Dad and the Dakotas

DeeAnn's father passed away at the end of May. We drove out for the memorial service which was held in June. Even though it was a sad occasion, and we still miss him, we enjoyed seeing family and friends that we hadn't see for a long time.

The trip out...

We first stopped at Perkins for lunch.  Always a treat and their potato pancakes are so good!

Next stop was Island Park, Idaho.  Kent's uncle Jerry and his wife Chris have a cabin there.  It was a nice visit and their place is beautiful. We hope to take the RV up later this summer.

We listened to a lot of Disney!

Idaho Falls Temple

Rexburg, Idaho Temple

Jerry, Chris, and Kent in Island Park

Island Park cabin

Chris' cute garden.

Our next stop was Billings, Montana to stay the night. We had originally planned to meet DeeAnn's cousin Chris and his family, but turned out that Vice President Pence was in town and roads were blocked all over the place. Thought is was best just to see them later on at the family events. We ate dinner at a good Mexican restaurant and then got a good night's sleep.  The next morning we drove up past the Billings Temple before heading East.

Rest stop in Montana

This sign at the rest stop makes one think,
"Do I really need to go?"

We stopped in Medora, North Dakota for lunch.

Metal geese creation along the freeway in No. Dad.

We arrived in Bismarck and checked into the Fairfield. Family starting coming a day later, but we did manage to eat at a family favorite, Space Aliens. This is actually was one of the few family pictures we took. Not sure why but didn't take many of the memorial, which was very nice. DeeAnn saw family and friends that she hadn't seen in a very long time and

 the tributes, music, and love shown to her dad were very comforting.

Kent trying to get a little work in.

Eating at Space Aliens

Kent in his Space Aliens shirt.

Some of the pictures shown at Dad's memorial.

We had to leave all too soon and drove the South Dakota and Wyoming route home. 

 We headed out early enough to tour Black Hills national park and Needles Highway. Despite the heavy rain most of the day, we loved the scenery and animal sitings. We stayed a night in Custer, South Dakota and ate dinner at the Bulgin Bull Restaurant.

We went through several rock tunnels while touring the park and highway.  Some were very narrow. We even got a fun glimpse of Mt. Rushmore as we were coming out of one of the tunnels.

Mount Rushmore scene from our pretty drive.

Buffalo siting.

Donkeys...must be somewhat tame since they came up to the car windows.

These decorated buffalos were all over town.