Now somewhere in the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota…????

We traversed Colorado eastward. A breathtaking twisting drive back across the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass to Denver and found some traffic to wait in. Then we turned north across the bluffs and prairies of eastern Wyoming and into The Black Hills of South Dakota and onward to our “Glamping” experience in Keystone, South Dakota. Rhonda found this luxury tenting resort “Under the Canvas” at Mount Rushmore and as you can see from the photos it’s a beautiful setting with a view of Mount Rushmore for a backdrop.

Inside the tent/cabin. Note the “star gazing” window over the bed…

The view out our front porch…

After a quick snack for lunch it was on to see “the boys” on Mount Rushmore

Gallery from Mt. Rushmore

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Today was our last day of MINIs Take The States and the first day of our National Parks tour. Breakfast was saying farewell to all of our MINI friends at Keystone. The Denver Broncos Drum Corp was there to give everyone a proper sendoff.

Then it was on our way to our first National Park – Rocky Mountain National Park where Rhonda presented the friendly Ranger with our Senior Forever Pass for its first use.

The Park is a wonderful mix of mountain meadows, peaks and finally alpine tundra above the tree line.

This is the Colorado River only 10 miles downstream from its headwaters. From here it flows through Colorado to the Grand Canyon and ultimately to Mexico over 1,400 miles away.

On our climb to Milner’s Pass and across the Continental Divide we came across a man and his three dogs in a pickup…

The views were breathtaking

We grabbed a bite at the Alpine Visitors Center- 11,796 feet in elevation and well above the tree line. Yes, there was still some snow up there on July 22nd.

Then we turned around and headed back to Keystone to pack for our next trip to Mount Rushmore.

We participated in an early morning rally from Keystone to Independence Pass atop the Continental Divide. A beautiful morning drive with many of our fellow MINIs.

Then it was back to the Keystone Resort for the MINI Farewell Party

Our Villager MINIacs

And we had a great time at the Silent Disco

We’re here!

Long day on the road today so short blog post. This morning’s rise and rally event included a pancake breakfast.

Gratuitous syrup photo for Becca

Saw some great MINIs at this morning’s rally…

including this Pirates of the Caribbean theme, check out the co-pilot…

Then it was a police escort out of Dodge with 400+ of our new friends. We stopped in the middle of Kansas for a pit stop with about 50 MINIs…

Then on to Colorado. We arrived in a light drizzle so no good photos yet but moved into our condo looking like Bedouins. Hard to believe we got all this stuff in a MINI convertible…

Then it was off to the evening festivities and we picked up some new friends on the walk.

More from Keystone tomorrow.

The day broke sunny and hot and continued to get hotter. First was the Rise and Rally at the Remington Horse Track for breakfast and mingling with fellow MINIs from across the country.

Note the campers…

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We signed the Rally MINI bonnet that will be displayed in the plant in Oxford, England where all of our MINIs are made. And added some color to the Rally to the Rockies mural.

Then it was on through the prairie to Dodge City.

Highlights of the trip so far was our sighting of a road runner (the bird, not the car) actually running across the road! Unfortunately neither of us were fast enough to catch a picture – they really do run fast! We checked into the MINI headquarters in Dodge City – the scenic La Quinta

Next it was straight to the car wash as we literally drove through a plague of locusts in route…

Then it was a trip to the Boot Hill Museum to relive the legends of the real Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.

If nothing else, read the center tombstone and see what our relatives were up to…

Last we were treated to a gunfight among the local hooligans.

Then it was off for the best steak in town at our long lost relative’s…

That’s the proprietor, Mike Casey in the middle…

Some splendid vittles were had by all.

Tomorrow- On to Keystone,Colorado! That’s where MTTS Rally to the Rockies East meets West for a weekend of fun and relaxation before we all go our separate ways.

We started our day with a delicious breakfast at our B&B.

Then it was on our way via back roads to Norman, OK. We made a brief lunch stop at our general store…

where Rhonda helped celebrate their 50th anniversary.

We are spending the night at the Riverwind Casino Hotel in Norman, OK. A different kind of setting where we enjoyed catching up with other MINI owners but we’re calling it an early night. We’re up and out early tomorrow morning for the Rise and Rally at Remington Park and then the drive to Dodge City, Kansas. Who knows what we’ll see on the road tomorrow?

Beautiful sunny albeit HOT morning for a rise and shine with our fellow Villager MINIS.

Then a trip to the Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport where we got registered for MINIs Takes The States ((MTTS) on the tarmac at the Airport. Over 800 MINIs were starting out from this location.

The rally was headed to Dallas but a group of our Villager MINIs chose to take a side trip to Eureka Springs instead. We had a spirited drive on the back roads of Arkansas.

We had a lunch stop at the breathtaking Cliff House Inn overlooking the “Grand Canyon of the Ozarks”

Then it was on to the “Switzerland of the Ozarks” – Eureka Springs. Rhonda and I had been here several years ago to drive MINIs In The Ozarks. If you are ever out this way it is an amazing and unique town well worth a trip. Rhonda found an amazing B&B where most of us stayed…

Although we found many restaurants were closed on Monday & Tuesday we walked the streets to a great dinner spot and had an amazing dinner. Here are a few street scenes…

This bath house was originally a brothel.

Does it’s sign make you think of anything?

On to OKLAHOMA.

Today started with a drive to Bentonville, AR – home of WalMart and the Crystal Bridges Museum created by the Walton Family. This has been on Rhonda’s bucket list for a long time and our only disappointment was the limited time we had – we will definitely be going back. Click HERE for more info about the Museum. The tree below is stainless steel.

We had a wonderful lunch and, though we rarely post food porn, this setting was just too lovely to pass up…

Next it was off to meet up with our fellow Mini Takes The States (MTTS) rallyers in Little Rock which rolled out the red carpet for MTTS including welcome banners on the lampposts.

Next we paid a visit to the beautiful Clinton Presidential Library with our friends the Longs.

Then it was off to Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken to meet up with the other Villagers

Tomorrow we head to Eureka Springs.

So MINI KC (that’s the name of our MINI – read the name three times over if you don’t get it at first) has made it to her namesake – Kansas City, MO. It was a boring drive so we switched out drivers several times. Once we checked into the hotel we managed to find some KC barbecue nearby.

After dinner it was down to the gym to burn off some of that good food and close our move rings! Yea us!

Tomorrow it’s onward to Little Rock where we catch up with our fellow MINIs Takes The States rally-mates.

Saturday was a beautiful day for a wedding although with a high of 87 it was quite warm by Duluth standards where it is normally 68 on the average this time of year. The wedding was at beautiful Glensheen mansion right on Lake Superior

Jenni and Nathan looked great and Tim’s officiating came off without a hitch.

Our little family group had a fine showing…