The Great Old American West
There is no place in the world like the plains, the
foothills and the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains from Calgary, Alberta to
Denver, Colorado. It is an area rich in natural beauty and numerous
geographical must-sees like Yellowstone National Park and the Black Hills
National Forrest. It also boasts an abundance of historic landmarks, places
that have to be seen to understand the culture of the people that inhabit the
area today. It is blessed with some great highways but you should skip the
Interstates if you want to see the good stuff. All the good stuff is just off
the two-laners and this huge area is criss-crossed by a plethora of great destinations
highways. And despite the unparalleled natural beauty of the area, the area is
relatively empty which makes it even more alluring. There is no major
population center between Calgary and Denver, two cities that are over 3000
kilometers apart. There are only small towns which is really a blessing because
you wouldn’t want big cities messing up the infinite scenic vistas and
destroying the fell of this Great American Old West. What a place for a Road
Trip.
Mrs. Gym and I had a reason to drive to the Denver area this
spring. Our daughter Nicole had completed her Masters degree in Greeley, Colorado and we needed to go get her and her stuff. It was time for her to come
back to Calgary and put her education to work. So, it was left up to the author
to plan a route and incorporate a few points of interest on the journey in both
directions. This task was hard because it meant excluding sites that were away
from the sort of direct route that Mrs. Gym prefers. No tracking was
allowed. So, we missed a ton of
fantastic sites. At least there is plenty more to see on our next Road Trip.
We started out on Saturday morning and it is Monday morning
as this post is being written. The intrepid couple has already covered a lot of
ground and we find ourselves at breakfast in a B&B in Hill City, South
Dakota. The proprietor is a guy by the name of Ron Moore and over the past 48
hours we have seen Moores everywhere. On Saturday we took a self-guided tour of
Moore, Montana. Yesterday, we saw that a trooper name of L.F. Moore died with Custer
at Little Big Horn. With so many of the Moore clan in the Old West, the
pioneers that settled along the Rockies it was definitely a hardy stock that settled the area.
My next post will probably be from Colorado. I intend to
recount each day’s journey in order with pictures. So stay tuned!
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| Mrs. Gym near Moore, Montana |
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| The Moore Water Tower |
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| The Moore Post Office |
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| The lobby of the Northern Hotel in Billings |
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| The Northern's front desk |
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| A yet to be identified scene |
e
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| Deadwood, Hitchcock's burial place |
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Mrs. Gym in front of the Custer Memorial - and if you look close Trooper
LF Moore is etched into the upper right hand column |
