Presidential Wax Museum

While driving through Keystone on our way to Mount Rushmore, we stopped in at the Presidential Wax Museum. It is a collection of presidential wax figures, with an additional display on 9/11 and general Custer of Little Bighorn fame.

The wax figures are all pretty impressively made, and often lifelike, but they don't always look much like the person they're supposed to imitate. You get a wand thingy where you push numbers and listen to short tales about each president. The displays are not really chronological, which makes ME angry every time. There are also a few errors and some glaring omissions in these bios, but I suppose it's ok as a beginner's introduction to presidential history. All in all a mixed review for a mixed place.

All pics here.

Ronnie. *sniffles*


But who is this person seated opposite Gorbachev?


Siri looking skeptically at Franklin Pierce, possibly the worst doofus to inhabit the White House.


Two commie fucks and one champion of liberty. Churchill ftw!


Nixon looking like he's crooning to the astronauts.


I have no idea what Clinton is supposed to be doing here. Nor, I fear, do the museum administrators.


Hanging chads, dimpled chads, undercounting, overcounting. My head hurts at the memories.


Never forgive, never forget.

Mt Rushmore - again

We managed a swing by Mt Rushmore before nightfall Friday, yet another place I had visited in '09. We did our patriotic duty of strolling around the grounds, gawping at this incredible testament to patriotism. Siri remarked how it looked like something they might build to communist leaders in other nations, and we marveled at the dedication to freedom that lies at the core of this endeavor. No one was forced, this beautiful artwork was all done in liberty and for liberty.

All pics here.

Fortunately, there was no construction work going on at Teddy Roosevelt's head this time.


Way up on the road after the visit, we saw this portal in the forest, with a view of Mt Rushmore.


Gutzon Borglum, the Man with the Plan. Borglum was a visionary and a patriot and also a raving madman. Go read his wiki entry and tell me I'm wrong.


The Black Hills. Still purdy.

Devils Tower

Friday morning we drove from Buffalo to the Black Hills. We were sad to leave that lovely, little town, but I knew there was fun to be had on the way and in the area. First we went up to Devils Tower, another place I had visited in 2009. It is still a magnificent site, and fortunately Siri agreed.

We took some pics of the mountain and of the funny, little prairie dogs that still occupy the meadows under it.

All pics here.

The Devil and his tower.


So pretty.


It's all lava. Once, it was hidden under a mile of rock, but wind and water have worn down the surrounding terrain and left this.


Stuffing face.


Furiously digging yet another hole.


Teeming with prairie dogs.


One of several injun legends about the mountain. Honestly, you'd think they'd get their stories straight by now, wouldn't you?

Buffalo, Wyoming

Wednesday evening we arrived in Buffalo, Wyoming. I'd been there once before, in 2009 and we had booked a room in the very historic, very beautiful Occidental Hotel. Their restaurant, The Virginian was open this time, and served up some of the best damned food I've ever had.

Later in the evening we rounded off in the saloon where we talked to the bartender, Jennifer, who was originally from Arkansas and had just happened to watch a TV programme from Norway a couple of weeks previously, so we had something to talk about there.

I also had a long, rambling, warm and funny chat with the owner, Dawn, whose father had been director of the world famous San Diego zoo back in the day. I've been there, so we had stuff to talk about there too. We liked the hotel, the saloon and the restaurant so much that when we found out they had a bluegrass jam session the next night, we decided to stay another day to soak up the local culture.

Sadly, they didn't have any rooms at the Occidental, but the very nice morning clerk called ahead and sent us a few blocks up the road to the Mansion Motel, a beautiful old building from 1903. Their air-conditioning leaves a little to be desired, but we had a good stay and the proprietor was hilarious.

Buffalo is a very cozy little town, and it looks just like most American towns might have looked 50-60 years ago. Sadly, the first signs of touristification have started, with art-farty galleries and alternative this and organic that. Pretty soon, they'll probably have a Starbucks, and you know there's no way back from there. But as of now I can highly recommend staying a couple of days in this town. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, and you won't find nicer people anywhere.

All Buffalo pics here.

My bedroom at the Occidental. Huuuuge bed.


From the kitchen in our room at the Occidental. The owner told me that it was essentially unchanged from 1942, when a family member came home from the war with serious wounds and was lodged there. Before that, it had been the hotel kitchen. Everything was in working condition, from the fridge to the radio.


There are four parts to the hotel. There's a newly renovated breakfast cafe nearest to the bridge and the little river. There's trout to be fished in the stream. Yeah, it's that kind of town. Then you have the hotel, the saloon and the restaurant.


In the Virginian I had pan fried elk and a baked potato that was the best I've ever had. I don't normally go in for baked anything, but this chef can work miracles. Siri had some ravioli stuff and pronounced it divine. We both had burgers in the saloon on Thursday, and that was good stuff too.


Thursday we went and had a quick look at the annual fair that was ongoing in town. I sure hope things pick up for them, as the rodeo had more participants than spectators when we visited.


An honest to God produce contest. Veggies and fruits with little ribbons on them, and how the hell you can judge between onions is beyond me. I don't know that you can get much more small town American than this.


The lobby and dining room of the Mansion Motel.


Siri at the Mansion Motel.


Our bedroom at the Mansion Motel.


Me striking a reflective pose at the Mansion Motel.


From the saloon, which has tons of animal skins and heads along the walls. Is it just me, or does this bear skin have tire tracks across its back...?


Footstomping bluegrass at the Occidental Saloon. The fiddler had a cap that said "Israel", and we saw several anti-Obama garments. Siri, who is almost as right-wing and as pro-US and pro-Israel as me, said she felt like she had "come home".


They have this tradition on bluegrass nights where people donate stuff for a raffle. Everybody gets ONE ticket and you don't pay a cent. Later in the evening, the ticket seller (an old, spry fellow) comes round to take up donations. The proceeds go to local charity work. I won a glass of homemade raspberry jam which I haven't dared try yet.


Brochure for bluegrass jam sessions. I promise not to bring any bagpipes, okay?


Johnson County Courthouse. Buffalo is the capital of Johnson, which is famous for the so-called Johnson County War of 1892, a conflict between settlers and cattle "barons", which grew so violent the US Army was deployed.

Chipmunk Bonanza

Remember I mentioned the chipmunks at the lookout point where the descent down US-212 begins? Well, I stopped there again with Siri and the chipmunks were out in force. They were even more insufferably cute and cuddly this time and even took food from my hand and ate it in their cute and cuddly way. These little critters should come with a doctor's recommendation as it is impossible to feel sad or angry when faced with cuteness incarnate such as this.

All pics here.

Hehehehehehehehe.


I can't stop chuckling when I look at them.


There were tons of them living in the brushwood down the mountainside.


There were several bikers in the parking lot when we arrived and they had great fun feeding the chipmunks.


"Nooooooooooo! Wanna eat moooooore!"


I tried to feed them with some barbecue flavored chips. The success was modest. One of the bikers offered me a fistful of his nuts (pun intended) and they went down much better. I'll be posting the film shortly.






Greedy little bastard.

Yellowstone - for the last time

Pics from our trip through the northern parts of Yellowstone Thursday - the exact opposite trip of what I did meself a week before. All Yellowstone pics can be found here.

I saw a black bear again. This one looked like he'd started hibernating already. He was sleeping like the dead and I got pretty close to take my pics. As you'll see if you click through, the pics are all pretty much identical, since he didn't move a muscle the whole time.


Zzzzzzzzzzz.


A creek in the northeastern parts of the park.


A lonely tree.


They actually run cool stagecoaches through parts of the park.

Beartooth - again

Wednesday, I took Siri over the Beartooth pass and I took some more pics. They're here, along with the old ones. She fell in love with the area, just like I had done, but sadly her camera's battery died halfway across the mountain. Seriously, who doesn't start the day with a fully charged cam when they're about to go through Yellowstone and over Bearthooth? Eh? Eh?

Montana

We got out of the park as it was getting close to pitch dark, and had a very good dinner at some eating place in Gardiner, MT. I believe the place was called Rosie's. Their stuffed chicken breast is mouthwatering and their cheesecake... oh god...

Anyway, Tuesday morning we first drove into Butte to have breakfast at Denny's. I'd gotten on the email with Siri and asked her to bring some Norwegian chocolates and some trolls for Alex, and this was received with more squeals of delight.

Afterwards we set course for Glacier - again in my case. The drive was a pleasant one, with bright sunshine and Siri and I both loved the wonderful nature you can find in Montana. A long way up into the woods we passed a big cabin that had the Norwegian flag waving. Intrigued, we drove back to investigate.

At first I thought it might be a place that offered lodging, since there were several buildings of a decent size scattered around the grounds. However we didn't find any people around, and had gotten back in the car and were already on the highway when I spotted an elderly woman waving to us.

We turned around and pulled back in, and boy am I glad we did. We spent the next good hour or so in the company of the Nelsons and their friends the Petersons, a couple from Havre, to the northeast of Glacier. I've never witnessed hospitality such as what we found here. They invited us in to their cabin, which was decorated in a very cozy style; a mix between old American and old Norwegian. They had woodcarvings and handsome furniture and little trolls and "nisser" and it was just one of the nicest places I've been to.

We were sat in the sofa and given cookies and ice tea and had a long, rambling, pleasant conversation with them. Did I mention they were in their 70s? The Nelsons were retired teachers and had Norwegian ancestry, as did the Petersons; it turned out Mr Peterson's great sumfin' had come over from Hadeland, just north of my hometown.

The Nelsons explained that the place had once belonged to his parents, who'd had seven children and the family members were now using it as a holiday home. They all had their individual properties around the main cabin, the ones I'd taken to be for rent. Their proper home was in Seattle, but I had the feeling they owned several places around the country, or at least had access to them.

A younger lady, probably of around our age, came around and after the long talk we all drove across the road and up the hill to help her with a huge mattress she was having trouble with. She was staying in a much newer building on the Nelson grounds, and what a luxurious cabin that was. Pine floors, granite fireplace, big shower upstairs, patio with bbq, etc, etc.

They explained that it could only be rented out to family, but I pointed out that technically ALL Norwegians could be said to be family if you only went back far enough, so they could start advertizing in Norway right away...

Anyway, they were just the nicest, most hospitable people ever and I'm sure we would be sitting there still, talking about Norway and America, migration and property and family history and really everything under the sun. As it was, we were doing Glacier in a day, and had to say our goodbyes, but we were told to come again if we ever were in the area, something I'll definitely take them up on.

All Montana pics here.

I don't have a pic of the main cabin, as I was shooting when I thought there were no people around, and thought it might be unrespectful. But it was a very handsome building.


I think this old railway wagon was actually in use as living quarters. How cool is that?


They had this sign out front.


We stopped and filled up at this tiny place with ooooold gas pumps.


We stopped for dinner here, on the other side of Glacier park. I think maybe there's a place or two in Alaska that would disagree with this "fact". In other news, Charlie's does a mean pepperoni pizza, just sayin'.