Reno Weeks 7 & 8 & Mt Rushmore

Weeks 7 & 8 have been busy with lots of finishing work going on.  And so.....we've decided not to include any pictures until we can show you everything fully completed.  Floors are done, backsplash is up, bathroom has been started, baseboards are mostly up. Lots happening.

In the meantime, we'll talk about South Dakota. We went to Mt Rushmore over Labor Day weekend. Really bad timing because there was so much to do at home but by the time we decided to cancel, it was too late and would have had to pay for the hotel anyway so we went.

And we saw Crazy Horse. They're still working on carving this - it's MASSIVE - and I don't think it'll be done in my lifetime.

They had so many tunnels like this:

It's hard to tell but there are just layers and layers of mountains here. The wildfires in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, etc. have sent so much smoke that you could hardly see much beyond what was in the immediate vicinity. By Monday our throats were sore and noses started to get stuffy. I can't imagine how people in Montana, etc. are feeling!

On the Wildlife Loop we saw lots of donkeys. They came right up to the car and if people had their windows open they poked their heads right in. We kept our windows closed. No need to get slobbered by a donkey...

We didn't see too many buffalo (they had apparently gone to the interior that day) but there were a few lone buffalo here and there.

Keystone is a cute town with an old western look.

The wildfires made the sunsets just gorgeous!

We went to the lighting ceremony at Mt Rushmore. It was ok but not quite what we expected.

On Monday we had tickets to tour Jewell Cave. We got there and checked in and the lady said I couldn't bring my purse in so I had to take it back to the car. We walked all the way to the far end of the parking lot and all the way back and went in to catch our tour. And the guy said, "They've left. No way to catch up with them." We went back to the desk and asked if we could exchange our tickets for the shorter tour that would start in 15 minutes. The guy laughed and said nope but we could buy tickets for that.

We were so annoyed because they don't have signs posted anywhere to let you know that you can't bring bags in and there were people walking up the whole time with bags and they had to go back to their cars. And mostly I was frustrated with the attitude of everyone who worked there. They were so smug and snotty about it. They really should have signs in the parking lot stating that you can't bring anything in with you. They should also put it in the email when you reserve your tickets.

We bought tickets for the short tour and learned some interesting things but it was very anticlimactic.

We can say two things for sure about South Dakota.

1. The mountains are absolutely gorgeous.
2. The food is awful! Awful! We literally did not eat anything good up there except for the pancake bar in the hotel - which is saying something because they were just your typical bisquick type pancakes. We came home not wanting any food at all because it all sounded so gross.

We're glad to be home and so ready to be done with the renovation. And we cannot wait to cook real food! We're tired of eating out! The house is done enough that we moved stuff back in this weekend and now we're working on putting it all back together. We should have good pictures next week. Yay!

Salida & Buena Vista

Our first mountain trip of the year was to Salida and Buena Vista. BV seems to be more popular, or rather more chic, but we preferred Salida. Salida is much cuter and there's a lot more to see and better places to eat. 

We started the trip with a visit to the Jumpin' Good Goat Dairy in Buena Vista.  We didn't know what to expect but thought we'd give it a go and it was great!  

First they take you on a little tour of the farm and dairy and we got to meet the goats and other animals. 

Then they took us out to the pen with the "teenage" goats who are a few months old so that we could feed them. They were hilarious! They would jump over each other to try to get to the food and they made so much noise!

After that they took us to the pen with the babies who were darling. We were walking around amongst them and they tried to eat my purse and some ladies skirt.

And this little guy kept trying to eat Dave's shoe.

After that we were going to see the Llamas - they have guard llamas! I had no idea there was such a thing but there are llamas that are bred to be guard animals and they will protect these goats. Sadly, a storm was coming in and it was freezing(!) and we didn't have our jackets with us (still trying to remember that Memorial weekend is NOT quite summer yet in mountains) so they ended the tour a little early. They took the group into the shop so we could sample the various goat cheeses they make. It really was a fun little stop and would be loads of fun to come in the spring with kids so they can see the baby goats!

Next stop was to St Elmo ghost town. St Elmo is but isn't a ghost town. The town never fully emptied and there are a handful of people who still live there. The general store is open for business and there's a hotel you can stay in. I was really excited to visit a ghost town so imagine my disappointment when we pulled up and saw this:

Why is the main street a dang parking lot!?!? It broke my heart because it really just takes away from the feeling of it and the experience. 

Nevertheless, we walked through and looked at the remains of the town and I do so love looking at the old buildings and trying to imagine what life was like in this remote mountain location all those years ago. They had to have been hearty souls to live up there!

Thankfully they do have this little street roped off for foot traffic only.

We went to read at a lake one morning. It was really cold (for which we weren't prepared - are you starting to see a theme here?) and the lake was sorta meh but it was nice to just relax. 

I decided we needed to go find another ghost town so we headed out to Turret. We traveled a long way on lonely, dusty dirt roads. At one point we were climbing a hill and you know when you're at the top of a roller coaster and you can't see what's coming at all? That's what it felt like! We were at the top of this hill and couldn't see what was coming at all but as soon as we crested the hill the panorama was just breathtaking! This picture doesn't do it justice at all but you can see that there are mountain ranges in all directions. It was majestic! 

We drove on for quite awhile longer and were wondering how in the world the miners got up here with horses, donkeys and wagons! It was quite a trip with our SUV. And this isn't even on the 4-wheel only map of ghost towns!

We found Turret and it turns out that it also never emptied out of people really but this town is interesting because people have built their new homes in such close proximity to the ruins. You can see someone's new home on the left in the background of this picture. Others were even closer - they could reach out the window and touch the old house. Apparently some of the residents are descendants of the original miners and setters.  

We wandered around Salida which was fun but it was also odd because it was like no one has told them that the summer season has started. Several of the shops were still closed. 

They have lots of beautiful old buildings. 

And some massive trees in the park by the river!

It was a much needed break and we were happy to be back in the mountains! Exploring the mountains with Dave may just be my favorite part of summer!

Steamboat Springs

We escaped to Steamboat Springs for a long weekend in July and it was a lovely getaway. We started with a nice walk to Fish Creek Falls which was really pretty! I do love me a waterfall. Or a river or a creek or mostly anything with water.

That night we went to the Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo. Neither of us had been to a rodeo in a long time and it was fun! Those cowboys are crazy!! Man, watching their backs snap back as they try to ride a bull or bucking bronco I'm not sure how they come back to work over and over. One thing is sure - this is not work you do unless you love it!

The rodeo clown was fun, too.

We went to the Hot Air Balloon Rodeo early Saturday morning. It was really cool to see so many balloons together and up close and personal. They're HUGE!! There's quite a process to inflate one of those balloons and it really takes a whole crew. There were two hand painted balloons there and there are only about 4 in the world.

There were a couple guys flying balloons without baskets - they just had these chair things they sat in. I think they're pretty much crazy.

Loved seeing them fill up the sky!

We rode the gondola up to the ski area. Pretty up there but I'm not sure we'd pay for a gondola ride again.

And we walked around town - look who I ran into! Abe Lincoln and Ben Franklin and Dave found Mark Twain.

If you go to Steamboat you should eat at Winona's. Dave had pretty much the same reaction that Tiernan had to their cinnamon rolls.  (Thanks for the tip Hanlins!)










The last day we went and relaxed at Pearl Lake for a bit before we drove home.

It was a lovely trip. The town itself wasn't our favorite mountain town but we really enjoyed going to the rodeo and the balloon rodeo and it's just beautiful up there. I kept telling Dave that they need accountants in Steamboat too so we should probably move there. He didn't really buy it though... ;)