The buffalo were near the prairie dog town. It seems to me that they had more free range than they did then, but I could be wrong. May 16, 2005

Contrary to appearances, thanks to a good camera, I didn't leave the side of my car for these or any of the animal shots which immediately follow. Some of the bison began approaching near the car, and so we left them the space. May 16, 2005

Here are some prairie dogs. Last time I was here, the prairie dogs refused to let me take their picture. They hid whenever I was about to take the shot. Here giving them more space and a faster shutter allowed for a good shot. May 16, 2005

Here is a better look at the prairie dog from the previous picture. May 16 2005

Pronghorn antelope not far from the prairie dog town. Like the previous shots, these were taken from the car. May 16, 2005

This is one of the best shots of the whole trip as the 3 pronghorn we saw in Badlands National Park stroll through the grasslands. May 16, 2005

Another shot of one of the pronghorn antelope. May 16, 2005

Enjoy their billboards for 500 miles, but don't bother going to Wall Drug. It's definitely not worth it, though Genevieve found a pretty decent hat to keep the sun out of her eyes. May 16, 2005

Geneveive rests by our tent at the KOA just outside of Devil's Tower. May 16, 2005.

As the sun began to set, this was about as good a shot as one could get directly in the sun. This shot was taken within feet of our tent. May 16, 2005

Here is Devil's tower zoomed out. From the freeway, you can't see the more rugged terrain that does exist here. May 16, 2005

Here you have a clear shot of our tent and Devil's Tower. May 16, 2005

I wanted to show Devil's Tower here to the side to highlight the sun and the clouds just a little more. May 16, 2005

At the edge of our campground was the beautiful red walls of bank of the Belle Fourche River. May 16, 2005

Within 30 feet of our tent, two mule deer hopped on through. May 16, 2005

The next morning, the sky was now blue, and Devil's Tower photgraphed much better from the campground. At the time, I had a scratch in my mirror that I thought was going to affect these pictures. Later, to my delight, I discovered that all the pictures I took would come out great. The only damage, then, was that I took fewer pictures as a result of mistakenly believing my camera was broken. May 17, 2005

Back to the side of the campground, taken right at the edge of the Belle Fourche River. May 17, 2005

I wanted in this shot to show both Devil's Tower and the striking red of the Belle Fourche. May 17, 2005.

We're now in the National Monument looking up at Devil's Tower. The weather had quickly worsened.

Genevieve is at the front of the trail around Devil's Tower.

Devil's Tower is the basalt volcanic insides of an underground volcano. The land around the hardened volcano eroded away. In the meantime, Devil's Tower undergoes a very, very slow erosion, and evidence of that is in the rocks at the bottom of this photo. May 17, 2005

Being nearly against Devil's Tower, it's hard to take a very good photo. May 17, 2005

Can you find the two rock climbers? At one time, people thought that Devil's Tower was impossible to climb. Now, many people climb it all the time, some of the climbs fairly elementary for experienced climbers. May 17, 2005

I cropped the image to better highlight the climbers. May 17, 2005

A closer shot of the rockface itself of Devil's Tower. May 17, 2005

Here I am posing at the base of Devil's Tower. May 17, 2005

We're now in the Bighorn Mountains on US 16 heading toward Tensleep Canyon. We claimbed to over 9,000 feet. The weather was cold and began to sleet. Around us was a winter wonderland. May 17, 2005

More of the Bighorns from higher up. May 17, 2005

We're not far below the treeline here. We're certainly not below the snowline in mid-May. May 17, 2005

You can see just how rugged it is. We're at the top of the pass on US 16. May 17, 2005

In DC, we had left Spring (albeit a fairly cool spring) and found all of this snow. If you get a chance, you should see these fantastic Bighorn Mountains. May 17, 2005

Tensleep Canyon was much more breathtaking than these photos. May 17, 2005

Another shot looking at part of Tensleep Canyon in the Bighorns. May 17, 2005

We're now on the road to the East Entrance in Shoshone National Forest. This rock looked a little to me like Bart Simpson. May 18, 2005

This is the Shoshone River, once known as the "Stinkingwater" after the hot springs along it. Shoshone National Forest is quite spectacular in its own and a great introduction to the Yellowstone ecosystem. May 18, 2005

Now finally in Yellowstone, here is one of our first glimpses at the enormous Yellowstone Lake. There was a very cold drizzle, and the sky was as gray as this photograph leads you to believe. May 18, 2005