Chicago

After Yellowstone Park, we ventured to Jackson (or Jackson Hole) where we had 2 nights. It was such a lovely town, we did lots of walking but also enjoyed some down time to relax. The place we were staying at had a lovely creek running through it and was just beautiful.

                       

                       

After Jackson, we headed for Salt Lake City where we only had one night before we flew to Chicago. This is the lovely Capitol Building in Salt Lake City.

                       

We have only had 3 nights or 2 full days (not enough time) in Chicago and have explored it on foot and by boat. We took a boat tour of the Chicago River that introduced us to the different architectural designs in this lovely city. We had also booked a Chicago Greeter and spent over 4 hours with Sharon, a most wonderful Greeter who really knows this city. She took us into certain buildings that we would never have known about.

                       

                       

                       

                       

                       

    

                        

                                          

                         

                         

A very warm day here and as we walked for about 7 hours around the city today, I think an early night is in order as tomorrow we fly to Boston.

Yellowstone National Park

We had two wonderful days travelling through this beautiful park. I took so many photos, it's going to be hard to choose ones to post here. There was some snow still in parts and it was cold but we also saw many wildflowers too. We did see some wildlife including black bears, bison, moose, elk and deer. We stayed at two different locations, the Canyon Lodge and Old Faithful Inn. The Lodge was fairly new and very nice but the Inn was my favourite as it was old and rustic in parts but had lots of charm, a beautiful building.

                         

                                           

 We saw the Old Faithful Geyser go off 3 times and it is an attraction but there are also many more wonderful sights to see throughout the Park.

                        

                                             

                                             

                          

There was no wifi for two days but that was kind of nice.

Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore

Today, I was able to tick off another two places on my bucket list, both of them amazing works. Of course, Crazy Horse is not finished and no one knows when that will be but I won't be around to see it finished. Started in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, the memorial is in remembrance of Native American History. Just the face is 27m high and the entire carving will be 172m when finished. When Korczak died, the family continued to work on it (he and his wife had 10 children). His wife died 3 years ago and the family members, staff and a Board of Directors continue with the dream. They do not want Government money to finish the memorial, instead they rely on private donations and of course the money that comes into the centre from visitors.

                        

                        

And below is how it will look when finished with the memorial in the background.

                        

We then travelled to Mount Rushmore, where the memorial started in 1927 and finished in 1941. The four Presidents featured are George Washington,Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Another stunning memorial, much smaller than Crazy Horse but still pretty impressive. You are able to walk around the base and look up at them.

                       

                       

                       

Rocky Mountain National Park

Yesterday we were very fortunate to be taken out for the day by Dick, originally introduced to us by a friend but now we consider him a good friend of ours. We spent the day driving through the Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado with him and wow, it was spectacular. Still snow around on the higher levels but just beautiful with all the greenery and even wildflowers starting to come out.

We visited the Alpine Visitor Centre where we read all about the area and then decided to hike to the top of the trail at the centre which took us up to 12005 ft above sea level (3660 m). 

                       

The photo below is from the start of the trail looking down to the visitor centre.

                       

Here we are almost at the top, it was so windy and freezing!

                      

Further along the road we came to Grand Lake, a nice little area for a holiday. People were out enjoying the sunshine and the water.

                      

Further along we stopped at Berthoud Pass at the Continental Divide where once again we had spectacular views.

                     

We did see a few elk during the day but this was the only photo.

                     

A fantastic day out and to end a perfect day, we got to meet Dick's lovely wife Patti and all had dinner together. We hope one day they will come down under to Australia and we can reciprocate the hospitality.

 

    

Trip to USA and Canada

We have started our holiday in Denver Colorado, the first time we have visited. I am amazed at how clean the city is, not a bit of rubbish (trash) on the footpaths (sidewalks). Last year we took a visitor from near Denver on a Greet and happily met up with him again. We had a long lunch together catching up and another friend of his is taking us on a drive tomorrow to the mountains, so we are very fortunate. The weather is warm, about 30C but no humidity, just lovely. We have a few days here, then start a tour from Denver to Salt Lake City, via Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone Park etc. so stay tuned.

We have done lots of walking as per usual for us. Visited the beautiful Capitol Building and were able to go up all the stairs into the golden dome with the magnificent view of the snow capped Rockies.

                      

                                  

                                         

                     

                       

A visit to the old Quarantine Station

During our stay in Sydney, we decided to visit the old Sydney Quarantine Station which operated from 1832 to 1984, so we took a ferry across the harbour to Manly and then a short bus ride to the Station. It's on quite a bit of land, so lots of walking around to view all the old buildings and relics on display. Apparently, you can even stay there which would be interesting and it's in a fantastic position on North Head, so great views across the harbour.

                         

Any immigrant arriving in Sydney who might have had an infectious disease was quarantined here until they were cleared. We read that most people considered this a 'holiday' as they were looked after, fed, entertained and even had a beach for swimming.

                        

Back in those days, there were the different classes on ships and so the Station was set up with the different precincts, first, second and third class precincts. The first class passengers had a nice dining room with lovely crockery but the poor old third class passengers had a much different experience.

                        

                        

                                        

                                        

A walk down to the wharf to view the relics wouldn't be complete without a visit to the toilets, no guessing here as to which one to go in!