Devils Tower, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore & the Badlands

I became the drill sergeant mom, waking up the kids at 6:30 to shower, eat (they love hotel continental breakfast, something that definitely has to be a kid thing), and pack up.  We headed to Devils Tower, and I decided I could live in that area.  Wow, is it ever pristine and lovely.  The tower truly was astonishing.  We took several pictures from different vantage points and drove into the National Monument area, where there is a great prairie dog town.  We had fun watching and listening to them.  When we got to the base of the tower, we walked pretty close to it, but decided not to do one of the walking tours, as we had ambitions of seeing Deadwood and Mount Rushmore all today.

We drove on to Deadwood where we visited the Adams Museum, a museum started by an Adams family:-) at the turn of the 20th century.  Of all the fascinating exhibits about the wild characters like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, the girls were most excited by stuffed spaniels (you heard it, Fido), a stuffed fetal calf, and a stuffed two-headed calf.  I found some engaging Native American artifacts to read more about later, like a "winter count."

Walking around Deadwood, we enjoyed the western town flavor and watched a reenactment of the murder of Wild Bill in the Number 10 Saloon.  Avery wanted to volunteer as a helper from the audience but thought it might not be good to play someone who drank and gambled.  I think she is wise.  She had a big ice cream cone she was working on anyway.

After that adventure, we drove on to Mount Rushmore, a truly inspiring and magnificent site.

We ate dinner at a Bavarian Inn in Custer, where we were spending the night.  Germans were one of the main groups to settle the Dakotas and Nebraska, bringing with them their good wheat.  We tried all three of the chocolate cake varieties:  German chocolate, triple chocolate, and black forest.  We were enjoying them too much to take any photos.

The next morning we stopped at the Crazy Horse monument on our way to the Badlands.  What an undertaking that is!

Wall Drug was our next stop for homemade ice cream, and then we toured the Badlands loop.  It was 90 degrees, but dry, and the sun was high, making the photos a bit dull, but the scenery was truly spectacular.  We could tell why the Indians called them the bad lands, because they would have been nearly impossible to navigate on foot and entirely avoided by horse.

 One of our first views of Devils Tower (the apostrophe was left off in the initial application for National Monument-hood, and it was never changed)  The kids were so excited, that we had to stop at the first scenic turn-out for a pic)

 We swapped photo turns with another touristing family, something we got pretty good at on the trip.

 Inside the monument's boundaries is a protected prairie dog town.  These little critters were lots of fun to watch and listen to.

 Kisses!

 Wide view of the prairie dog town

 June is the voluntary closure month for rock climbers, due to many sacred Native American ceremonies in the Black Hills and at Devils Tower.  We liked the photos of the mountain naked and were happy we visited in June.

 Randall and Amelia peeping down a prairie dog hole.  They did run inside, though one could get really quite close to them.

 From the back side by the visitor's center

Native Americans place little pouches and pieces of fabric on trees near the Tower, especially during June.

Off to Deadwood.  After another picnic lunch we stopped at the Adams Museum, created by the Adams Family from Deadwood during the Victorian era.  This was always a museum, and of all the fascinating things in there having to do with Deadwood history like Wild Bill and Calamity Jane, the girls were most fascinated by stuffed spaniels, a stuffed fetal calf, and a stuffed two-headed calf.

Deadwood City--all gambling halls and hotels.  We found one deli where we could buy lunchmeat for sandwiches, because the closest grocery store was a few miles away in Lead.

Historic hotel

The kids on Main Street

An actor who played Wild Bill Hickock.  We watched him get shot a bit later.

The Gutzon Borglam museum in Keystone was closed by the time we arrived, but the kids humored mom by posing at a copy of Borglam's Lincoln.

Avery wanted to take pics of each person.  She did a pretty good job with Mom's camera.

Finally made it to Mount Rushmore, just as it started pouring.  We only had to wait about 30 minutes for it to clear up.

The rain made streaks, and Amelia said it looked like the presidents had runny noses.

 My two favorite Presidents

These kids are the best sports.  They survived several museums in just a few days.  This is at the museum at the Crazy Horse monument.  Here they are admiring a decorated horse, though it is difficult to see all of it.

 A vast bead collection of great beauty

 What the mountain may look like someday

 On to the Badlands

Mom teasing Randall.  Avery at the lens.

 Randall found a good vantage point for photo taking

 Amelia collecting rocks

 Pooped kids

 On the way home the next day we stopped for these shots, as the Tetons were covered by clouds on our way to South Dakota.

Driving, More Driving, and Finally, Sundance!

The journey of eternal road construction may be how I remember this day.  We left Afton within minutes after 8:00 a.m. and pulled into Sundance just before 9:00 p.m.  We did stop along the Wind River before Thermopolis for a picnic lunch and then for an hour-ish in Worland to go to the new Washakie Museum, which was really nice and well-interpreted.  We ate a quick dinner in Gillette, but otherwise we were driving or stopped in front of a flagger.  Somehow we managed to be at the very front of the line TWICE!!!  I had to remind myself that it is providing jobs and making Wyoming's roads great, something I appreciate compared to those in other states at times.

We stopped for photos along the way, and the day was gorgeous.  Kids were close to perfect considering the looong day.  We viewed some beautiful country, a reminder of why I love Wyoming.

 The kiddos in front of Crowheart Butte.  Legend states that Washakie, as a young warrior, killed an enemy Crow Indian here and cut out his heart.  Later, Washakie became famous for his peace-making.

What would we do without Go-gurt on a picnic? :-)

Randall still has slippers on at our lunch stop.  He travels in comfort.

 Outside of Thermopolis and the world's largest hot spring.  

 Columbian mamoths once walked the land near Worland.  The two-year-old Washakie museum there is terrific.  It included both natural pre-history and historical information.  

Along the Cloud Peak Scenic Byway.  Right after this we hit the second stop where we were lucky enough to be the first in line...again:-)

 Riding the jackalope in Dubois

 The girls are all smiles.  Vacation is awesome.

Griffiths Off on a Black Hills Adventure

Packing up after an exhausting end of the school year and weekend music festival with the kids.  Tomorrow morning we head for Sundance, Wyoming.  Packing:  DVDs, CDs, Audio Books, and hmm, what else to keep three kids busy and free from fighting?  :-)

Culinary Delights of Morocco

Because I had so many interests in the food of Morocco, I am including a page to show some of the meals and foods we devoured (yes, it was that good).

First, cheers to the Moroccan oranges! Their sinful sweetness had me drinking the freshly squeezed juice daily, as well as sneaking one from the breakfast buffets into my school bag.

No food blog on Morocco would be complete without mentioning the argan fruit, which grows on a rare evergreen only in central to southern Morocco. The fruits are eaten by goats, which are then pooped out. The seeds (white and thin like an almond) must be extracted by hand, using a rock, and then they are ground into an oily paste. The paste is then kneaded so the oil can separate. The seeds are either roasted for the oil to be used in cooking, or they are left raw for cosmetic uses (yes, girls, that's where Moroccan hair oil comes from and why it's so expensive). I purchased some fresh cooking oil, have already used it, and it is delicious! It has a unique flavor, and I will surely be sad when it is consumed, because I cannot afford it in the States.

Moroccans really know how to throw a party! This was a delicious cake--not too sweet and made with bananas and other fruits. Thanks to the English classes of Hassan Ait Man!

A couple of other baked delights made by the students for one of the farewell parties for Tom and I. These filled us up with no need for dinner before our long bus ride through the night back to Rabat.

A sweet shop in the medina in Rabat. The vendor is about to weigh some delightful twisted fried dough with a sauce of sesame and honey.

A lamb and fig tagine dish.

This was a type of fish called Sea Bream. It was served with a celery mash and potatoes.

A favorite salad Tom and I had a few times at the hotel restaurant in Taroudant. We ate there unless we were with Hassan. It was a perfect lunch salad.

Hassan taught us how to make a tagine dish one day for lunch. He cooked his on gas. See the little tent he made with the veggies? That was done after the meat had cooked awhile.

Part of the souk in Agadir. This was the most modern market we saw, probably because Agadir was destroyed in an earthquake in the 60s. Everything was rebuilt. What a plethora of freshness!

A favorite experience was eating at the port at Agadir. They kept bringing us fish! We enjoyed calamari, little shrimp, some whole fishes (not sure what kind) and even sardines.

My lame attempt at cracking an argan nut to extract a seed.

This woman is grinding the roasted seeds using the traditional method (which is still most often used).

One of the reasons everything is so delicious here: fresh nuts, seeds, dried fruit and spices. Can you pick them out?

The photographing pleasures of the beautiful colors were plentiful.

I thought I would eat more couscous, but I only had it once. This one has beef and veggies, and it is commonly served with buttermilk (seen here).

Pigeon tagine. These are farmed liked chickens. Tom read that the walls of Taroudant and other cities surrounded by ramparts were built with holes for pigeons to nest. This was so that if they came under siege, they would have something to eat. Good eating they were too. The meat was dark like duck, though I still like duck more.

A Moroccan salad. Lots of delicious spices made the different parts so tasty and flavorful!

More Moroccan salads and dips for bread, a staple here, both literally and symbolically.

A corruption from the U.S. :-)

Another type of fish and root mashes.

This was probably my favorite salad. It was made of smoked duck. This was more of a French-influenced dish.

Rfsa is the name of this incredibly rich dish. It is piles of buttered and shredded phyllo-type sheets cooked with a rich chicken and onions and legumes. It is a celebratory dish for new mothers. The richness is supposed to help them recover and healthily nurse their newborns. It may not look that great here, but it truly was delicious!

This is a pastille (say it past ee la) This one is a minced chicken that is sweetened and layered in between phyllo-type sheets. It is sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

Our group eating at Dar Naji. I could not find a website for it that worked, but it was AMAZING and fun. Reviews for it are here. We had so much fun, but it took ALL night to eat. I'm not sure I could get used to that lifestyle, especially because dinner did not start until 8:00 or later.

This was a fish pastille. I found a website about how to make this and am going to try it sometime. It was not sweet like the chicken one.

My students were not impressed when I showed this to them upon returning. They thought it looked gross, but it was really delicious. These are warm cooked salads, the one on the left being my favorite (eggplant dish call zaalouk).

These are olives. I never knew there were so many beautiful colors and flavors of them. I gained a whole new appreciation for them in Morocco. My favorite were these yellow ones preserved in a citrus-like and cilantro style. Yum!

Moroccans like sweets, so I fit right in. :-) Mostly there was so much good healthy stuff to fill up on first. But they had many types of cookies and pastries, some truly Moroccan and others with French influence.

In the medina in Rabat, Tom Stephanie and Joann (taking the picture) could smell something so delightful that we sought it out and found two types of fried goodness we tried. One was a twisted little strips of dense dough balled up, fried and then dipped or drizzled in a cinnamon-honey-sesame concoction. The other were little phyllo triangles stuffed with minced almonds and sweetness. It was definitely worth the work it took to find where the scent was coming from.

Moroccans are famous for their delicious mint tea. It is a green tea with fresh mint sprigs.

Is there any need for explanation on this? I made my students look very carefully. What are those on the counter? I did not get this daring. :-)

A smoked salmon salad

One of the menus at the hotel. It took some translation.

My friend's dessert...puff pastries with ice cream.

My dessert...oranges with cinnamon (almost as sweet as the ice cream)

Harira soup (a traditional soup consumed during Ramadan). It is sort of a beefy, vegetable tasting soup but without all the chunks. Dates are on the side.

I only included this airplane food because I don't think you would ever see cold smoked fish on a U.S. airline. This was on our flight from Paris to Rabat.