Author: Kellie

Hey there… We finally made it to Mount Rushmore! Fisher did a project on the famous memorial in 4th grade and has been looking forward to seeing it, in person, ever since. Even though the presidents’ faces are about 60 feet tall, they seem kinda small in our selfie…right?? Anyway, it was a beautiful day and well worth a visit if you get the chance.

Our next stop was the Crazy Horse Memorial, honoring the legendary warrior and leader of the Lakota Sioux tribe. The monument has been under construction since 1948 (wow!) and doesn’t look like it will be finished anytime soon. The sculpture is funded entirely by private donations and visitors’ fees, and when completed, will stand over 600 feet tall! The family of the late designer and sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, is determined to finish it… and we’ll be back when it’s done, for sure! Check out the pic for a model of the planned monument with the actual one in the background. See Crazy Horse’s profile and outstretched arm? It’s gonna be magnificent when completed.

We also spent some time in a nice little town named Hill City (great shopping!), took a lovely scenic drive through Spearfish Canyon, stopped at Sturgis for some motorcycle shopping (one day!) and hung out with more presidents (uh…again, just statues) in Rapid City. Here’s Fisher with Jimmy Carter…very friendly guy. So glad we were able to visit the Black Hills area of South Dakota…lots of history there, plus gorgeous scenery.

Next stop… who knows? But we’ll be heading towards home. Yay!

Love & peace, y’all… KP

 

 

email: kellie@kellieparr.com

website: www.kellieparr.com

instagram: kellieparrmusic

 

 

Hi y’all… We just had some awesome adventures in Wyoming! After our astonishing trip to Yellowstone, we headed south to the Grand Tetons where I attended the Targhee Music Camp at the Grand Targhee Resort. I took singing classes with the marvelous Val Mindel, guitar lessons with the gifted Molly Tuttle, and workshops with the delightful Joe Newberry. I jammed with classmates in the bluegrass band scramble and caught up with my friend and songwriting instructor, Darrell Scott. We even took the chairlift to the top of the mountain (see pic with Tetons in the background) for an all-star bluegrass jam. FUN!! The camp was an incredible experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to deepen their musical knowledge…or just go have some fun with a bunch of music-loving folks (see pic for all of our smiling faces…I’m the one in the middle with bright red/purple hair. Ha!). 

And… following the camp was the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival featuring Del McCoury, Sam Bush, Peter Rowan, Tim O’Brien, Molly Tuttle, Darrell Scott and many more. It was a great week of music, mountains and lots of LOVE.

As you know from my previous post, we were able to experience the eclipse in the PATH OF TOTALITY in Glendo, Wyoming and it was amazing!! For about a minute, the moon was a perfectly symmetrical black spot in the center of the sun, covering most of it except for the rays shooting out from behind. Amazing!! Check out the picture (it doesn’t do it justice)… we were sitting next to the RV, looking out over an empty field for the perfect view. Can you see the hot air balloon?…it’s that dot in the lower middle-right… I bet they had an incredible view! The super-quick sunset and sunrise was beautiful, but kinda spooky. We saw a small herd of antelope dart frantically across the side of a hill. Guess they thought it was spooky, too!

One more picture from Wyoming… this guy was hanging out in our campground in Dubois. He seemed a bit stiff and lifeless, but I thought he captured the spirit of the west pretty well. 

Next stop… South Dakota for Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Black Hills.

Love, KP

 

email: kellie@kellieparr.com

website: www.kellieparr.com

instagram: kellieparrmusic

 

 

Not much to say about our trip across Montana and to Yellowstone National Park. Just….WOW! We live in a beautiful country. We spent 2 days exploring the park…I really think we needed at least 2 more to see all the wonders of that magical place! This first pic is from the top of the Lower Yellowstone Falls, close to sunset. Stunning.

This next picture was taken in front of the Lower Falls: 

 

 

We also enjoyed exploring the thermal features of the park. This picture was taken near the Excelsior Geyser Crater (love my sunset shots):

 

 

 

 

 

 

No trip to Yellowstone is complete without a visit to their most famous geologic feature… ‘Old Faithful’. See video below for the spectacular show (and please pardon the commentary…and cutting away at the best part!). I think a trip to Yellowstone should be on everyone’s bucket list. Even though it was fairly crowded and the roads were terrible in spots (Ugh!), it was a truly amazing experience.

Next stop… more Wyoming for bluegrass music camp & fest (Fun!!) and the ECLIPSE in the path of totality…y’all be careful out there tomorrow and don’t forget your glasses!

Peace & more peace, KP

 

email: kellie@kellieparr.com

website: www.kellieparr.com

instagram: kellieparrmusic