Looking For A Bird and a Birdie: 10/08/10

DRIVING MINNESOTA

Didn't know what to expect driving through Minnesota.
Billboards led us to Blue Earth and to Austin.
Who would've known what we found there!

HO-HO-HO GREEN GIANT

Can't leave out LITTLE SPROUT!

THE SPAM MUSEUM

We didn't know there was a spam museum! We ate spam when we were kids. It stretches in a casserole, or even in sandwiches.

30,000 cans of SPAM! Caught the picture as the scrolling Spam went by!

Sculpture in front of the SPAM Museum - how appropriate is this?!

1930's poster

2000 poster
There were posters displayed for every ten years.
What a great "find" not far off the highway!

A great trip! The two of us laughed a lot, ate a few hot dogs, slept well, drove many miles, saw new sites, purchased a few items and have a lot of memories!

My internet connection was dead out West. No signal what-so-ever! Then I get back to WI, need to see people, do things, and pack for Florida. Leaving no time to blog! As many places as my sister and I toured, I'm now playing "catch-up." This takes a lot of time! I like blogging, mostly as my personal journal, not sure if anyone reads it - but I like
blogging/even for myself!
I must continue with our trip...need to complete posting pictures!

The only buffalo we saw!

Cowboy prayers/in our ride/Cowgirl prayers for a safe trip.

Crazy Horse ~ nice but no progress since I was there 30 years ago! What's the deal?

Mount Rushmore - Duh...

Visiting the Corn Palace, a very decorative basketball court! What a great experience!

Jack a lope

Billy the Kid and Annie Oakley

A tribute to America - thank you to all that have and are serving - Thanks DEAN!

Working on the Corn Palace. The staples are as long as my big toe! Designs are drawn onto the area and labeled with the colors of corn that need to be stapled, to create the colors in the designs.

Billy goats climbing straight up the mountain. This was on the back side of Mount Rushmore, a very curvy uphill and downhill drive. The picture is not very clear. I tried many times, in different modes, it was very dark. We were driving 30-35 miles/hour.

We salute you!

Stopping for a short tour of WALL DRUG.
The largest drugstore in the world.

Not Hollywood - It's STURGIS!

ROAD KILL CAFE in Sturgis, SD.

The crowd in 2010 - Sturgis Rally

A must stop store in Sturgis!

Well, that was a quick tour of South Dakota!
A fun visit at any age!

OH, AND METERS IN NEW MEXICO

Meters were painted by students from the Santa Fe, NM public schools. The meters are used to collect money for the homeless. They might not bring in a huge sum of money, but everything helps!

We passed the meters and I took pictures of them/but didn't understand their purpose, until a store owner came out and explained it.

More signage would be helpful, especially to tourists.

A great idea for helping out the needy!

ANOTHER TAKE ON CITY WIDE ART...

I've seen cows in WI, bunnies in MO, benches in IL, boots in WY, butterflies in CO; dolphins in TX.
Local artists paint these objects, usually depicting the history, events or symbols of the area.
Some towns auction them off, some keep them for years for locals and tourists to enjoy.
Here are a few of the butterflies of Colorado.

This is like YARD ART taken downtown to the city!
Amazing!

DALTON GANG HIDEOUT

A diversion ~ stopping to stretch, walk around and see something a little 'peculiar.'
The Dalton Gang went through the town of Meade, Kansas undetected by the law. This was possible, as found out years later, with them passing through a 90ft. underground tunnel.
The hideout was the home of Eva Dalton Whipple, sister to the infamous Dalton Gang.

A great weather vane on the grounds of the Dalton Gang Hideout.

"Old Town" ~ a facade built to depict what might have been a town of yesteryear, on the grounds.
Events are held in the summer with cowboys having shoot-outs and activities for children.

Cicada - meaning "buzzer"
Oh my, there was a tree on these grounds full of cicadas. They were definitely buzzing! The "sounds" they collectively made were at first enticing. Looking in the tree to see them - - then it became a little annoying! The sound became obnoxious after a short time. Guess you have to get used to it. We have cicadas in WI, but not to this extent. Or, at least not where I've been. (I've heard them the same in Missouri.)

Wheels-a gate-entrance to the
Dalton Gang Hideout.

Meade, Kansas

DEADWOOD ~ A TIME GONE BY

DEADWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA

A great, old cowboy town where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane lived and "worked" many moons ago.

They are associated with each other through the "antics" they pulled in towns out West, but no one is really sure if they were every married or not.

Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary Burke) lived a life of drinking, fighting, helping people with small pox, appearing in Wild West Shows, and later marrying Clinton Burke. She returned to Deadwood, died and was buried next to Wild Bill.

The chair where Wild Bill was sitting when a drunk Jack McCall shot him. Shot in the back, Wild Bill was holding a pair of eights and a pair of Aces/to this day it being known as a "dead man's hand."

Hickok must be rolling over in his grave!
So sad, but I guess it's "progress" ~ Deadwood has turned into a full town of casinos! Maybe he would've liked the idea, being a gambling man.

Hickok's Pizza ~ well that's another story. Wonder what he would think of that?

Beautiful, handcarved woodwork and magnificent chandeliers still grace the old buildings ~ now full of slot machines and gaming tables.

Door handles in Deadwood. How unique are these? Bet they weren't there when Wild Bill and Calamity Jane sauntered down these streets.

When I was in Deadwood, years ago, Wild Bill and Calamity Jane had small tombstones, next to each other. Now there is a bronze statue honoring Wild Bill.

Tours can be taken to listen to the stories of the long ago.
Believe what you want...