Road Trip...Day 4 - Day 6

Day 4...Sept 18

We were lucky when we woke up...there was plenty of snow in the trees but all of the roads were clear. Fifteen minutes after we left our camp site our odometer hit our first 1000 miles of what will turn out to be a many thousand mile adventure.

As we slowly worked our way towards the East Gate we made many stops along the way; Painted Pots Geyser, a Village store for our morning coffee, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Norris Geyser, spectacular waterfalls and of course, Yellowstone Lake.

As we finally made our way to the parks East Gate exit, we passed some amazing rock formations, cliffs, pinnacle rock formations created over fifty thousand years of erosion. Up until now the only animal we didn't see was a bear. We soon came across a bunch of folks with cameras all looking in the same direction. When Kerry asked what they were looking at, they replied, "Bears!" Kerry finally got her bear pics.

Our destination for today was the town of Cody Wyoming. After a disappointing lunch of burgers (one buffalo and one Angus) we decided to continue on down the road, stopping in Grey Bull to check out the camping options. A nice lady we met recommended a camp spot in the town of Shell. What an awesome spot...we are the only ones here...and the views are stunning. 

Highlights of camping in Shell...having a beer with the manager at our site, learning about the local culture and most of all, listening to the cow hands in their dude ranch cabin up on the hill singing and playing guitar as the sun slowly set into the west. I need a cowboy hat!

Day 5..Sept 19

We left Shell Wyoming ( population 83) after filling our travel cups with fresh hot coffee. We stopped for breakfast in Dayton before heading towards the other side of the mountain range that lay before us (elev 9000). It took an hour to get to the summit and an hour to get down on the other side. From this point on, until we reach our destination for the day we saw nothing but BORING scenery pass up by, mile after mile after mile.

Finally we arrived in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where our first stop would be Crazy Horse carved into a mountainside. Even Rosie got to share on the experience...dogs allowed as long as you carry them. Glad we don't have a Saint Bernard. Crazy Horse was impressive.

Our next stop was Custer's State Park. It took 6 miles of crazy switch backs to get up there and another six to get back down. 

It was a beautiful drive. From there we headed to Mount Rushmore...now that was impressive. As we left Rushmore we thought it was time to start looking for a decent place to plant ourselves for the night. We stopped at a few camp grounds here and there but nothing appealed to us. KOA was everywhere but for what the charge, you might as well stay in a hotel. We ended up finding a neat place in the town of Wall, famous for its drug store...yeah I know, sounds weird. We will update more about that tomorrow. We are now at 1580 miles and counting.

Day 6...Sept. 20

Getting up by 7am, we were ready to go within minutes. Kerry was already up and doing her thing as I first stepped out into the day. First objective, go to the world famous, yes WORLD famous Wall Drugstore to see if they ready did have fresh brewed coffee for only a nickel ... They did! It was actually a very impressive maze of shops, cafe's, buffets and yes, there was even a drugstore. Round every corner there were photo opportunities, either sitting on top of a giant Jackalop or paying a mechanical wizard a dollar to tell you you're good (or bad) fortune...just like in the movie Big. There was even a chapel there and being a Sunday, we took the opportunity to go in. Kerry sat and listened while read from the book of Psalms followed by a closing prayer. It was now time for some breakfast.

After eating a healthy meal of toast with an egg and a couple of donuts, and topping off our water bottles with water we were ready to go. As Willie would say, we were on the road again. We started the day with Kerry at the wheel while I navigated.

As we passed the 1700 mile mark of our journey a truck up ahead spat out a rock and now we have a lovely small crack in our windshield...luckily it is on the upper passenger side so it doesn't create a visual issue for either the driver or passenger. We will have to get it repaired somewhere along the way to prevent it from running.

For at least a hundred miles, all you could see in every direction was fields upon fields of a strange looking corn growing. We came to find out that it was being grown for ethanol...in an experimental capacity. That was a lot of corn!

We also passed the prairie where Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up. I kinda wanted to see a young  Melissa Gilbert come running down one of the grassy fields. We started the day leaving our camp site  in Wall South Dakota and finished off in the the even smaller town of Welcome Minnesota. Oh and one last note...just as we pulled off of the highway to camp we passed the 2000 mile point of our little adventure. Yup, 2000 down and so many more to go.