Photo Gallery One - Homeward Bound
This if the final gallery from our May 2019 trip. It's a bit of a mixed bag with photos from Custer State Park, The Badlands National Park, and finally a return trip to St. Louis, MO for an overnight stay before heading back to Dawsonville.
It's hard for us not to get excited about large mammals; and, of course, the American Bison (image 1-1) fully meets that criteria. The big problem you run into this time of year is that they are loosing their winter coats and look a bit scraggly. They are still quite majestic and impressive, and we seldom pass on an opportunity to make a photograph. After we left Keystone and the Mt. Rushmore area, we headed over to The Badlands and an overnight stay in Wall, SD where the famous (and very large) Wall Drug is located. After we checked into our hotel, we drove into The Badlands to check conditions and scout for scenes, including wildlife, most notably the Bighorn Sheep but also more American Bison. We drove the entire length of the park from the main entrance at the north to the main Visitor Center in the south. We stopped at many of the scenic overlooks and took a few shots in spite of the spitting rain and poor light conditions. Regardless of weather, it is always an amazing place to visit, and we were glad we made the trek to the Visitor Center to learn a bit more about the park from the always knowledgeable rangers and volunteers. The area had received a lot of rain over the prior couple of days and this made getting off the main trails and boardwalks a bit tricky and muddy - something that we chose to pass on. Images 1-2 thru 1-4 are but a small collection of shots made while there and hopefully show some of the unique and varied landscapes.
Read more of the story...Next was the culmination of our trip - the final stop in St. Louis. We were treated to pretty good conditions upon our arrival so we made quick work of checking into the hotel, which was a bit of a treat since it was adjacent to the Gateway Arch National Park and had commanding views of this magnificent structure. Mimi went inside to get us checked in while I managed the luggage (and, of course, camera gear); and thankfully, she made a command decision to pay a small upgrade fee to get a view room. Although they told her it had the best view in the hotel, we feared that might be typical marketing hype. We were, however, very pleasantly surprised to learn that statement was true with two full walls of glass, one of which looked out directly upon the Gateway Arch from the 14th floor. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'll stop typing and suggest you look at Image 1-6 and decide on your own! It was hard at that point to even leave the room as we could have enjoyed propping our feet up and watching the view for the next several hours. But, we soldiered on with visits to Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (interior image 1-7), the Gateway Arch National Park (images 1-8 and 1-9) and then on to Ballpark Village and Busch Stadium (images 1-10 thru 1-12).
After a meal and a little downtime in the room to give our feet a rest, we headed back out for some evening photography of the downtown area that included a variety of different views of the Gateway Arch and the Old Courthouse (Images 1-13 thru 1-18) as well as the fountain and statue on the grassy mall just west of the Courthouse.
All in all it was a wonderful trip with great memories, a few good photos, and an appetite to plan the next trip. Well, in fact, the next trip is already planned. We'll be going to mainly Colorado for fall colors, wildlife, and a couple of stops to visit with family and old friends. Until then...
