Badlands National Park - South Dakota

June 8, 2009

This was my third trip to the Badlands and thankfully, this time we didn't almost run out of gas driving through in the dark! We got to spend a LITTLE bit more time there, even though it was still a quick drive through. Such and awesome awesome place. Geology at its best! Out of miles and miles of empty grasslands (which I never knew were National Grasslands!) banded sandstone mountains reach towards the sky. The layers, the patterns, and the colors can make anyone want to go dig in the dirt. For me, this trip was especially cool 'cause every other time I had been to the Badlands it was summer or fall and everything was really dry. Visiting this time in the spring was a completely different experience. I never knew there was so much green there! And some beautiful wildflowers! The first picture I took was of a flower! (yeah, I know, I'm a botany dork) We didn't have enough time to stop and see them all though, so I will have to return again another spring, and probably catch a sunrise or sunset as well...

What you don't know is the camera is balancing on the tripod 'cause I forgot the clip...oops!

Ann's first time in the Badlands

Lunchtime!

Meeeee!

Our ride in the Badlands

The first picture I took in the Badlands! haha!

National grasslands

Pretty lily

Colored soils from marine fossils and ancient forests

Prairie dogs!

Horned lark (I think)

Bunny next to the boardwalk...let us get really close

Utah Salt Flats

June 6, 2009

So we didn't really GO to the Utah salt flats so much as we just drove through them, but still cool to see. A whole lot of flat white nothing with mountains all around the rim. There's a weird mirage effect going on near the base of the mountains as you look out across the flats. Looks like there's water reflecting the mountains and sky even though there's really nothing there. It's a trip! And of course there's the 'Tree of Life' sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of it all. How tennis ball looking orbs on a giant antenna represent the tree of life, I will never understand, but there it is... I must apologize for the quality of pictures though...they were taken from the car...some through the window. Maybe someday I'll have time to get out and explore the area.

'Tree of Life'

Stormy

That's a loooong straight road

Just before hitting Salt Lake City

'A Christmas Story House' - Cleveland, OH

June 10, 2009

roadsideamerica.com has got to be the best website ever! I would have never known about this place without it! The story is that big fans of the movie bought the house with profits from recreating the leg lamp and selling them. They then replicated the inside and started giving tours. From those profits they also bought two houses across the street and turned them into a giftshop, ticket booth, and museum with memorabilia from the movie. Unfortunately, we didn't get there until after it was closed, but we of course had to snap some shots with the house and the lamp anyways. My aunt says they also rent out the house on Christmas and you can spend your whole holiday there! I wonder if they even supply the neighbor's dogs....

Just the house

I'm so excited to be here!

Ann and the House

Look! It's really the leg!!

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - Cleveland, OH

June 10, 2009

So much cool stuff in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!! Seven floors of stuff in fact. Unfortunately, no cameras allowed except at the entrance...lame... Ann and I spent about 4 hours there and that didn't even feel like enough time! We started by having lunch (because we were starving after our drive from Indiana) and we knew it was going to be a good day as we ate and listened to Freebird playing over the museum speakers! Then we headed out to explore.

They had tons of old outfits from the Beatles, Temptations, Michael Jackson, etc. It was interesting to see the quality of the clothes 'stars' used to wear back in the day; most of it looked like it was hand sewn by their mom! Quite a contrast to the designer label wear of today.I really liked the two walls covered by old Rolling Stone magazines, which included letters to the magazine by artists an others featured in the magazine. A really interesting one was a letter from Charles Manson regarding a story that was written about him; he offered to do a short interview in exchange for a free subscription to the magazine. The 'Video Killed the Radio Star' exhibit was also a favorite 'cause it was basically a bunch of different size TVs with clips from classic music videos. It was the only part that was like a flashback to my childhood! Other cool stuff included: Jim Morrison's death certificate and boy scout uniform, drawings by Bob Marley when he was a kid, the Evolution of Audiotechonology, 500 Songs that Shaped Rock & Roll (interactive kiosks...could have played with that all day!), and all the Beatles stuff. The one thing that I'm really sad wasn't there was Janis Joplin's car. It was on loan to the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan....I couldn't convince Ann to go up there though...

The museum

The only pictures I could take inside the museum

Mount Rushmore - South Dakota

June 8, 2009

On the second day of our cross-country road trip, Ann and I hit the Black Hills around 5:30. And at the same time we hit a nice wall of fog. Our plans to see the mountain that night were foiled and things looked bleak when we talked to a lady at the hotel who told us the weather had been like that for 3 days. But when we woke the next day the sun was shining through the clouds, so we headed back to see if we could get a glimpse. Lucky us it was bright and shining and in full view! This was my third visit to the monument, but Ann's first, so she was extra excited. After taking a few fun pictures, we walked the trail around the amphitheater at the base of the mountain where we got to see a mama and baby mountain goat, which made me extra excited since I've never seen one before! As with everything on this road trip, our visit was quick, but as always the monument was an amazing sight!

First glimpse of the mountain

Walking into the park

Me and the mountain

Ann and the mountain

Giving my cousin bunny ears

Picking Lincoln's nose

A sculpture of the sculptor

From the cave

Washington and Lincoln

Roosevelt and Jefferson

Mountain goats!!!

Tee Pees