Epic Cross Country Road Trip Aug 9 and 10

 

Day 9  Monday      We started the day with the standard LaQuinta Inn breakfast buffet.  The eggs looked way too fake so I went with a hard boiled egg, sausage and an English muffin.  Nick had biscuits and gravy.  Not gourmet but easy and a good start for the drive. 

 

We’ve been listening to Neo Wolfe murder stories along the way.  It kept us entertained along the way.  Such huge open spaces!  We didn’t take the interstate but a 2 lane highway instead.  Very little traffic and very few towns or houses.  When we did come to a town, the populations ranged from 15 to about 300.  Yikes!  A different life style than I’m used to!  There was a rest stop, historical marker where we stopped and ate some left-over pizza.  Really windy!

We got to Livingstown about 3.  We had reservations at a B &B.  Very comfortable.  The temperature has dropped significantly.  Down in the 60’s.  It was in the high 90s yesterday, here as well.  We’re having a nice quiet time.  Did laundry.  Catching up on emails, journaling. 

Went into town for a nice dinner and to do some grocery shopping. 

Day 10 Tuesday Today is driving to Glacier National Park.

It’s nice not to have to break down camp but just put the suitcases in the car and go.  Our hosts serve us zucchini frittata, zucchini bread, a slice of melon, and bacon.  All very yummy.  Our host tells us of some back roads which are more scenic to get to Glacier.  Actually, Waze suggested them too. 

The first part of the drive is the usual Montana high plains but then we start to see the outline of mountains.  An exciting time when driving West!  But then the change to mountains is abrupt. Not many foot hills here.  I guess it is a gradual ascent so it is hard to notice it.  We pass a couple of overlooks but want to get to Glacier to meet up with Heidi and Elie. 

We check in at the KOA and ask where the Saikaly camp site is located.  Right across the road from us!  Yeah!  And OMG, here they are!  Since Nick and I have colds, we somehow limit ourselves to elbow bumps.  They arrived only about 15 minutes before us.  Our spot is a little more private than theirs with some bushes and low trees.  There is an artificial grass carpet for us to pitch the tent on.  We have a nice view of mountains from the site, picnic table, water spigot, electric hook-up.  What more could we ask for.  It is windy so setting up the tent is a little tricky, especially since it is only our second time to set it up.  Don’t have it down to a science yet.  We empty out the car enough to be able to put the back seats up so we can all ride in one car.  This is when that vestibule part is really coming in handy. 

After setting up camp,  we head off to explore a bit and locate where we are to pick up the SunTours tour of the Sun Road in the morning.  There is a long line of cars waiting to get into the park.  One needs a ticket to drive the Sun Road and those are limited.  But after 5PM, one doesn’t need a ticket.  So the cars are lined up to go in after 5.  We decide to eat dinner first and then enter the park and go to the visitor’s center. 

The restaurant choices are limited.  We don’t chose the Mexican place that was rated one star……  There is a souvenir shop with a restaurant and hotel attached.  Elie and I order some local beer and we all have good dinners.  Peer pressure brought us to ordering desert.  

The line into the park is now gone so we enter the park.  Boy, those senior national park passes are nice.  Let’s you jump the line on top of not paying.  It all looks pretty straight forward for the morning so we can rest easily. 

It is still relatively early so we go to one of the overlooks that we passed earlier.  As well as a nice view, it has cultural information about the Blackfeet tribe.

Back at the campground we settle into our respective places.  We’ve all had long drives and are ready for an early night.  Nick wakes up around 1:00 and the skies have cleared.  He invites me to come out and star gaze but the sleeping bag is just a little too cozy for me to be too tempted.  He says they were amazing and he saw numerous meteors, the Milky Way, Pleidies, Jupiter, Saturn.  So many stars that it was hard to pick out the common constellations.  When I got up in the morning, the sun was just coming up and shinning on several of the peaks.  I didn’t think I needed m camera to go pee and by the time I got back and got my phone, it was nice but not as nice.  But, first things first and peeing was a high priority. 

Epic Cross Country Road Trip Aug 7-9

 

Day 7  Saturday 

What a treat to wake up and have the hot breakfast we ordered last night delivered to our room!  Nick has French toast with strawberries and bacon.  And of course coffee.  I have scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, OJ and hot tea.  We look at you Tube videos of various tents and their advantages and weaknesses.  Do we want to just replace the one we had or do an upgrade?  We’re leaning towards the upgrade. 

Our first tent shopping stop was Walmart.  Nothing there.  So on to Sheel’s.  We had a very helpful salesperson who said there had already been several people in buying replacement tents.  We went with the bigger tent with stronger poles.  With that task behind us, we headed on West to our next destination – a KOA at Devil’s tower. 

Several sight-seeing stops along the way.  The first is Mount Rushmore. We spot the carving as we round a curve.  It is quite impressive!  There was a long line of motorcycles waiting to get in to park.  But, we zipped through the car line.  A short walk past the ice cream stand and the gift shop were all the state flags.  Lots of people but lots of space so just felt festive and not oppressive.  We took the obligatory pictures, made a short video for Iori and Sakurako.  Hmmm.  Guess that’s about it since we’re not going to do the helicopter ride for an up close and personal view of a presidential nostril. 

It does seem a bit white, male domination to carve those faces into a Native American mountain.

On to the next sight.  Crazy Horse sculpture in progress.  It’s been in progress since I was there when I was 8!  I was quite surprised that the entry fee was $30!  Walked into the museum and I commented to Nick that it really felt like a rip off.  Still stinging from the $30 entry fee.  We were walking quite quickly through the exhibits when I caught a Native American telling some facts about the place.  No federal, state or public funding at all to preserve and honor the history of the Native Americans.   Hmmmmm.  We carved the faces of 4 old, white males in a mountain that was Indian land and that was all paid for by public funds.  Attitude reset!  Slow down, read the commentary, appreciate the art and the stories.  I went back and looked at the area we had walked past with much more interest.  Outside we listened to a man playing a native flute.  So beautiful and often haunting.  I left feeling so much better about the place than when I entered.

Since we had such a nice big breakfast, neither of us were hungry at lunch time and there wasn’t much available that wasn’t swarming with bikers.  We continued on to Devil’s tower.  We got to the area a little after 4.  Quite famished by this point.  Stopped at a place very near our KOA campground.  They had just switched over to their evening menu so we had steaks and baked potatoes sitting at a table that looked out to Devil’s tower.  I had some good local dark beer to go with it. 

When we checked into the KOA, they said they show the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind every evening at 8.  Well, not going to miss that!

We set up our new tent quite easily.  It has a little vestibule where you can sit if there isn’t any other shade, remove your shoes, etc.  It’s a little narrower than our previous tent but the two cots still fit with walking space between them. 

We washed the dishes that had been thrown in before the storm hit, dried out the quilts, got everything pretty much put back where it is supposed to be.  A little time to relax before the movie. There were probably about 30 people sitting out under the stars watching the movie.  And oh, the stars were bright and beautiful. 

Nick seems to have picked up a cold.  He was coughing much of the night.  But, the tent worked great!

Day 8  Sunday

Since Nick didn’t sleep well and is fighting a cold, I tried to let him sleep in a bit.  But the sun comes up early and it’s hard to really sleep too late.  We broke down camp pretty easily.  Since we didn’t cook last night, it was a bit easier.  The new tent folded up well, fit it in the bag it came in and in the spot in the car for it.  I stopped several times during the break down just to look at Devil’s Tower.  What a beautiful place to be.  There are red cliffs along a stream that are beautiful too. 

We drove the short distance to the park and found a spot to park near the trail head that goes around the base of the tower.  Nick walks a short way to an area with some of the history of the tower.  I continue on the loop which is about 1 ½ miles long. 

The Native American name was “Place of the bad god” which got translated to Devil’s tower.  There has been some discussion to change the name back to Native American but it isn’t getting much traction. There were prayer flags hanging from some of the trees.  The Native Americans walked around the tower clockwise. So, that is what I did too.  At the beginning of the walk, there were few people and it was quiet.  I even saw a deer walking along.  The tower is so much more impressive being up close. 

There is an old Indian tale that the tower w
as placed there to protect the people from the bears.  The vertical marks on the tower are the bear’s huge claws trying to get to the people but he wasn’t able to and they were safe.

I saw 6 people climbing the tower.  There are 4 ways up.  Of course you need to register that you’re climbing, have appropriate gear and experience.  Not for me!  I had Nick’s astronomy binoculars so was able to see them well.  If I was wondering, watching them through the binoculars confirmed it!

A city of prairie dogs were in one of the fields by the tower.  They were fun to watch.  Popping up out of their holes, ducking back in.  Real live wackamo!

There isn’t much in the way of businesses once you get away from the tourist spot.  With the help of Yelp, we found a little pizzeria that was open and not swarming with bikers.  At first there were only 3 other people there and they appeared to be locals.  Then a couple of families came in, I think from church.  They were definitely locals.  I wish I could have taken a picture of one of the boys, probably about 9 years old.  He had on new blue jeans, a tucked in red plaid shirt and a big hat like his dad’s.  He was walking so proudly.  The older ones jumped on the foosball game and seemed quite practiced like it was a weekly ritual.  The younger girls went to the kids play area with a couple of rocking horses, dolls, stuffed animals.  Fun to get a snapshot of life in small town ND. 

The weather is very hot and dry.  (high 90’s).  I don’t know how the bikers are doing it at all.  Not for me!!!  No shade at all.  Hot wind in my face for hours.  No thank you.

The landscape is really beautiful in it’s own way.  Maybe the way the Iowa landscape is beautiful in it’s own way.  Drive for hours with just subtle changes.  I like seeing the black angus cattle against the light golden background.  The sage really is the color of the sage paint chips at Home Depot.

 

We get to the Teddy Roosevelt National Park about 5 in the afternoon.  Certainly the area gathering place!  The few eating places in town have long lines.  We go inside the park to find our camping spot.  The landscape is similar to the badlands in SD but not quite as colorful or big.  We see a buffalo grazing on the hillside.  WOW!  Then we see a few more, then more and then cars are stopped because a huge buffalo is right in the middle of the road! 

We find our campground and discover that our spot is a “walk in”.  There are parking spots along the road.  A few of the ‘walk-in’ sites are close to their parking spot.  Ours is not.  It is about a city block to our spot.  The furthest one.  Right on the river.  I can see why Nick chose that one.  Private, on the river, a few scrubby trees for shade. 

No clue that there was such a walk involved!  In the 90 something heat and Nick not feeling his usual self, it just didn’t look like fun to stay there.  Since this trip is about enjoying ourselves, and we’d already seen a herd of buffalo and the landscape, we decided to look for a hotel room a little down the road.  We certainly weren’t planning to do any hiking in that heat!  We went to the visitor’s center where we could get a wi-fi signal.  Nick looked for hotels while I watched the welcoming video and looked at the exhibits. 

Nick found a LaQuinta Inn about an hour down the road in Glendive, MT.  Perfect!  With Nick fighting a cold, he really needed a good night’s sleep and that was our ticket.  We had planned to make BLTs for dinner but obviously couldn’t do that in a hotel room so we looked to Yelp to find us something that was open to get some dinner.  Slim pickens!  We found one place but when we got there, they were closing.  They had sold out of everything!  Our only option was Subway.  Broke our record of not eating at a chain restaurant during the trip.  Oh Well. 

Good night.

 Epic Cross Country Road Trip 

August 5

Day 5  Thursday  After a nice breakfast with Susan of fruit with yogurt and almond coffee cake from Jaarsma, we head off for Sioux Falls.  Her table is beautifully set and all is elegant and special.  We stop at Mankato, MN for lunch.  There is a branch of the Mayo clinic there as well as a branch of the University of Minn.  We share a very nice lunch of short rib egg rolls and a three soup sampler.  There was a tomato  bisque, a corn chowder and a sausage one that we both thought was the best even though they were all really good. 

Lots of grain elevators but this one is unique!

The landscape is certainly flat.  More grazing and less crops. 

We check into the KOA in Sioux Falls and start setting up the tent.  Hmmmm.  One of the tips on one of the poles is missing and you really can’t set up the tent without it.  We look on Waze and it says there is a Coleman store just a few miles away!  What luck!  We drive to it to find that it isn’t the camping coleman but heating and air-conditioning Coleman.  They give us the name of a sporting goods store that is fairly close.  Oh yes, we carry those repair kits.  Oh no, we’re out of them.  Suggest Ace Hardware which is around the corner.  One of the ones they have is just too small, the next one is too big.  Goldilocks and the three bears without the one that was just right.  But they gave us the name of another store to try – Scheel’s.  Thank goodness for Waze!  It is a huge sporting goods store similar to Dick’s.  They have what we’re looking for!  Yeah!  Back to the campground.

We set up but don’t put the fly on the tent.  Not supposed to rain and would be cooler without it.  We make dinner of Pella Bologna, fresh corn, chips and dip.  I enjoy a glass of wine.  Then one of the other campers comes over and say’s,  “I think you’re going to need that fly.  Storm is rolling in.  Sure enough, the sky is looking dark and the forecast has changed.  Then the ranger comes by and tells us where we can shelter if the storm gets bad.   We get stuff put in the car so we can take some rain.

A young couple drives up to the campsite next to us.  It is getting really windy and dark by now.  We help them get their tent set up and it starts raining very soon after.  We hunker down in the tent.  What was that that hit the tent.  I think it’s hail!  We have the fan light hanging from the top of the tent.  It is swinging wildly.  Reminds me of the movies of ships in a storm and the light swing to show how much movement there is.  The wind, rain, thunder, lightening and hail last about 45 minutes.  The tent does great!  A little leakage at the seam of the back window but nothing bad.  When it calms down everyone emerges and checks to make sure everyone is ok.  Our young couple next door report that they had a river through the middle of their tent.  They were able to pile things on the air mattress and keep everything basically dry.  When we set the tent up, we put an extra tarp over the top because he said it wasn’t very waterproof.  We told them about Sheele’s and they planned to go by there and get a new tent.  We’re heading the same general direction so we might run into them again.

We are coming up on the week that thousands of motorcyclists converge in Sturgis, SD.  We’re seeing evidence of them in the campgrounds, gas stops, restaurants and on the road.  All very nice.  Kinda interesting seeing the tattoos, the beard and mustaches.  Some are quite impressive. 

Day 6: Friday  Sioux Falls to Badlands National Park

After breaking down camp, we head to Walmart to pick up some groceries and ice for the next couple of days.  We drove past the Falls Park and could see that the Falls were pretty dry because of the lack of rain. 

In Mitchell, we stop at the World's only Corn Palace.  I remember going to a corn palace when we were on vacation as a little girl.  I wanted to see it again as I was pretty impressed.  This wasn't how I remembered it but I guess that is often the case. The decoration is all made with corn cobs and is changed every year.  

The landscape is even more grazing and hay production.  Lots of fields with the big, round VerMeer bales.  Then there are big trucks on the road carrying about 50 of them to who knows where.  Also sunflower fields which are a nice spot of color in what is otherwise pretty monochromatic. 

We cross the Missouri river which is quite impressive at this point and the landscape changes dramatically. It goes from totally flat to hills. Distances are so vast here and there are so few people, the speed limit is 80.  That also means very few exits, gas stations.  There is a big stop “oasis” right after the river so we stop for gas and lunch.  The theme is all old West, complete with wagon wheels, buffalo heads and lots of souvenir opportunities.  I start to order the salad bar and then think better of it.  Don’t think I’m ready for that yet with COVID.  So I have soup and a chicken salad sandwich. 

Back on the road.  After about an hour there is the first scenic overlook.  Actually a bit disappointing but I think that is probably due to haze.  Don’t know if it is smoke from somewhere or just natural haze.  It is a bit surprising how suddenly the Badlands appear.  Everything is all the same and then suddenly, there they are.  Reminding me a bit of the Cappadocia area of Turkey.  When we landed at the airport in Cappadocia and everything looked really bland, I think everyone was wondering why we had left Istanbul for that.  Well, it didn’t take long before everyone knew exactly why we had gone there!

 

Now we’re at the campground of Badlands National Park.  The wind is continuous.  Each site has a little shade, wind cover.  No tree shade!  Our site has a wonderful view!  Nick is cooking up a pot roast in the pressure cooker for dinner tonight.  Life is good.

Update:  The dinner was wonderful and delicious.  Just as we finished eating, the wind really picked up, thunder and lightening.  Things started blowing off the table – big things like the kitchen bin!  A frantic throw everything that was loose into the car.  The pot roast leftovers still in the pressure cooker.  The rain is coming down heavy now and the wind is whipping.  We watch from the safety of the car.  OMG!  The tent is leaning!  The poles have cracked and ripped the fly!  Nothing to do about it now!  We hear later that the winds were gusting to 70 MPH!  Poor little tent.  About 45 minutes later, the weather is calming down.  I venture out to see the damage inside the tent.  Really not too bad!  Big puddle in one corner but otherwise quite dry.  I pack the quilts, pillows, etc into the “Tent” bin.  We fold up the cots and somehow push them into the back of the car and are able to get the rear gate closed.  We save the tent stakes and poles just in case we ever want them for parts.  The tent and fly go in the garbage.  No room for them in a disorganized trunk. 

Nick, miraculously found a B&B about an hour down the road that has space.  It’s $235 but we’re grateful for it!  I take a soaking bath before crawling into bed.