"It's A Rabbit, Jean"

The first part of July, 2006, found us plotting our way toward California for a wedding on the 15th. Priority on the list of stops along the way was one in the state of Montana. It didn't matter where, just so we could say we had been to Montana - the only state west of the Mississippi we hadn't been to other than Alaska and Hawaii.
After studying the Atlas we decided to go west to the middle of Nebraska, north to the Nebraska-South Dakota border in order to see Nebraska's waterfalls near Valentine.

After staying overnight, from there we went to Wounded Knee, SD to visit the massacre site and cemetery, drove through the Badlands and Spearfish Canyon and overnighted in Spearfish, SD. The next morning we headed for Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming.

No pictures, nor other's recommendations - not even "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" - can prepare you for seeing Devil's Tower up close and in person. Rising 1267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, Devil's Tower was named the first National Monument in 1906. We arrived early in the morning before the park was crowded with visitors. We decided to hike the 1.3 mile Tower Trail which circles the tower.

It was while on the trail I saw the cutest little baby bunny. I stopped to take some pictures of it. (You can just make out the bunny to the left of the middle of this picture.)

While I was taking pictures, the hikers behind us on the trail caught up. The kids stopped to look at the bunny. The mom wanted to take a picture, also. The dad, very exasperatedly said, "It's a rabbit, Jean. We have rabbits at home." He stomped on down the trail. His wife and children following along.

From that day to this, whenever anyone suggests we stop to look at something ordinary, one of us will say, "It's a ______, Jean. We have ______s at home."

Just another one of those little sayings that has found its way into our family's lingo.