I Am a Motorcoach . . .

. . . out in the wild places where roads are like invitations scratched into an ancient parchment. Upon these paved oddities in vast wind-swept and time-chiseled legacy travelers penetrate horizons chasing traces of the illusive and disappearing. It is the fragile appearing that teases. Excited chatter among my passengers: maybe a moose today, a grizzly, an elk herd . . . No, the wild is not so easily tamed, captured, or claimed by occasional sightings – nor the quest for experience so easily defined. Yet, one simple fact transports the explorers and embodies their endeavor: I am the vehicle.

Selfies

(which by definition means I’m in them . . . though you might have to look for me)

Black Hills, prairie, and Badlands are the raw-earth draw of South Dakota. In some places it has an otherworldly appearance.

“Crazy Horse” – He’s crazy huge and will be magnificent when finished. But, 69 years in the making and nowhere near completion, there is no telling when that will be. A tribute to Native Americans, the sculpture is as much a monument to dreaming big. Begun by Korczak Ziolkowski In 1948, this project was a multigenerational vision from the start.

On the way to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial – George Washington’s 60′ tall profile displays the exacting art of Gutzon Borglum. The masterpiece was completed under the direction of Borglum and his son Lincoln in 1941.

Wyoming is home to a great variety of natural drama, none more dramatic than the monolithic rock formation by the name of Devils Tower. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt declared the 867′ tall tower the first National Monument in the United States.

Quite a bit taller still, Grand Teton – the highest point in the Teton Range – stands at 13,775′.

I call this one “Steamy Selfie.” No, it’s not provocative. Motorcoaches don’t do provocative. Yellowstone National Park is famously home to geothermal features such as geysers, hot springs, and mud pots. Walking paths keep human visitors at a safe viewing distance from deadly-hot waters. Boiling temperatures are no good for motorcoaches either. The distant parking lot was as close as I could get for this photo-op.

MEETING THE NEWS on the roadways of America, first-hand, real time, real world news—going out and discovering the news . . .

WYOMING NEWS: Wyoming is the 9th largest state in the United States, yet it is the least populated (585,500) of all states. To put it in perspective, Rhode Island (the smallest state) is roughly one third the size of Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park but has roughly twice the population of Wyoming.

TYPO IN THE NEWS: The official declaration signed by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 making Devils Tower the nation’s first National Monument mistakenly lacked the possessive apostrophe (Devil’s). The mistake was never corrected and the name, Devils Tower, stuck.

BLACK NEWS: The Black Hills begin in the western plains of South Dakota and extend into Wyoming. They received their name from the Native American tribe the Lakota Sioux. It is the prevalence of Ponderosa Pine that gives the hills a black appearance from a distance.

FAITH NEWS: In August of 1990 the most complete (and one of the largest) skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Sue, was discovered near Faith, South Dakota.

(Unlike selfies, these are not about me, but about travel discoveries I think you’d like to know about.)

Mitchell, South Dakota boasts the only Corn Palace in the world. Visited annually by some 500,000 tourists, The Moorish Revival structure is an artistic celebration of things crop related – but especially corn crops. Originally built in 1892, the Corn Palace has known several rebuilding phases. The Corn Palace is home to stage shows, industrial exhibits, and basketball. Yes, USA Today named the Corn Palace one of the top ten places in the U.S. for high school basketball. When near Mitchell, South Dakota you will want to drop by – it’s a one-of-a-kind phenomenon! (604 N Main Street, Mitchell, SD)

Quote Of The Day samples

“The Badlands grade all the way from those that are almost rolling in character to those that are so fantastically broken in form and so bizarre in color as to seem hardly properly to belong to this earth.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“You know what amazes me about UFOs? They never land at the White House. They always land at Laramie, Wyoming, thirty miles out, where they are seen by one farmer.” ― Larry King