#ProjectAlaska: The Amana Colonies

How many times have I passed The Amana Colonies in Iowa and not gone there to see them? To be honest, I haven't actually counted; but I can say for sure that it has been AT LEAST 15 times. This year I decided that it was time to finally explore this landmark that I have passed so many times. What initially attracted me was the history of these small towns; plus, who hasn't heard of Amana appliances? Amana Appliances was started in 1934 in Middle Amana under the name The Electrical Equipment Co. and was founded to manufacture commercial walk-in coolers. What I discovered was that the towns all feature different buildings and offerings, but that art is a big presence here. As such, I took quite a number of pictures. I began with the architecture of the buildings and then other items such as flowers, gifts, and artwork caught my eye. Due to the number of pictures, I will divide this up into separate posts.

The day got started bright and early just like the rest of them:

As I neared the Colonies, I came upon this real working phone booth! Surprisingly, phone booths are still popular in Canada; but very few phone booths are still around today in the US.

#ProjectAlaska: Badlands National Park and Nebraska

Having been in Badlands National Park numerous times, I didn't take many pictures here. The one thing that I truly enjoyed on this trip was the amount of time spent outside and I attribute most of that to the fact that I was at campgrounds practically every night versus motels. I was actually a bit surprised that I didn't even miss having TV. There were always plenty of other things to do and being outside in the evenings was quite pleasurable.

Once I left the Badlands, I didn't pull my camera out again until I reached Valentine, Nebraska, at the Niobrara River. After putting it away; I didn't pull it back out again until I reached the Missouri River.

The last 6 pictures above were taken at this neat overlook of the Missouri River located in Nebraska on US 75:

#ProjectAlaska: Thunder Basin and The Black Hills

After leaving Casper, my next destination was a place called Thunder Basin National Grassland where I thought I would see lots of wildlife. I was in for a big surprise! Here, instead was what I saw:

So, I ended up seeing very little in the sense of wildlife and ended up seeing a coal mine instead. Disappointed doesn't quite describe the feeling, but there was a bright note; a sign explaining the Texas Trail:

As I drove into the Black Hills, I just HAD to stop at the entrance to the Crazy Horse Monument to get a picture. I've actually been here many times over the years and must admit that if there is any place in the Black Hills one MUST see, it is this place:

The Crazy Horse Monument absolutely makes Mount Rushmore look like a play toy by comparison. Lunchtime was upon me, so it was Subway and a nice picturesque park:

Over the years, I had been past this railroad feature many times at the Hill City Depot, but had never stopped; so I decided to spend some time taking some pictures and just enjoying the day. I wasn't in any big hurry due to the fact that my campground was at Badlands National Park which wasn't too far away. Enjoy!