population 15,804) see a Home Depot and find yourself saying “Wow, this is a big city.” The children and Cece went to lunch in a McDonalds and I took a call. By the time I got into the restaurant, Eric had made friends with a four year old girl and they were playing together. Her parents and younger brother were sitting with Cece and Sarah. The parents had just finished telling Cece that they used to live in Ranchester, but it was too small. Plus, the schools in Sheridan are really good. They encouraged us to move to Sheridan and I told them that we will consider it. So far Andrew is stubbornly opposed to even considering relocating, but . . . We are still talking about that couple because they were so sweet. They had loads of “positive vibrations.”

As we left Sheridan on I-90 East which is really travelling north to south at that point, we look back and saw the Big Horn Mountains looking majestic behind us. I said “wow, I feel great having crossed those. I feel kind of like the people who settled the west only in reverse and in a 2010 GMC Acadia.” To which Cece responded “Well you ought to feel like that blazing a trail for black people into Wyoming.” I wish that we had taken a picture of the Big Horn Mountains from our new vantage point. Unfortunately, it’s hard to take a good picture when you are travelling 90 mph down the highway making tracks for Mount Rushmore. We decided to stop in Sundance, Wyoming for gas just because we liked the name. While we were at the gas station facing east, a car pulled up going west. And the people struck up a conversation with me. It turns out that they were relocating from upstate New York to Portland, Oregon. They gave me some great suggestions for stops in Wisconsin so I added that to our itinerary. More about that in the future.

Meantime, Mount Rushmore (“I’m out for dead presidents to represent me”). Cece and I had another one of our little mountain moments when she asked if I thought that there would be mountains on the way to Mount Rushmore and I said no, but the name might suggest something. Cece came through like a champ because it wasn’t much especially after crossing Jackson Pass and the Big Horn Mountains. She has sworn never to drive in Wyoming again, but I think I will be able to change her mind or I’ll have to drug her. I’m picturing her waking up like B.A. Baracus. But, back to Mount Rushmore. It looks just like it does in the movies. It’s what this trip was initially all about for me so I was thrilled to be there. For Sarah, it was just one step closer to the Mall of America. For Cece and Eric, it was all about the rocks because they started a rock collection about two days into the trip. I, of course took the ranger tours, went to the artist’s studio, asked questions and had a good old time. In the pictures below, the one from the artist’s studio is the one that shows the monument from the view that the sculptor expected it to be viewed. Check out http://www.nps.gov/archive/moru/park_history/carving_hist/carving_history.htm for the history of Mount Rushmore. In all those tours and walks, etc, I learned about the Fort Laramie Treaty. Here is an excerpt from a government sponsored web site: “In the spring of 1868 a conference was held at Fort Laramie . . . that resulted in a treaty with the Sioux. This treaty was to bring peace between the whites and the Sioux who agreed to settle within the Black Hills reservation in the Dakota Territory. The Black Hills of Dakota are sacred to the Sioux Indians. In the 1868 treaty, signed at Fort Laramie and other military posts in Sioux country, the United States recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation, set aside for exclusive use by the Sioux people. In 1874, however, General George A. Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills accompanied by miners who were seeking gold. Once gold was found in the Black Hills, miners were soon moving into the Sioux hunting grounds and demanding protection from the United States Army. Soon, the Army was ordered to move against wandering bands of Sioux hunting on the range in accordance with their treaty rights. In 1876, Custer, leading an army detachment, encountered the encampment of Sioux and Cheyenne at the Little Bighorn River. Custer's detachment was annihilated, but the United States would continue its battle against the Sioux in the Black Hills until the government confiscated the land in 1877. To this day, ownership of the Black Hills remains the subject of a legal dispute between the U.S. government and the Sioux.” What this excerpt does not say is that the Sioux won a court battle that granted them the market value of the land in 1877 plus 103 years of interest ($105 million) and the Sioux have refused the money and continued to demand their land back. Meanwhile, the “replacement” reservation is in the Badlands and is one of the poorest counties in the country. According to a park ranger, the land in the Black Hills is technically in limbo because the treaty has never been repudiated and one is technically not supposed to enter the area without an invitation from the Sioux. I found all of this fascinating, but while I was doing all this touring and learning, Sarah, Eric and Cece were hanging out in the promenade, having drinks, shopping, watching a stage show, etc. Basically, it was like a trip to the mall for them.

There was a member of the Lakota people at Mt Rushmore doing some traditional dances and playing the flute. Somehow after he told us about his son who is an Army Ranger in Iraq he invited Cece on stage with him. Why? It had something to do with her saying that she is part Cherokee. Unfortunately, she did not have a flute with her so we had to miss that.

You can’t go to Mount Rushmore without going to Crazy Horse so, of course, we went. I have no idea when they are going to finish that thing. It is huge and it will be magnificent, but right now, it is a work in progress. The people carving the monument will not accept government funds and are hard at work blowing up the mountain and raising the money to complete the monument. I bet that $105 million would help, but you have to have principles. So, in the meantime unlike in national parks like Mount Rushmore where one cannot legally take anything, including rocks, the Crazy Horse people are selling chunks of the rock blown out of the mountain to create the monument. Eric and Cece each purchased one.

Next time, I’ll tell you why Eric and I have to get back to South Dakota in September. I’ll give you a hint – it’s a new friend’s birthday party.