August 2, 2025 [LINK / comment]
Road trip out west, May-June 2024
Since I had had to change the itinerary of my "Great Train Odyssey" of June 2023 due to a landslide and the vagaries of Amtrak's reservation system (see my July 2 blog post), I was determined to rectify my failure to include family get-togethers in my trip out west last year! For the most part, I succeeded, while also accomplishing a high school reunion, quite a bit of bird watching, and a little bit of sports stadium (mostly football) tourism. What follows is a brief description of the highlights of my trip, with photographs of the most scenic and/or significant points along the way. On this trip, I focused on seeing state capitol buildings -- SIX of them, in fact!
I left Staunton on May 30 by the usual I-64 route that takes you through the mountains of West Virginia. I saw the state capitol in Charleston, but my photo was mediocre, and in fact I saw it a second time on the way back. My first significant stop was in the town of Point Pleasant, WV, on the banks of the Ohio River. A friend named Cass from church had recommended a curious tourist attraction there: the Mothman Museum, which features all sorts of displays about the legendary appearance of a mysterious creature reported by several townsfolk in the mid-1960s. Somehow these sightings are connected to a tragic bridge collapse that took place in December 1967, killing several dozen people. Outside is a metal sculpture/monument of the presumed alien beast. It was a fascinating tale, dramatized in the 2002 movie The Mothman Prophecies, starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney.
My next stop was downtown Columbus, Ohio, where I saw the state capitol, that is distinguished by the lack of a dome above the central part. Perhaps they just never got around to finishing it. About a mile away, I stopped to see the gigantic Ohio Stadium, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: State capitols in Ohio (Columbus), Iowa (Des Moines), Wyoming (Cheyenne), West Virginia (Charleston), South Dakota (Pierre), and Colorado (Denver).
The next day I stopped in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, and chalked off another state capitol on my "to-do" list. I have probably driven past Des Moines a dozen or more times over the years, but never took the time to see it. Unlike Ohio, there is a very impressive gilden dome above the capitol, perched on a big hill that provides a nice view of downtown, about a mile to the west. I arrived in Sioux Falls that evening (Saturday) just in time to see the weekly "Svengoolie" movie with my brothers Chris and John. (Dan joined us there about a week later.)
I spent a couple days unwinding in Sioux Falls, watching birds near Tea, SD and seeing some local sights such as the USS South Dakota battleship museum, and then two little league baseball games featuring two of my great nephews. Then, I hit the road westbound once again. My first stop was Lake Andes NWR, in south-central South Dakota. Then I crossed the Missouri River along the Fort Randall Dam, and entered Nebraska soon thereafter. I stopped to take photos in the towns of O'Neill, Broken Bow, and North Platte, and made it to Fort Morgan, Colorado as dusk approached. (I recommend the Terrace Park motel, whose owners are friendly and helpful.)
Early the next day I drove into downtown Denver, Colorado, where my main objective was (of course) the state capitol building. I also visited "Empower Field at Mile High," which is the new name of the home stadium of the Denver Broncos, and took a "drive-by" photo of Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Ohio Stadium (Ohio State Univ.) in Columbus; Nebraska's Big Rodeo Stadium in Burwell; University of Colorado Stadium in Boulder; Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, SD; War Memorial Stadium (Univ. of Wyoming) in Laramie; and Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, CO (home of the Broncos).
Then I proceeded to my main destination of the day: Rocky Mountain National Park area of Colorado. The last time I had been there was in 2009, with my father, who has since passed away. I spent the next couple nights at the very nice home of my sister Connie, who unfortunately had already left town on a vacation of her own. ("What we have here ... is a failure to communicate! 
) The next day I went birding at two different spots in the Boulder area.
The majestic snow-capped Rocky Mountains, and the city of Boulder (with the University of Colorado) in the foreground.
After leaving Boulder I headed in a northeasterly direction to go bird watching at Pawnee National Grasslands, where I had my first-ever good views of the Colorado state bird: the Lark Bunting! Then I passed through a fierce prairie thunderstorm and entered the state of Wyoming for the first time since . In the city of Cheyenne I took a self-guided tour of the state capitol, and then drove west to Laramie, spending a while at the University of Wyoming campus for the first time. I was surprised by how much higher elevation Laramie is compared to Cheyenne, even though they're not too far apart. Late in the afternoon I drove past Casper, which had been my intended destination for lodging, but learned to my dismay that there were multiple public events and no hotels were available. So, I continued north (past the historic marker at Teapot Dome) and spent the night in the small town of Wright.
My next destination was Devil's Tower, which I had previously seen during my cross-continent road trip in 1987. (That was just a few years after the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed there.) Then I headed east along I-90, and entered South Dakota for a second time, briefly stopped in the historic mining towns of Deadwood and Lead, and then spent the night in Sturgis. It was about six weeks before the big motorcycle rally that is held there every year.
Devils Tower, Wyoming.
Elk in Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park, CO; Buffalo / Bison in Badlands Nat. Park, SD; Antelope near Casper, WY; Prairie Dog at Devil's Tower, WY; 13-lined Ground Squirrel / Gopher near Sioux Falls, SD; and Chipmunk in RMNP, CO.
The next day I drove through Spearfish Canyon (where I saw my first-ever American Dipper) and saw various highlights of the Black Hills. Unfortunately, there was a section of road that was closed due to construction, and I had to take a detour that took more than an hour. Finally I got to Mount Rushmore for the first time since 1998, and then saw the Crazy Horse Memorial about 15 miles to the southwest. They have a nice museum there, with many historic artefacts of Native American civilization, and I bought a book as well as some souvenirs. Unfortunately, it rained for much of the time I was there, so my photos weren't as good as I had hoped. In the evening I spent the night in Rapid City at the home of my old college friend Fred Dieken, and we were soon joined by another dear old friend from my childhood years, Dave Heikes. I had not seen either of them since the 1990s!
Mount Rushmore, the "Shrine of Democracy"
The next day I resumed my eastbound journey, stopped at world-famous Wall Drug, and then entered the Badlands National Park. The skies were clear blue, just perfect for taking photos of that amazing natural wonder.
The east side of the Badlands, by the visitors center.
Then I paid a brief visit to the Minuteman Missile Museum, resumed heading east along I-90, turned toward the north, and then visited the state capitol in Pierre. (FUN FACT: Pierre is pronounced like "pier," even though it was named for a French explorer!) I'm pretty sure it was my first visit there since I worked there in the late 1970s.
Resuming my eastward course, I saw (for the first time) the Dignity Monument, near the town of Chamberlain, SD. It portrays a Native American woman in a noble pose, and is very impressive. I arrived back in Sioux Falls early in the evening, and had some more nice family get-togethers, with Chris, John, and Dan. For the next couple days I rested, and did some bird watching at the Beaver Creek Nature Area and the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum, both of which are east of Sioux Falls. Chris and I spent some time at the big waterfalls, and he gave me a thorough tour of downtown Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls waterfalls, from a nearby observation tower.
Then came the culmination of my trip: the Vermillion High School Class of 1974 50th reunion! I saw many, many old friends for the first time in ten or more years. Some of us played a round of golf, but I was out of practice and did poorly. While in Vermillion I stopped to see the Clem Family Fountain, a memorial garden honoring our parents in which my brother Chris took a lead role, to his great credit, as well as Jolley Elementary School, which unfortunately was torn down just a few months later.
There weren't many notable sights as a headed back east toward Virginia again. In Iowa I stopped at the farm where the movie Field of Dreams was filmed, mu second time there. I did stop to see the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as the site of an old ballpark where parts of the movie Eight Men Out was filmed. (I had seen the Indiana state capitol on an earlier trip.) The last major stop was in Charleston, West Virginia, where I spent a while taking photos of the gilden state capitol.
Then, I got back onto I-64 and returned to Staunton, where Jacqueline was waiting for me. In terms of the family and friends that I saw, the historical sites, the natural wonders, as well as the birds and other wildlife that, it was without question a wonderful trip!
NOTE: I am preparing to head west on another "family-oriented visit," and wanted to get this travelogue done first!