After staying overnight with friends in Lansing, Michigan, we headed west.  Our first tourist stop was in Mitchell, SD, to see their Corn Palace and get a pin for my hat, a few postcards, and to take a few pictures.  Advertised as the "World's Only Corn Palace" it is a unique structure that stands as a tribute to the agricultural heritage of South Dakota.  The Corn Palace serves as a multi-use center where stage shows, and sports events are hosted.

Then, we headed out to see the Badlands National Park. The visitor's center at the western side of the park was closed when we got there in early evening. The posted sign reminded us that this visitor's centers, like most, will close for the day about 5:00 pm.  So, we pressed on to see the famous Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD.  They advertise on billboards for hundreds of miles, and we found it closed, too!  Not that I mind, but they don't advertise that they are open 6am to 9pm.  I found that out on their website after we got home.  They do have an interesting history and website!

We knew we were a bit early in the year, and that things would be closed. But, we still found plenty to do and see, and lots of parking space.  After staying overnight at a "Flying J" outside Mt. Rushmore, we drove out to the Black Hills to see the famous sculptures of Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, and Lincoln (carved on the mountain by Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers).  This massive monument to four great leaders is called "America's Shrine to Democracy."  The final carving was done in 1941.  The memorial was dedicated in 1991.

Heading south on US Highway 16/385 is the Crazy Horse Memorial, which is the world's largest sculpture in progress.  It stands 9 stories high and is a privately run memorial...accepting no government funds.  They have a nice gift shop, a museum, and a movie about the progress on the memorial. Sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski (1908-1982) and his wife Ruth had 10 sons and daughters.  Ruth and their children carry on the dream and continue to carve out the mountain.

There was still time left to drive up to the Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming, hoping to get there before they close so we could go to the visitor's center.  The "tower" is 33 miles northeast of Moorcroft, WY, via US Route 14.  In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it the very first US national monument.  During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps built roads, camping and picnicking facilities, and a museum.  The roughhewn log museum still serves as the visitor's center and registration office for those planning to climb the "tower."  It was featured in the 1977 movie: Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

In Wyoming, we hit our first bad weather.  We had some rain in the morning; and later that day, we encountered a terrible headwind.  The worst part was that our gas mileage was awful, and we were almost empty when we finally found a gas station opened on that stretch of road.  Then, just after dark, it started to snow.  We pulled over to make supper and ended up staying since the snow continued to fall.  The next day, the trailer and truck were covered with a few inches of pretty spring snow, but the roads were clear.  We saw on our battery operated TV that schools were closed in Denver and to the west of us in Wyoming.

But, we felt it was safe to head north into Montana, where we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, MT:  "Scattered marble markers record the approximate locations where Seventh Cavalry soldiers, scouts, and civilians fell in battle against Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho on 26-26 June, 1876.  Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is a poignant remainder of the long struggle for the American continent."

We opted to keep driving after seeing the museum at the visitor's center and stayed that night behind a gas station in Deer Lodge. It seemed better waiting until morning to go over Lookout Pass in Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Mountains.  Leaving Montana on Interstate 90, you get a great view of the valley around Mullan, Idaho.  We stopped for gas in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, a lovely town with several beautiful lakes.  We thought possibly this was the last of the snow, at least until we got up to Canada or Alaska, but Washington State's Cascade Mountains had some spring snow in mind, just for us!

After passing over the Columbia River, we encountered some snow for the third and last time in the USA.  The next day we crossed over the Snoqualmie Pass with very little trouble, as the roads again were clear.  From there it was a clear sailing into Seattle, and down to Tacoma, WA. We spent Easter Weekend with our youngest son who is stationed at the Bangor Submarine Base near Silverdale, WA.   To get there we crossed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  It replaced the famous bridge ("Galloping Gertie") that had a flaw in design and fell down, November 7, 1940.  This new bridge was opened in October 1950.  Later, we took the ferry over to Seattle, ate in Chinatown, and went up to the top of Seattle's Space Needle:
The Space Needle opened April 21, 1962 and it was the hit of the World's Fair.  It has only closed due to wind (temporarily) about 10 times in 35 years.  It was built to withstand winds up to 200 mph, but the elevators won't work under those extreme conditions.  It has even withstood several tremors, including an 6.5 earthquake in 1965.  This structure was built for $4.5 million.  Needless to say, it has a terrific view!

Next we went to see the Mt. St. Helen's volcano (south of Seattle).  They have 3 visitor's centers (one state and two national) with videos and exhibits at each.  Mt. St. Helen's National Volcanic Monument, WA, is part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. (This was our third volcano since we have also been to Sicily's Mt.Etna and Montserrat's Soufriere Hills volcano in the West Indies .)
"On May 18, 1980, a southwest Washington landscape was transformed by an eruption of Mt. St. Helens.  The volcano's historic reawakening reminds us that we are temporary stewarts of the earth who must live in harmony with it."  There were 57 who died including ham operator and volunteer volcano observer, Gerald Wilson.   He was posted on Coldwater Peak, 8 miles NNW of the mountain...well outside the 5 mile exclusion area.  He was on the radio describing the eruption, when he died.  "The other victims, some as far as 13 miles from the mountain, were in areas considered safe.  The thick clouds of ash and raging mudflows caught many people off guard."
Awesome pictures of the volcano...you have to see!

Additional info on Gifford Pinchot, an early advocate of environmental conservation and governor of PA
Gifford Pinchot State Park in PA

Links: BC Tourism 
Hell's Gate Airtram 
River Rafting on the Fraser River 

We drove up through the Fraser Valley, past a nice little town called Hope, and on up to Prince George (where many people start a northern trek up to Alaska, Yukon, or Northwestern Territories).  But, we headed east instead to Prince Rupert on the coast to stay for a few days.  While we were in Prince Rupert we had the opportunity to fly in a single engine Otter seaplane as they delivered supplies and people to the outlying islands:  stopping at a native village,  lumber camp, and fishing camp.  At the logging they were using a helicopter to drop the cut logs into the water!  And, the clear weather allowed us to see seals and eagles as well as snow topped mountains. (Inland Air at Seal Cove, Prince Rupert)

Prince Rupert, BC: 
We enjoyed the Museum of Northern BC which has a nice exhibit of ancient and modern First Nations history of the region.  We also took a walking tour around town to see all the totem poles.  We saw examples of both Tsimshian and Haida totem poles.

Prince Rupert Stories
More on the city of Prince Rupert

Charles Melville Hays, railway tycoon of the Grand Trunk Railway and founder of the city of Prince Rupert, was a man of vision.  But his dreams for Prince Rupert were interrupted when he perished on the Titanic in 1912. "The town of Melville in Saskatchewan and Hays in Alberta, Canada are named for him, and a statue in his memory was erected in Prince Rupert, BC, which would have been the Pacific terminus city of the transcontinental railroad he had planned to build. In 1919 the Grand Trunk Railroad was placed in receivership, and later was absorbed into Canadian National Railways."

We had hoped to take a ferry over to Alaska, but the ferry schedule made that impossible for us.  So, we decided to drive up to Hyder, Alaska* (picture at the top of page) after leaving Prince Rupert, crossing the border at Stewart, BC.  We were the only tourists in town, and stayed overnight at a US Forest pullover at the north end of town.  We didn't stay long enough to meet anyone except the guy at the "Border Bandit" where we bought some postcards.

Bear Glacier in located between Meziadin Lake and Stewart in northwestern BC.  "It used to reach across the lake to where the road is now.  But, with warmer global temperatures, the ice is slowly receding."  It is a really pretty white/blue glacier.  It was so quiet and since we were the only ones there, we could hear the cracking sounds coming from the glacier.

*Note:  The most traditional route to Alaska is to follow the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) to Kamloops, British Columbia and then Cache Creek, BC. From Cache Creek, the drive north on Highway 97 will take you past incredible vistas and through the communities of Williams Lake, Prince George, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, through Watson Lake and then Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory and...north to Alaska.

The Icefields Parkway in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, is often called "the most beautiful road in the world." It connects Jasper and Banff. It is 230 kilometres (143 miles) of continuous World Heritage Site scenery completely protected in the Jasper and Banff National Parks.  The Icefields Parkway passes within view of seven icefields (large upland glaciers) and about 25 smaller glaciers.  The largest is the Columbia Icefield (200 square km).  There are specially designed SnoCoaches which take tours out to the Athabasca Glacier where you can stand on a glacier!  However, thye weren't in operation yet when we were there.  It would be very hard to find a much more beautiful place than the natural beauty of the Canadian Rockies.  The Icefields Parkway can be done in a day or two. But, many people stay much longer.

Canada Olympic Park, Calgary (site of the XV Winter Olympic Games, 1988): An elevator takes you to the top of the 90m Ski Jump for a great view of Calgary!  There is much more to experience including a museum, movie, a simulated bobsled ride, and a bus or self-guided tour of the complex.  There are lots of helpful and friendly volunteers. The Olympic Park was also used as a location for the 1993 movie starring John Candy, Cool Runnings: based on the true story of the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team.   

We found lots of places to park overnight from roadside parks, to truck stops (where we tried to park in the back away from the trucks, if possible), to campgrounds (good place to do laundry).  We also enjoyed a few overnights at Wal-Mart, especially when we did needed to do some shopping.  Many places were free and very helpful when travelling.  But, we also respected the unwritten "rules." 

We followed Canada's Yellowhead Highway (Rt. 16) from Prince George, west to Prince Rupert, BC. This stretch of highway runs through several scenic river valleys along the Nechako, Endako, Bulkley, and Skeena Rivers.  We took the same route back from Prince Rupert to Prince George and on to Jasper, Alberta. We left the Yellowhead in Jasper as it turned north to Edmonton (AB) and beyond. Instead, we headed south down the Icefields Parkway to Banff.  At Lake Louise in Alberta, we once again picked up the Trans-Canada Highway (Rt. 1), and headed across Saskatchewan and Manitoba (the prairie provinces). Then, we drove south from Winnipeg, Manitoba, crossing the US border into North Dakota.