ZR-1 Alaskan Adventure Travel Log

[QB93Z]

On Sunday morning, we took our time getting underway and then left Sheridan and headed east. our first stop was to get a photo of Devils Tower:


and then drove through the flatlands of eastern Wyoming:


We made a brief side trip to visit the geographic center of the United States which is near the town of Belle Fourche, SD:


We continued on I-90 East to Rapid City, SD and went out to Mount Rushmore. Visiting here was one of the items on my bucket list. We even found a vantage point outside the park to get the Yellow Z in the picture:


On the way out of the parking lot, we saw this vintage DeLorean from Texas:


After leaving Mount Rushmore we drove through Custer State Park to look for wildlife. We found some antelopes and then we came upon a small herd of buffalo. They were completely undisturbed by the cars on the road:


Jim

[scottfab]

Well worth the detour to get to Devil's Tower for sure.
Did you look for any colorful lights at the top?

I found it equally as impressive at Mt Rushmore.

[QB93Z]

Nice looking red ZR-1 Scott. You should post some more travel pics.

Cliff, I have some pictures of The Badlands that are loading right now. I didn't realize that I was going to have to do travel photos by request.

Jim

[QB93Z]

On Monday morning we left Rapid City, South Dakota and headed east on I-90. The day started out a little cloudy, but the tempearture was mild and it was a nice day for driving.

Our first stop was a Wall Drug in Wall, SD, an institution in this part of the country. Wall Drug is a giant store and restaurant that from the outside looks like a whole city block from 100 years ago. Inside, all the stores connect and every tourist need is for sale. The people are friendly and the atmosphere is nice. Lyndi was checking out some cowboy boots:


Next we left I-90 for a parallel route, SD-240, that goes through the Badlands National Park. At the first scenic pull-off, we were greeted by a small group of Big Horn Sheep who were enjoying the grass along the parking area edge:




The Badlands are an amazing place. The geology is that 35 million years ago this area was a sea bottom. Over millions of years sediment built up in layers. A lot of the sediment was eroded volcanic ash in origin and as dust, it was carried by streams and wind into the water of the sea. When the North American tectonic plate was forced up, the sea drained and erosion of the ancient seabed began. The result is the canyons and buttes that have revealed the layered, multicolored sediment.




When we left the first parking area, I had to share the road with some more wildlife:

[QB93Z]

The Badlands National Park, which is part of the Badlands National Grasslands, is very well maintained and the roads and trails are very safe and easy to navigate. The beauty of the rock formations is hard to describe and the pictures here don't do justice to the splendor of nature:




Lyndi hiked a little way up one of the trails, and looking back toward the road, got this fantastic scene. (The Z is actually on the Park road):


Every view is more interesting than the last:


We found a turn off that was visible from another overlook, so I dropped Lyndi off and drove back for this fun shot:


In this interesting formation, the color change from one layer to the red layer is visible. Standing right next to the hill, it looks like the red color was sprayed on the clay, but it really is the same layer that can be seen in the distance behind me:

[QB93Z]

Near the east end of the Park, the road desends into the canyons and the view of the formations is reversed revealing even more beauty:




We parked at the east end Visitors Center and took this picture of the interesting formations across the road:


I noticed some small birds were interested in the front of the Z:


There were so many smashed bugs on the bumper, air dam, and the AC Condenser that the birds had a feast:


You know your car is dirty when it becomes Meals-On-Wheels for the wildlife.

I will post more of Monday's adventures when I get a chance.

Jim

[tomtom72]

I remember reading about the debris our cars suck up off the road being called a "birds nest" in the cooling stack.....but Jim, you have brought new meaning to that term!

Oh, your journey is now famous across the generations of corvettes from your facebook page I guess? At a local show & shine last night one of my C5 buddies was talking about "some guy & his wife went to Alaska in their C4!" So I said where did you see that? She said it was on Facebook with a few pictures. I said "that's one of my Z Brothers and his wife. He is our Registry President. I told them if they want to see the picture-travelogue come over to our forum and check the thread out in our General section. You guys are famous!


Tom

[efnfast]

Wow! Thanks again Jim and Lindi. Be safe. -Steve

[scottfab]

love the one pic of the vett out there seemingly four wheeling.
Who knew you could get birds to clean the radiator stack?

You guys are an inspiration to put together a long road trip again.
The most I've done before was 3,400mi
How many miles have you guys racked up so far?
Scott

[Kevin]

i had a robin stuck in my rad once...hit the bastard at 70