We headed north past the Tom Miner Basin where husband’s brother has gone elk hunting in the past, onto Livingston which is a good size town on Interstate 90. We had lunch at a fast food place and met some rude foreign tourists but they could have been just ignorant.
Driving east on I-90 we headed away from the tallest mountains. Went by Billings, the largest city in Montana at just over 100,000 people. It appears to be a major energy center with many oil refineries. Nearby the interstate takes a southward bend and it took us to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, MT.
The weather there was overcast, with a sharp damp wind. My husband only got out of the car to use the restroom. We did the car tour, which also took us out across the Crow reservation where we met some Indian horses on the road. They looked like tough ponies!
The grazing looked terrific though. The rolling, treeless green hills were beautiful, but I felt a sadness, almost like in a cemetery. And the many tombstones scattered in the grass helped that feeling. Native people and US Army soldiers alike shed their blood here in June 1876. The Battle of Greasy Grass (Custer’s Last Stand) was pyrrhic victory for the allied Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho. I saw the land, so beautiful —and I understood the need to defend it. I photographed a clump of bright yellow wildflowers. They seemed an appropriate color since yellow can signify remembrance (as in the song Tie a Yellow Ribbon round the Old Oak Tree). I think Little Bighorn was the most surprising of all the sights I saw on my trip. Prettier and more serene than I expected.
Onward we travelled, southeast on I-90 to Buffalo, WY where I found another Super 8 for a most reasonable $70 for the night of May 18th. It was the last motel I’d pay for until late June.
The clear warm morning saw us headed for South Dakota, past the “Famous Faces” which I have seen and did not find great urgency for my husband to view. I was afraid the walking to the viewing spot might be too much for him.
But we stopped into Wall Drug and I drug him around there awhile. Pictures with the “Jackalope”... what —they aren’t real? What about Donnie Darko? Night of the Lepus? Or even further back - Harvey the rabbit? All in fun, and a western favorite, the jackalope is a mythical rabbit with horns. (Usually not as big as the one on the picture!) Wall Drug advertises free ice water on billboards for miles ahead of the highway exit. Military veterans even get a free cup of coffee and one free doughnut. My Navy Vet husband indulged. But my coffee was only 5¢ anyway. I ordered lunch and my entree was a delicious bison burger. Maybe from a local bison, who knows? We enjoyed the series of shops. We would have wandered around longer, husband was enjoying it despite his disability, but I wanted to get to our next campsite, in Badlands National Park.
Driving east on I-90 we headed away from the tallest mountains. Went by Billings, the largest city in Montana at just over 100,000 people. It appears to be a major energy center with many oil refineries. Nearby the interstate takes a southward bend and it took us to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, MT.
The weather there was overcast, with a sharp damp wind. My husband only got out of the car to use the restroom. We did the car tour, which also took us out across the Crow reservation where we met some Indian horses on the road. They looked like tough ponies!
The grazing looked terrific though. The rolling, treeless green hills were beautiful, but I felt a sadness, almost like in a cemetery. And the many tombstones scattered in the grass helped that feeling. Native people and US Army soldiers alike shed their blood here in June 1876. The Battle of Greasy Grass (Custer’s Last Stand) was pyrrhic victory for the allied Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho. I saw the land, so beautiful —and I understood the need to defend it. I photographed a clump of bright yellow wildflowers. They seemed an appropriate color since yellow can signify remembrance (as in the song Tie a Yellow Ribbon round the Old Oak Tree). I think Little Bighorn was the most surprising of all the sights I saw on my trip. Prettier and more serene than I expected.
Onward we travelled, southeast on I-90 to Buffalo, WY where I found another Super 8 for a most reasonable $70 for the night of May 18th. It was the last motel I’d pay for until late June.
The clear warm morning saw us headed for South Dakota, past the “Famous Faces” which I have seen and did not find great urgency for my husband to view. I was afraid the walking to the viewing spot might be too much for him.
Jackalope
Immediately after entering Badlands National Park the Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep were everywhere! As human visitors we were supposed to keep our distance but they nearly ran us over. They were totally unconcerned about the tourists. What delightful animals!
We were in awe of the rock formations. We saw layers of colorful rocks and clays, steep canyons footed by bright green springtime grass, rocky spires and a splendid mosaic colors of red, brown, grey, yellow, etc. The weather was perfect, sunny and 70℉.
I put up our tent, warmed up ravioli from a can for supper. Deer were grazing in the distance. The grassy campsites were so lush we were happy to find a dry spot for the tent.
The next day we took our time touring the badlands. I took some video. I used the telephoto to get “dog” pictures in the expansive Prairie Dog town, quite a noisy colony! We had a picnic lunch under a large rock formation without another person in sight, nor any sound but the wind in the grass. It was perfect!
On the opposite side of I-90 from Badlands Park is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Here is the last remaining Minuteman II ICBM system in the United States and a sobering museum of the Cold War. My better half stayed in the car, but I did a quick look-see at the site.
Then by 1 PM I began to drive. We paused at Chamberlain SD after crossing the Missouri River. There, at a roadside center, is the Dignity sculpture, a 50-foot high stainless steel statue of an Indigenous woman in Plains-style dress receiving a star quilt. Very impressive! The best roadside attraction I saw on the trip.
Then I drove. And drove. And drove, into the night. I listened to music, comedy, and news on the Sirius XM radio. At nearly midnight I saw farmers in Minnesota still out in their fields either planting or preparing to plant. The lights on their massive tractors illuminating the fertile fields. I tried to stop at a rest area in Wisconsin for a nap but there were so many loud tractor trailers nearby. There wasn’t much chance. My husband slept though.
We were in awe of the rock formations. We saw layers of colorful rocks and clays, steep canyons footed by bright green springtime grass, rocky spires and a splendid mosaic colors of red, brown, grey, yellow, etc. The weather was perfect, sunny and 70℉.
I put up our tent, warmed up ravioli from a can for supper. Deer were grazing in the distance. The grassy campsites were so lush we were happy to find a dry spot for the tent.
The next day we took our time touring the badlands. I took some video. I used the telephoto to get “dog” pictures in the expansive Prairie Dog town, quite a noisy colony! We had a picnic lunch under a large rock formation without another person in sight, nor any sound but the wind in the grass. It was perfect!
Lunch spot
On the opposite side of I-90 from Badlands Park is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Here is the last remaining Minuteman II ICBM system in the United States and a sobering museum of the Cold War. My better half stayed in the car, but I did a quick look-see at the site.
Then by 1 PM I began to drive. We paused at Chamberlain SD after crossing the Missouri River. There, at a roadside center, is the Dignity sculpture, a 50-foot high stainless steel statue of an Indigenous woman in Plains-style dress receiving a star quilt. Very impressive! The best roadside attraction I saw on the trip.
Then I drove. And drove. And drove, into the night. I listened to music, comedy, and news on the Sirius XM radio. At nearly midnight I saw farmers in Minnesota still out in their fields either planting or preparing to plant. The lights on their massive tractors illuminating the fertile fields. I tried to stop at a rest area in Wisconsin for a nap but there were so many loud tractor trailers nearby. There wasn’t much chance. My husband slept though.
As we closed in on Chicago, the day began to dawn, and the rain began to come down. I dodged around the city as best as I could under the “better route” guidance provided by my friend Kim who lives in the area. It was rush hour by then and toll booths were everywhere! It was nuts. I have never seen anything like it. Go three miles, another toll. Raining cats and dogs, another toll. Luckily didn’t miss that turn, oh, another toll. I was so glad to get to, I think, Gary, Indiana and stop at a McDonald’s for coffee and breakfast!
We drove by several recreation vehicle manufacturers along I-90 in Indiana and maybe Ohio. Annoyingly, the route is all toll road these days, until Cleveland. In Cleveland the signage was so bad that I headed off to Youngstown instead of Erie, PA. This was the only wrong turn I made on my trip. The last time I drove this stretch of I-90, a few decades ago— it was not a toll road!
Along the interstate, which parallels Lake Erie, I could actually smell the lake, the water. Maybe it is from being a desert dweller for so long. But I could definitely smell that lake. It wasn’t a bad smell, just lots of fresh water smell. A smell I knew very well in my youth in Charlotte NY.
So eventually I get to Rochester NY on the evening of May 21 and my family is aghast that I have been driving straight through since Wall, SD. It was about 1500 miles. Hey, when I want to get somewhere — there’s no stopping me!
Along the interstate, which parallels Lake Erie, I could actually smell the lake, the water. Maybe it is from being a desert dweller for so long. But I could definitely smell that lake. It wasn’t a bad smell, just lots of fresh water smell. A smell I knew very well in my youth in Charlotte NY.
So eventually I get to Rochester NY on the evening of May 21 and my family is aghast that I have been driving straight through since Wall, SD. It was about 1500 miles. Hey, when I want to get somewhere — there’s no stopping me!
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