{"id":574,"date":"2009-07-10T10:01:50","date_gmt":"2009-07-10T14:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/?p=574"},"modified":"2009-07-10T10:01:50","modified_gmt":"2009-07-10T14:01:50","slug":"signs-of-the-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/2009\/07\/10\/signs-of-the-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs of the West"},"content":{"rendered":"

As our journey continued West, I started to think about all the different ways I could tell we were far away from home<\/p>\n

\"Can't

Can't escape<\/p><\/div>\n

(but there are always a few things that stay the same).\u00a0 The most obvious differences were the landscape.\u00a0 Rolling fields that seemed to go on forever.\u00a0 Cattle and horses were blessed with hundreds of acres to roam and graze.\u00a0 We laughed every time we saw that one anti-social cow just standing hundreds of yards from the other cows and staring into space.\u00a0 What on earth could they be thinking about?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Scenes

Scenes from Montana<\/p><\/div>\n

Behind the fields were miles and miles of mountains, some with snow caps visible 150 miles away, others lined with trees that touched the sky.\u00a0\u00a0 The scenery was majestic.<\/p>\n

I had sort of expected those signs of the west but the ones that took me by surprise were a little closer to home.\u00a0 First sign that took me back just a bit was when Dennis started to play country music\u2026and I didn\u2019t object.\u00a0 Typically I would have been tempted to throw something at the radio to make the country twang stop but it actually sounded natural to me. It seemed right.\u00a0 But the sign that really stopped me in my tracks was when I realized I threw out any sense of fashion and color coordination and traded them for comfort and warmth.\u00a0\u00a0 Sorry I don\u2019t have a picture for you but how\u2019s this image \u2013 bright orange tank top with olive green fleece, black sweatpants and brown flip flops.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget the unkept hair in a ponytail.\u00a0 What happened to me?\u00a0 Who was this person?\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you who – a very happy and relaxed traveler whose priorities were in the right place!<\/p>\n

The most important signs of the West however centered on the Native American Indians.\u00a0 Towns named after tribes that live in and around the area.\u00a0\u00a0 There were signs for Indian reservations that have been here for hundreds of years.\u00a0 The history and culture of our country\u2019s original inhabitants should be treated with the utmost respect for it was their ancestors who shaped the earliest stories of our nation\u2019s past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Battlefield

Battlefield Marker<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0As we drove past Crow Agency, an Indian Reservation of the Crow tribe, we noticed the sign for the Battle of Little Bighorn battlefield.\u00a0 It was an unplanned stop but I insisted we\u2019d only stop for 5 minutes and get right back on the road.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0More than thirty minutes later, we drove away with a refreshed interest in our country\u2019s quest to capture the west.<\/p>\n

As you pulled into the parking lot, there were hundreds and hundreds of white markers of soldiers who died in the battle.\u00a0\u00a0 Some had names and ranks of these loyal men but many were nameless markers of those who never made it home.\u00a0 A short walk up the hill, you can overlook the actual battlefield littered with markers of men on the spots they had fallen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Custer's

Custer's Marker<\/p><\/div>\n

It was easy to spot the marker of General Custer.\u00a0 The face of the marker was shaded black to make it distinctive from the others.\u00a0 Unlike many of the soldiers, Custer\u2019s body was moved to Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC several years back.<\/p>\n

My favorite part of the memorial, however, was the story of the American Indians that defeated Custer and his troops.\u00a0 The memorial was careful not to label the good guy and the bad guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Art

Art sculpture of the battle<\/p><\/div>\n

Many historians believe Custer\u2019s fatal decision to engage in battle was careless and unnecessary.\u00a0 Others portray him as a great leader.\u00a0 Whichever side of the fence you fall on, this memorial stays focused on facts and images that make you pause and think.\u00a0 A must stop for anyone in the area.<\/p>\n

As we drove away from the battlefield we had a new perspective on the land we traveled to our campground in Fort Smith Montana which was so small Betty the GPS\u00a0didn\u2019t know it existed.\u00a0 When we finally crossed into town lines, the signs proudly told us \u201cFort Smith, population 311\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Our campsite was alongside the Bighorn River, beautiful yet buggy.\u00a0 The owners were so kind, giving us tips on how to enjoy our short time in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Luke

Luke and friends<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Cam's

Cam's unexpected shower<\/p><\/div>\n

The boys made four new friends, black labs who wore the boys out playing fetch and jumping into the river.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So, as the sun set in the west, we made plans to visit Bighorn National Recreation Area in the morning.\u00a0 To see our entire photo album, visit Snapfish for Battle of Little Bighorn<\/a> and Camping in Montana<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As our journey continued West, I started to think about all the different ways I could tell we were far away from home (but there are always a few things that stay the same).\u00a0 The most obvious differences were the landscape.\u00a0 Rolling fields that seemed to go on forever.\u00a0 Cattle and horses were blessed with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[63,93,27],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":588,"href":"https:\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574\/revisions\/588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/\/snapshotchronicles.com\/roadtrip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}