Just a little more than a week before we embark on our adventure and I can hardly wait! I've been working incredibly long hours and will be so ready to just hit the road without a care in the world. I love that we've planned the trip without making a single hotel/motel reservation (except at my Mom's guest room the first night).

In my first blog, I mapped out the intended route west. I don't know if it was the long hours working these past few weeks or my reluctance to think about coming back home that has caused me to delay blogging about the trip east again. But the return trip also will be filled with sights and adventures that will keep us rolling along new highways and byways. (We will seldom drive on the Interstates west beyond Bismarck, ND, until we get out of the Black Hills of South Dakota on the return trip). We'll experience the Rockies, Northern Plains, and Upper Midwest up close and personal!

The furthest west we plan to go is the Palouse area of eastern Washington State. I first learned about this gem of a place by seeing the outstanding photography of Linda Lantzy, of Idaho Scenic Images, of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. She posts some of her photos on Facebook and I have discovered some amazing places through her keen eye and lens.

The route from the Palouse back through Idaho to Jackson, Wyoming, is still up in the air. We're thinking about taking WA 27 South to US 195 South to US 95 South to US 12 East to US 93 South to Idaho 28 South and Idaho 33 East, and eventually to US 20 East to Idaho 33 East, which will take us to Jackson. That route would be iffy if there's an early snowstorm, though, in which case we'd stick to the interstate into Montana and then south to Jackson.

We'll probably not spend a lot of time in Jackson, although I've been told to stop at a lodge there with an enormous lobby or common area window looking out at the mountains with a breathtaking view. This person (a native of Wyoming) told me that they don't have televisions there, but during a conference, he said everyone spent the breaks watching out the window. Just have to find out which one!

After a quick visit to Jackson, we will head to one of the high spots on my list of places to see--the Grand Teton National Park. My only regret is that there probably won't be snow on the peaks. But I don't care. This range is magestic.

From the Tetons, we'll head to Yellowstone National Park. My hubby wants to enter from the West, but I guess that would have been without going to the Tetons. So, I'm guessing we'll enter from the south. We'll spend two or three days hitting the high spots, including Yellowstone Falls, Tower Falls, Old Faithful (check out this webcam!), and wildlife (here's an interesting story about the bison and elk in the park). Of course, with only a few days, we'll not get to see everything there is to see. That's a vacation destination on its own!

But we have many miles to go before we finish, so from Yellowstone, we'll move on to the Beartooth Mountains. Linda Lantzy was there recently and photograph alpine flowers and lakes along the Beartooth Highway. I was afraid all of those would have bloomed in the spring. Check out this sunset she captured--as if the mountains were on fire. Gorgeous! (The photo is on Facebook--I don't know if you can see if it you're not on FB.)

From the Beartooth range, we'll head across northern Wyoming into western South Dakota. First stop--Deadwood. I can still remember Doris Day as "Calamity Jane" in the musical of that name. That was probably the first I'd heard of Deadwood--and the place has intrigued me ever since. Besides, what's not to love about those Rowdy Women of the West! So, while we're there, I want to take an historic tour of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane sites. And, if there's a room available, we might stay at the haunted Bullock Hotel in Deadwood. Room rates are reasonable and we'll probably be there midweek. Keeping our fingers crossed! (But refusing to commit to being there are a certain night.) The only downside to the Bullock appears to be that all the rooms are smoking ones. But to get some good ghost photos would be worth the smell! A ghost-hunting friend, paranormal author Terri Grimes, tells me to talk to the ghosts to get them to come out for the photos. And she gets some amazing photos of them. I guess we'll see! (At least, I hope we will!)

We probably won't make a stop in the Deadwood casino. But if I did and I won big, a friend told me I should look into the Black Hills Gold jewelry, which has a pinkish and/or  greenish tinge to it. She bought some for family members while on her way to Montana one year. It's pretty, isn't it? I'm just more into trashy cosmetic jewelry, so it might be too nice for me.

From there, we'll head south, further into the Hills with a long stop in Keystone, where Carrie Ingalls Swanzey lived many of her adult years. Her husband, David Swanzey, is known for naming nearby Mount Rushmore. We may go there, but will definitely be going to the Crazy Horse Memorial nearby. To see it during its construction will be awesome. What a moving story of the commitment the Ziolkowski Family has to keep Korczak Ziolkowski's dream alive!

From Keystone, we will board the 1880s Train for a short ride to Hill City, SD, along the Black Hills Central Railroad line. I fell in love with the narrow-guage railroad lines on the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Later, we rode the Durango-Silverton train. This one in South Dakota is of a smaller scale, but it looks like a beautiful area to experience by train.

Well, looks as though there will be one more installment in the pre-trip story. Next up, Laura Ingalls Wilder country in South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and northern and eastern Iowa!