Art Ink Photos and the Roys: August 2024

Devils Tower

May 17 - Driving day, we drove through the rest of Nevada and then through Utah, passing by the Great Salt Lake. But it was dark, so no pictures of the lake. We arrived in Wyoming and spent the night at a Walmart.

May 18 - Headed through most of Wyoming, destination Devil's Tower. We arrived at the Devils Tower KOA Campground long after dark. We found our spot and while closing up the curtains on the RV we realized you could just make out the Tower in front of us, a massive dark shape in the night sky. We didn't know before this trip that Devil's Tower was the first national monument in America.

May 19 - Opening the curtains in the morning we could see just how close we were to the tower, it was right out the front window, very cool.

This was another wonderful campground, with so much to do from miniature golf and movies, to

group bonfires, a dog park, and playgrounds. Across the street a trading post full of gifts, souvenirs, ice cream, snacks, and coffee.

Cozy played outside until lunch. I made some sandwiches and we headed out to get closer to the Tower and take some pictures. In the park surrounding the tower is a huge area with a prairie dog town and a LOT of prairie dogs. We couldn't help but stop and watch them for a while (there are a lot of pictures on the next page).

Eventually, we left the prairie dogs and headed around to the other side of Devil's Tower. We took many great pictures, but didn't meet the aliens unfortunately. :)

Spent some time at the Devil's Tower Trading Post getting souvenirs and taking more pictures. I am glad I agreed with Jonathan's plans to go here, it was more for him, but I enjoyed it as well. We stayed another night and got a lot of extra rest.

May 20 - Jonathan fell the morning we left, he fell off the step of the camper. Fellow campers came right over to help and we got him up quickly. We found people are so kind just everywhere. Jonathan was able to laugh at himself and was not injured because he landed in the grass.

So Devil's Tower is in the northwest corner of Wyoming and only a few hours from Mount Rushmore, which was next up.

We headed out and before we got more than a mile from the campground we saw Bison and Longhorn Steere grazing in the pasture land. We pulled over to take pictures. It was so wonderful, indeed I love animals, all of God's creatures. We should respect them, whether they be for food or in the wild we are the caretakers of Earth and its life. I firmly believe this and take this from my reading of the Bible.

Let's check out the animals at Devil's Tower. Click here to continue our adventure.

You can find our photos around America

on products in our shop called Renderly Yours.

Just click below.

Travels Around America
by Renderly Yours

End Of The Trip

May 25 & 26 - Basically just driving days, stopping for supplies, gas, and resting for a bit, but no sightseeing as we were both ready to be home again. We arrived back home late on the 26th.

The next morning we started to unpack. Our neighbors came out offering to help. It was a beautiful day and it was nice talking to Jill, Dan, and Kathy, and also the older man who lives on the other side of Jill. Enjoyed visiting and sharing about our trip.

Travels Around America
by Renderly Yours

Pony Express RV Park

May 22 - This was another driving day. After getting breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and the fruit bowl to go of course, we headed south. We drove the whole length of the Nebraska/Iowa border, eventually arriving at the Pony Express RV Park in Missouri.

May 23 - We just loved this park, so did Cozy, and we spent the morning taking pictures. The RV park also has a small rustic farm with very friendly animals you can feed, a dog park, and a fish pond. We got lunch in their cafe and then headed out, bound for Springfield Illinois. Took so many pictures here and just loved it the area has some history of where the Pony Express started.

We were parked right near the dog park, so cozy could see Dad working on unhooking the camper as we were getting ready to leave.

...and a large pond full of fish for catching.

Inside was a game area, TV, and a restaurant.

Abraham Lincoln's Tomb is next up. Click here to continue our adventure.

You can find our photos around America

on products in our shop called Renderly Yours
just click below.

Travels Around America
by Renderly Yours

Mount Rushmore

May 20 - When we arrived at Mount Rushmore it was raining quite a bit, so we got a little wet taking pictures, but I think the rain added something to them, it made Washington look like he had been crying! It was inspiring. I think it was cool to see this magnificent piece of art, read about the artist, and see images of the builders. Mount Rushmore really is impressive.

So many little tourist spots around Mount Rushmore, but it had gotten late and things were closing up. They did look like fun, like the giant big foot carving, the wax museum of all the presidents, a huge candy shop, and much more.

Took a pic as we drove by, just had to.

The rain wasn't fun and off and on at the end of our trip, but did not, by any means, ruin anything.

We got as good of pictures as we could, and did a little shopping. Like I wrote above, wished we could have gone to a few more places, but it was late and the weather was bad. Maybe we will do this again someday.

Things to do near Mount Rushmore:
-Presidential Qax Museum
-Caves
-Arts, crafts, and wood carvings
-Reptiles
-Indian rock formation
-Candy shop
-Amusement rides
- Zip line at the mountain
And more.

We recommend taking at least two days there as well.

We boondocked because a storm was coming, and in the morning I swore we had been on a boat.
Overnight we were rocking and rolling in the wind, it was wild. When it seemed like it died down we moved out on the highway we saw a 30-foot camper trailer pulled by a truck, both rolled on their side in the grass and a tow truck was helping it get upright. That's how bad the wind was during it. Jonathan needed even more extra breaks because of his health issues, the winds took so much out of him.

May 21 - After getting supplies at Walmart we continued west through South Dakota. Today was a driving day and we arrived in Sioux Falls just around dinner time and spent the night at Cracker Barrel.

Pony Express is next up. Click here to continue our adventure.

You can find our photos around America

on products in our shop called Renderly Yours
just click below.

Travels Around America
by Renderly Yours