Three State Tour

Today was another long travel day. We left Loveland about 9:30 this morning, drove across 3 states and pulled into our hotel at 9:30 tonight. 

Addy and Leia are good travelers and have pretty much entertained themselves with their combined collection of LPS (Littlest Pet Shop) toys, audible books, music and downloaded movies. As long as we feed them occasionally, they are pretty content. 

 One of the many mile-long coal trains we passed. They were huge!

I don't think any of us realized how BIG Wyoming is. It took 7 hours from the time we crossed into Wyoming to finally reach Devil's Tower, our first destination. That's a lot of driving!

 Leia and Addy were soooo happy to be out of the car.

Hubby and I have been here before 

but this was the first time for everyone else.

And it didn't disappoint.

We hiked a little way up the trail,

far enough to get a view out over the valley behind the Tower.

So beautiful.

We decided to take a different route when we left, rather than backtracking the same road we took into the park. 

So glad we did! The valley between Hulett and the South Dakota border was spectacular, with literally hundreds of mule and white-tailed deer everywhere we looked. None of us had ever seen anything like it. 

Tonight we are in Keystone SD, about 5 minutes from Mt. Rushmore. We'll be here until Monday, checking out various local attractions. 

 Refuse to smile for the camera? The tickling grandma will get you!

Animals we saw today: herds of bison, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, 5 camels (!) and more bison before we were even out of CO. Then there were prairie dogs, 

a flock of wild turkeys beside the road, and longhorned cattle and more bison at Devil's Tower. Add in all the deer and it was an amazing day for animal spotting.