Before leaving Cody, Wyoming, we stopped by the Buffalo Bill Center of the West to see the outdoor sculptures that have been added since our last visit in 1989. Buffalo Bill as a pony express rider:

Why is it always "Lewis and Clark" and not "Lewis and  Clark and Sacajawea"? We found this statue especially touching:

And we thought Shepherd was small!

Pronghorn antelope:

The scenery, once again, was amazing:

The arms in the right foreground close the road when necessary in winter.

The Mt. Rushmore facility has changed a lot since we last were here. In 1989, we just parked and walked toward the mountain. This visit, we paid $11.00 to park in the ramp then approached the monument by way of a long walkway with all of the state flags mounted on pillars with plaques commemorating statehood dates. Think this would be considered defacing our natural resources today? Still awfully impressive!

The Badlands Suite at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City:

We made a quick stop at Wall Drugs. There are not signs and advertisements promoting this tourist attraction for hundreds of miles like there used to be.

Badlands National Park:

Bighorn sheep:

We're pretty sure this is the hike we took in 1989 when we took the boys out west. One of then 4-year -old Benjamin's most vivid memories of that trip is that Matthew (7) fell in the Badlands and skinned his knee and Mom blew on it to stop the stinging.

We next stopped at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. The visitor center includes displays about the cold war and a mockup of a control room where 2 officers would have launched the missiles if so ordered.

On into Minnesota and more visits with family. We checked IHG facilities and found we could stay 2 nights free at the Holiday Inn Express in Rogers with reward club points. We'll take it! We had dinner at a restaurant in Stillwater on the St. Croix River. Scenery was nice,

but 7 month old great-niece Eleanora stole the show:

Shawn is Mary's brother Jack's son, this is his wife Jena and their daughter Eleanora, who smiled most of the evening except when it was picture time.

 

We met our niece, Jackie and our great-niece, Autumn for lunch, as Autumn wasn't available for a family gathering later in the day.

 

Mary's brother, Steve and his wife, Lisa arranged a family get-together at their place.  Their son, Dylan and newest family member, Copper are also pictured here. Their daughter, Shelby, stayed at school in Fargo, ND, this summer but we hope to visit with her when she comes to Michigan later this summer.

This is Jackie with the rest of her family, her husband Jeremiah and daughters Allie and Ivy (in her dad's arms). Jackie is Mary's brother Jack's daughter.

This is Mary's oldest brother, Jack. We're sure that he would point out that, even though he's her oldest brother, she's still a year and a half older than he is!

Only one of the original Alaska Highway bridges is still being used, although not as part of the modern Alaska Highway.

It is this curved wooden bridge near Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

Must be Paul Bunyan's skis!

Today's drive along the Fraser River is the prettiest so far. Wait-don't we say that every day?

Tunnels over the riverside train track:

A railroad snow shed:

Coming into Vancouver:

"Slow" John and Mary, who also started from Mackinaw City and completed the Great Loop (our big boat trip) when we did, recommended the Van Deusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver. We're so glad we took the time to visit.

In fact, we could have stayed all day, but we're heading home now and anxious to keep going.

Right after we entered Washington, we took a AAA recommended scenic byway. Perfect scenery to complete this beautiful day of driving.

The Space Needle looks so tall when you're right next to it, but is almost lost in the Seattle skyline,

Freeway Park, along and above I-5 in Seattle:

We took a ferry to Bremerton:

Where we saw 3 aircraft carriers docked at the Bremerton Navy Yard. One was in for maintenance, 2 are mothballed.

We visited the Boeing plant, the largest building by volume in the world, and enjoyed a tour of the facility.

Boeing has built only 4 of these Dreamlifters and owns all 4, using them to transport airplane components from all over the world.

We were lucky enough to see one being unloaded...

And one taking off!

Mukilteo Lighthouse near Everett, WA:

West Point Lighthouse near Seattle:

The weather was so clear the whole time we were in the Seattle area that we could see Mt. Ranier most of the time.

The EMP pop culture museum, downtown Seattle, with the space needle in the background.

The longest floating bridge in the world:

Our suite at Lewis/McChord joint base in Tacoma:

Their static display includes a B-18, very rare:

The plane on the right is a B23, an upgrade for the B18, also rare:
                                                         

We stayed in the Globemaster suite. The Globemaster is a cargo plane, currently the C-17.  Our air conditioner didn't seem to be working very well, so John took the Mariner to a service station on base. Somewhere along the way, we had a stone pierce the air conditioner condenser. We decided to get it fixed before we traveled across the plains in 90 and 100 degree temperatures.

There's that mountain again!

We went to the glass museum in Tacoma.  

Dale Chihuly, a world-renowned glass artist, is from Tacoma. We had seen some of his glasswork at Dow Gardens in Midland, MI. This "Bridge of Glass" connects the Glass Museum with Union Station.

The Venetian Wall from inside the glass bridge:

The ceiling of the second section of the bridge:

Some of Chihuly's pieces are on display in Union Station.

After a hard day of sight-seeing:

On the road again, we have seen many of these signs on this trip along with arms that come down to close roads during winter weather.

We drove along the Columbia River, and stopped to see the Bonneville Lock and Dam.

During World War II, soldiers stood guard duty in pillboxes like this to protect the dams.

Beautiful scenery again today, with the previously mentioned windshield crack in the foreground.

Suddenly, we saw this M1A1 Abrams Tank sitting on a cement slab in the desert.  The 246 Armer Battalion only had M-1s.

This landscape was created by volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago.

Just like Sleeping Bear Dunes, except black.

 Grand Teton National Park:

On to Yellowstone, our nation's first national park. Wonder how many people know that the second national park was Mackinac Island, Michigan?

It took a long time to get to our room in one of the Yellowstone lodges because a line of cars was stopped near a herd of buffalo so people could watch and take pictures. A ranger drove up and down the line of traffic with a loudspeaker saying, "Don't stop. Keep moving," to no avail.

These elk paid no attention to all the fascinated people nearby.

 When we left in the morning, our low tire pressure light was on. There was a service station by Old Faithful, the young man who helped us found a small piece of metal in the tire, but couldn't find a leak. It's  slow enough that we decided to check the tire frequently and put a little air in each day.

                                           
 Coyote:

Glacier has its red buses, Yellowstone's are yellow: