In Search of. a Monument

I will do just about anything to see ALL the monuments wherever I am traveling.  Caveat to that is if I'm pulling the camper, I can't very well whip over to the side of the road to see the historical marker sign.  But if I'm out and about, heck yeah, I want to see them all!

So I have to tell you about my adventure today. 

I went out in search of the Oregon Buttes, that the pioneers used to guide them on their way.  They could see them for miles and miles and pointed their wagons right at them to help them navigate the South Pass. (This was the only place they could get through the mountains) It was a landmark that way a high priority for them to see, and so it became so for me.

I was GOING to be content, grabbing some picture from a distance, but a woman that was working at the visiter's center of the South Pass City, told me theres a little known road that could get me closer.
I asked, "Are there signs?"
She said, "Yeah, I mean, you'll have to look for them and then there's a monument..."
There it was... I had to do it. 

So I take off down this dirt road... I can see them... WAY off in the distance... I could have been, should have been happy with that... nope.  There's a monument.
Make a left at the highway.  Once you pass the rest area and cross over the Sweetwater River, you'll make a left.

Uh... no signs.... I go a little further, cross the Continental Divide... Now I KNOW I missed it.
Turns out the only sign of any kind, is a street sign.  So, I head down the gravel road in search for the monument. 
It said it would be about 10 miles, so I knew to be patient.  I was only going about 30 mph, and the roads twisted and turned every which way, uphill, down hill... and I could see the buttes in the distance, getting closer, and closer...
I am snapping pictures left and right, because I just can't wrap my head around all this beauty.  It's just breath taking.  I'm stopping, taking pictures, inch forward...
I'm getting some really amazing shots of these buttes  and then the gravel road turns to a dirt road. Pause.  Do I go?  Do I turn back?  There is literally. NOTHING out here.  No humans, no other vehicles, no phones, gas stations, or cell service.
Maybe the monument is at the base of the buttes?  That's how it's been at all the other places... I keep going and then, suddenly there's a heard of pronghorn antelope!  I've been waiting my whole trip to see these!! 
pictures... 
Still going....
Still going...

I finally decide to stop and turn around and am looking for a safe place to do this.  This road is NARROW!   So I slow down even more and then around the next bend, is some of the most beautiful scenery!!  I know I keep saying that, but in my head, I can't understand how the next curve can be more beautiful than the last curve!
And then I think.... NO ONE gets to see this!  This stuff, right here... this is like a private show!  I am literally in awe, I can't even describe it.  
I had to upgrade my cloud storage after this trip!!

Okay, okay, let me fast forward, so the dirt road eventually PASSES where the base of the buttes would have. been.  (I never got to the base, but the road I was on. was now veering away from them all together.  I had to turn around... no really, i mean it this time.   So, reluctantly, I did.
I drove a few feet and a pack of wild horses WITH A BABY runs across the road in front of me!!  Omigoodness!  It was so ... so.... I couldn't get out my camera fast enough.  I did get some, but... again... this was just for me.

I had to give up the monument, and while I might have been disappointed for maybe a minute, so many other things made this side trip SO worth it!!  The views, the scenery- these mountains were painted!!!  They had blue and red and peach colored stripes!!  My God, is an awesome God.   And they are hidden back here along a long, long (LONG) dirt road.  I feel so very priviledged.  (I will be sharing many of the photos in the History Revisited facebook group if you're curious. 

On the way back, after getting back to the gravel, I look to my left and down this tiny little dirt driveway, is a stand.  I start cracking up laughing.  Is that my monument????  I whip the truck and pull up next to it.  There it was... my monument/plaque to let me know how important the Oregon Buttes were to the pioneers. 

And to think... if I HAD found the monument when other normal people would have... I would have missed the whole show. 


And if just this story alone, doesn't have you believing in miracles and that He watches every step... then here's the rest of the story.

When I'm almost home, a warning light pops up on my dash.  I can't do anything right now, so I go straight back to the campground to look it up.  Tire pressure.
I'm so tired and worn out from this trip, but decide to go check it out, because I have another long drive tomorrow.
My rear tire on the driver's side is FLAT.  Not low... F. L. A.T.
I call the good folks at the Roadside Service, I pay lots of money to every year and they send a guy out.  Fixed.  No problem.
But- IF that tire would have gone flat out there on that dirt road...  I would have been in serious trouble.  There was no phone signal.  There were no cars passing by.  There was nothing.
I am so thankful that God was watching over me and got me safely home.  I do believe in miracles because I witness them on a regular basis, this time, today, they were happening to me. 

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