Travelog for: Tatanka

so, together we travelled to ...


... denver in colorado.


denver is the capitol city of colorado, hence it has got a state capitol.


on the stairs of the capitol we were standing one mile above sea level. wow!



then we walked a bit through the city.


later this evening we went into a pub for some beer. hey, these are good guys!

see you later mommy - your tatanka 

hello mommy. today we wre at a very special place.
but first i want to tell you about the last two days:



after a breakfast in the forest ...




... we discovered a strange thing in the middle of the mountains:


a great sand dune!





whereever you look to: sand, sand, sand ...

yesterday, we went to durango.


on our way we saw this nice church.


like three pilgrims we went nearer.


a very nice church - one of the oldest in colorado, built as the northernmost outpost of the spanish.


later we reached durango and made a sightseeing walk.



a nice town, really.


in the evening we had a good beer ...



... and some carrot cake.

today we saw a really spectacular place.


but of course we started the day with a good breakfast!


then we went to the four corners, where 4 u.s.-states come together at one point: utah, colorado, arizona and new mexico.


hey look mommy: i am lying in 4 states at the same time!!!


then we moved on: at the horizon we saw these strange hills and decided to go closer.


we entered the navajo park of the monument valley. see the pictures we made.






here we piled up our own hills.




when it started to rain heavily we went back to our hotel. we were not sad since we have seen a lot today!

hope you enjoy my photos, mommy - your tatanka 

hello mommy.
yesterday i was in a national park, the mesa verde. that means green table in english.


it is a plateau with some canyons inside.


and in the canyons people had built their houses some hundred years ago. now nobody is living there anymore.




back on top of the green table plateau i saw a fast flying bird.


the elephants said it surely was an eagle. the bird was away very quick.


isn't this a fantastic view?


look how flat the country is here beneath the mountains.



eagle?


in the evening we were in a restaurant. look what they had on the menu: "tatanka burger"! mommy, would people really like to eat me?

today we observed an old railroad train.


first i had to put my ear on the rail to hear the train coming. strange sound, i tell you.


and then it arrived ...


... did not stop. so we went on by car.


nice view.


down there is silverton, a very cute town in the mountains at an elevation of more than 9000 feet. that means thin air.




look, the train had arrived here too.


then we went to another national park: grand canyon of the gunison. see, the emplem of the national park service show a buffalo.


and this is the black canyon.


this is us resting on a tree trunk.




very deep canyon.


this is the gunison river entering the canyon.

it got late and we still had to drive some miles today. more in the next days.
tatanka loves you mommy! 

hello mommy.
yesterday i was in another national park, canyonlands.


it has two very large canyons where green river flow into colorado river.




it was so sunny and hot, i needed a rest in the shadow.


what is better as a refreshment than a piece of good blackforest cherry cake?




this was a very interesting park
but! today we visited arches national park. this was amazing!!!


it is named after his many rock arches: this is delicate arch, the symbol of utah.




they have more than arches: this looks like a group of stone people.


and: another arch ...




arches, arches arches ...


at the end we piled up some stones to mark that we have been here!


later in the evening i had a tasty wheat beer with my dinner.

bye bye mommy! your tatanka! 

how you doin' mommy.
after all those rocky national parks i found myself in a big city.


salt lake city: it has a very strange building, looks like a cathedral, but it isn't.


in salt lake city is the headquarters of the church of jesus christ of the latter-day saints - what a bulky name!


and this is their main temple, inaccessible for non-believers ...



salt lake city is more: it is the capitol city of the state of utah.


we went into the capitol.


it is almost a huge hall with staircases.


good morning, my name is tatanka, senator tatanka.


hey is this an eagle? or what?


the mormons can cook a good beer.


next day, after breakfast ...


we went to the great salt desert ...


... and the great salt lake.


the smell of it is beyond words. but it is impossible to drown. the lake has five to six times more salt than the oceans.



i have seen one!!!!


at the end of this day we went to a small shopping mall. i tried to get some chewing gum.


come out you pretty cowards!


have i told you that they make a good beer here?

see you later! your tatanka! 

oh mommy, the last three days we have been into the world's most famous national park: the yellowstone park.
i have seen lots of lakes, waterfalls, much landscape, many hot springs and real geysers. the hot springs look beautiful but smell awfully! i also have seen many animals, even some real big buffalos!











































this really was a fantastic visit.
your tatanka. 

hi mommy, after the great yellowstone park we moved eastward.


we stopped at the canyon of bighorn river ...


... i first saw the plains (hey it's a life mission of mine!!!) ..


... i nearly got caught by an eagle ...


... nearly ...


... at the end of the day i found myself very happy somewhere in wyoming.

bye bye mom, your little happy tatanka! 

yesterday we left wyoming early in the morning ...


... after visiting this closed gas station in spotted horse ...


... and the devils tower national monument.


in south dakota we visited ...


... hey isn't this an eagle? ...


... badlands national park.


it has very interesting rock formationes and lies in the middle of ...


... the plains ...



in the gift shop i found this book about my ancestor and how he came to the indians and brought them food and warmth. what a nice guy.



hey mommy, have i told you ...


... that i have seen the plains?



i liked those rocks.


and this little trading post.


where? in the plains!

see you mommy - your tatanka. 

how you doing, mommy?


in the morning we were visiting a national monument at mount rushmore. someone had carved 4 huge faces of u.s. presidents into the rock.


you cannot get close to thoses faces.


after this visit we left south dakota and entered nebraska.


we were driving on long roads through THE PLAINS!




this is scotts bluff. 170 years ago the trails to oregon passed this point.


then we drove on.


and finally reached cheyenne, the capital city of wyoming.


in front of the capitol they placed a sculpture of a huge buffalo.


and an indian.


ouch! i hate flash photography! this is the old railroad station.


where we had a fresh glass of beer ...

bye bye mommy - your tatanka. 

well, the last part of our round trip has started this morning.


after a good breakfast we left cheyenne and wyoming to head south.


back in colorado we visited another national park: the rocky mountains park.


first we had to driv up high mountains.



here more than 2 miles above sea level they have little glaciers.


on top of the mountain (the highest point of our round trip) was a gift shop. look what book i found. i don't know the answer of its question. but i know, i haven't done it!


then we drove back down.


at this lake we made a break.


later we came back to denver.


we made a little walk through the city, rested in the capitol gardens.



we even made a walk on the broadway. what a pitty, no musical theatres at all!


finally we reached the place where our tour began three weeks ago.
i asked the elephants what to do now. they said they would accompany me home back to good old germany. it's good to know there are buddies you can count on.

mommy, your tatanka will soon be home again! cheerio! 

hello mommy! it's me again!

the last three days have been very special. we have been in NEW YORK!!!
i have brought some photos with me. unfortunately they have lost their order somehow.


me in front of rockefeller center


me on THE BROADWAY in front of a musical theater


the new world trade center



on the broadway again


flat iron building


inside grand cntral station


broadway!!!



coffe break with friends


brooklyn bridge


chrysler building


view from the empire state building through the morning mist



a gift shop on broadway


metropolitan opera


strawberry fields and dakota building


wall street


broadway


wall street


lady liberty






view from rockefeller center


in central park



hotel room window


times square




this really was an exciting journey through the u.s.a. - i have fulfilled nearly all of my life missions. here i had to say good bye to my new friends. it is time to travel further. the elephants invited me to visit them in berlin. of course i will!
now i am tired. your tatanka 

Hi Mum,

After saying goodbye to my great friends blue elephants, I decided to explore a bit more North America. My instinct was telling me to go west, so I decided to cross the Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific Ocean . But for some reason I just couldn’t find my way out of the mountains. I saw wonderful valleys...



and even glaciers,...



...but I kept feeling like I was going in circles . Today I was getting ready for another night in the wild (luckily I brought some handy tool to help me even when far away from civilization ),...



... when I saw an eagle approaching my camp. As my last meeting with an eagle had been a bit scary, I decided to keep a respectful distance and held some sort of defensive weapon .



He introduced himself as a Canadian eagle and since I told him that I thought I was in the US, he showed me his maple leaf tattoo to convince me.



As he asked me if I was lost, I told him that I wasn’t lost, I am a travelling toyvoyager (I love that line ), but, at present, I was a bit unsure of my whereabouts . He said that I was in the middle of the Canadian Rockies and that he knew someone who might help me, so he flew away telling me to stay here and that he was going to be back tomorrow. Hopefully he won’t come back with a full convocation of eagles to hunt me down .

Hi Mum,

Today I was enjoying the sun and wondering if that eagle was going to come back...



...when I saw two eagles flying down to me. And guess what, one of them was my friend sammino !



He told me that I was going to spend some more time with him in Calgary , so we said goodbye to the other eagle and started walking home.



I asked if we were going to fly, but sammino politely told me that despite eagles (and bald eagles in particular ) being the mightiest of all birds, they are not long haul cargo planes , so we were going to walk most of the way.

Hi Mum,

Today was another lovely sunny day, so we went hiking around Lake Louise . As we emerged from the trees we had the first glimpse of Mount Richardson, our destination today,...



...and of Mt Temple in the opposite direction.



Later on we reached the lovely Hidden Lake .




As we gained elevation we had a better view of Hidden Lake, not so hidden from up here .



We could also see Kicking Horse Pass...



...and the summit of Mount Richardson, getting closer and closer.



Eventually we reached the top from where we had a great view of Merlin Lake and valley (but no round table knights ),...



...of Mount Hector in the north, ...



...and of Lake Louise and Mt Victoria .



We could also see the backbowls of the Lake Louise ski area. According to sammino, the area just behind my head has the best runs in the whole western Canada and it’s called, of course, Eagle Ridge .



On the way back we stopped to take a final photo of Mount Richardson from Hidden Lake and then headed back to the car .

Hi Mum,

Today we went hiking again around Lake Louise. Our destination was a nice little lake called O’Brien Lake .



As we were feeling energetic we went up the slope at the far end of the lake and found a couple of lovely little tarns .




We asked sammino if we were going all the way up the valley  but he explained that, despite the blue sky, the forecast called for rain and we didn’t want to get soaked higher up the valley...and guessed what, we were not even halfway back to the car when it started pouring down .