Finally we get Joan’s side, here we go…in Joan’s words:
Me?, Moi? A Guest Blogger he asks? Sure, I’ll take a shot at it although I don’t have the humor ol’ Marco does.
My Top 5 are a little different than Marc’s top 5.
1. South Dakota is number one on my list and it took me by surprise! I had always pictured SD as flat prairie lands with cattle grazing, but it’s so much more. It was my favorite state with a mix of beautiful grasses, Black Hill mountains, cool weather, Badlands National Park and quaint towns of Custer and Hot Springs. We stayed in a nice little campground in Custer, but next time (??) will stay in Hot Springs where The Mammoth Site is an active paleontological dig site, and boasts the largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world! I’ve got to see those mammoth bones and I know Marc will be 100% as excited as me, not…
2. Jenny Lake boat shuttle and hike to Inspiration Point for awesome panoramic views. Jenny Lake is part of the Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming and is absolutely beautiful. I had a few friends recommend the lake and now I know why. The boat shuttle was fun and hiking to the top, which we HAD to do so I could check it off my list was breathtaking.
3. Pagosa Springs, CO – We’ve been there a few times, so it was a favorite stop to visit our friends. The first weekend was spent with me celebrating 2 friends turning the big 60. The big laugh was deciding on a hike. “Which way do we go, which way do we go?” Well, we ended up going opposite of where we were supposed to, but that didn’t stop us from having a nice little picnic at the Continental Divide near Beaver Creek, and seeing a pretty little waterfall on a short hike. It was a fun girls weekend with lots of excitement, some of it was games and alcohol related, and some was firetruck and ER related! I love those Texas girls! Later I shifted and joined Marc at another friend’s home and we hiked and played our new fav game, pickleball. Marc was idolized by a new friend Jeff with his beginner pickleball skills. I’ve got to give a shout out to Brenda and KayLane whose wonderful dinners have inspired me to try a little harder at cooking! PS is a cool community of fun people and I love that place.
4. Mt Rushmore – No need to describe this very much, but it was pretty awesome driving in the mountains of South Dakota to get there. You keep looking and looking for those faces and finally, there they are! This was on my bucket list and did not disappoint. It was really like, “Wow, how did they do that in the 1930’s?” They have set this National Memorial up very well with a nice little museum that has facts and video clips of the progress. Check!
5. Campground in Grand Tetons National Park – This was the only National Park that we could get a reservation at. Everyone is wanting to get out during this pandemic and since we didn’t have an exact travel plan, we weren’t able to reserve other parks. We stayed in the Colter Bay campground which was on the lake and was so pretty. It had a great camp store and even a restaurant for takeout which we did one night. The pine trees were so beautiful surrounding our Little Al. We would walk up to the picnic area and have our coffee while Marc would blog so he could get a WiFi signal. It was just a lovely campground except for staff scaring you to death about those damn bears!
McGaffs On The Fly 