Day 81

Onward to Montana

Jul 26, 2013, 10:51 AM

So we are off and on the early side even. The checkout time at this campground was 11:00 AM and I think we were off about 10:30 AM. Pretty good!!!!! We had a little bit of fun on the drive, going through Rapid City on I-90, we are passing a motorcycle and I guess the idiot behind us didn't think we were doing it fast enough for him and he ran up about 2 or 3 feet behind the motorcycle and cut in front of us with only inches to spare. People like that are the definition of ROAD RAGE. you just want to go up and beat them senseless and walk away and I don't think that should be considered wrong. Common courtesy!! LEARN IT!!!!! Then put it into practice and everyone will be just a little happier (and less bruised), I'm just say'n. 

Jul 26, 2013, 1:54 PM

Oh my gosh, we took a detour to see the Devil's Tower. The Devil's Tower is the rock mountain shown in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Remember Richard Dreyfuss trying to pile up his mashed potatoes to form them into the Devil's Triangle?! (Steve's favorite part) We got off the highway and were driving on a winding two lane road and as we come around a bend in the road you see it off in the distance. It is so stunning. It really does look ominous jutting out of the ground. All around it there is lush green vegetation, then this severe dark piece of rock sticks up out of seemingly nowhere it's almost frightening. Seeing it up close, I can understand why it would be called Devil's Tower. Yet in all of it's horror, and it is rather horrifying, it is almost as if there were something so vile that it was expelled from the earth itself, but there is too an awe inspiring beauty in the diversity of the landscape in this part of the country. I'm just so thrilled we were able to see it for ourselves. This has been such a magnificent trip and I'm so thrilled we did it. So now we are just driving happily along, going back to the highway and on to our destination. 

Jul 26, 2013, 3:26 PM

In the far distance there are mountains that almost blend into the sky and yet I can make out that there is snow at some of the peaks. It's probably the Rocky's, I'm really not sure, but it is beautiful. There is so much nothing out here. Just a road, sky, and rolling hills. It's so peaceful and beautiful. There is virtually no traffic, maybe half a dozen cars in front of us as far as the eye can see. The landscape is really changing now. The rolling hills are giving way to mountains with taller peaks towering above. The clouds are just above the tallest peaks and those mountains are just a shade darker blue than the sky. The shorter peaks in front are a darker blue still and then the hills laying in front of those are coming into view with their browns and greens. We have a little more than two hours to go and I'm so excited to see the changes that the miles ahead will bring into view. 

Jul 26, 2013, 6:57 PM

We are at the campground and it is a nice place and we are able to see the Little Big Horn battlefield right from here. So that will probably be our plan for tomorrow. The ride was completely uneventful till we were getting off the highway, then the generator turned off. Oh shit, we are down to less than a quarter of a tank of gas in this behemoth and to conserve it will shut off the generator if it's running. We are freaking in the middle of NOWHERE, actually I think we passed NOWHERE ten miles before we crossed into Montana. The Montana Visitor Center on the interstate is 57 miles from the Wyoming/Montana border. So first order of business Monday morning will be to GET GAS!!!!!!! I asked in the office and they said there were stations about seven miles from here. We're good but this better serve as a lesson I think. 

Good night all!