Our third day of travels finds us leaving Billings, MT to head toward Murdo, SD. I am not exactly sure what is in Murdo, but I plan on finding out. I am also on the lookout for a skeletal man walking his skeletal dino as well... darn RoadsideAmerica.com (thanks Rachel!).
The morning is pretty uneventful, save the fact that I originally took us toward the Canadian border, but that only cost us about fifteen minutes- one to realize my mistake, the other 14 to find an exit that would turn us around! During this minor side adventure, I did get to take 'Exit 0'. I didn't realize that an Exit 0 could exist - does that mean that my exit was exactly on the Montana/ Wyoming border?
We traveled on toward our destination, through A LOT of grassland. Emma's comment was that it was neverending, kinda like the trees from the day before. I thought, welcome to Wyoming. I only saw one antelope, and he was eating right along side a small herd of cattle. I guess Wyoming is where the cows and the antelope play. An ode to safety in numbers?
It was amazing when we entered the Crow land surrounding Little Bighorn. I could feel the air change, and what had been empty grassland, now became rolling hills of history. It may just be my overactive imagination, but I swear that I could feel the hundreds of souls that had been lost in that battle blanketing the land. Kind of hard to explain, but it was almost a feeling of comfortable protection as we traveled through. Nevermind that I was so caught up in the cultural landscape that I forgot to turn! I guess the navigation ghost was on a break.
My poor orienteering skills however, were actually a benefit in this case, as we continued on I-90, crossed into South Dakota and took Hwy 16 south through the Black Hills Mountains. This was a beautiful drive. The road was fun, lots of twists and turns, much better than I-90. We passed through many old towns, rife with bikers, and ended up at Mt. Rushmore around three in the afternoon. Having the dogs and pigs in the car, we could only do a quick visit- but it was enough! Mt. Rushmore was magnificent! Just the thought that individuals (without the aid of computers) could carve something so large out of a mountain, well, I think that speaks for itself! Awesome! Next time we will be going to Crazy Horse's Monument as well, although, I thought that $10 per person was a little steep. They told me that I could CARRY my dog through the statue room to get to the viewing area. Hmmmm, no thanks! We will have to make a separate road trip to come and actually see the sights.
Back on the road, we made it back to I-90. Now, if I could only find that darn skeleton. I had Emma on the job, and while I was enamored with the cute little 1880 town on the side of the road (real? or a fake??) she spotted our target. I quickly pulled to the side and with a slightly victorious chuckle, snapped off a couple of photos. My day was now complete, and a sense of accomplishment filled my head.
A few miles later (not really sure how far, since I was still feeling so joyous at finding our friend!) we crested a hill to see the town of Murdo, SD. My thought? "Really? There is a Best Western in this town?" The first thing that popped into my head was the movie 'Twister'. You know the one, with Helen Hunt and the tornados? Ya, that was this town, complete with the water tower that has the name painted on it. Why do they do that? So that when the town is destroyed by a tornado, they have a way to indentify the 'body'? "Yup Bob, that was Murdo, see that thar water tower?"
Anyway, visions of tornados racing through my mind, I pulled off the exit onto the one-stoplight road, found the Best Western (yeah!) and got us all checked in. Phew. What a day. I like day three!
The morning is pretty uneventful, save the fact that I originally took us toward the Canadian border, but that only cost us about fifteen minutes- one to realize my mistake, the other 14 to find an exit that would turn us around! During this minor side adventure, I did get to take 'Exit 0'. I didn't realize that an Exit 0 could exist - does that mean that my exit was exactly on the Montana/ Wyoming border?
We traveled on toward our destination, through A LOT of grassland. Emma's comment was that it was neverending, kinda like the trees from the day before. I thought, welcome to Wyoming. I only saw one antelope, and he was eating right along side a small herd of cattle. I guess Wyoming is where the cows and the antelope play. An ode to safety in numbers?
It was amazing when we entered the Crow land surrounding Little Bighorn. I could feel the air change, and what had been empty grassland, now became rolling hills of history. It may just be my overactive imagination, but I swear that I could feel the hundreds of souls that had been lost in that battle blanketing the land. Kind of hard to explain, but it was almost a feeling of comfortable protection as we traveled through. Nevermind that I was so caught up in the cultural landscape that I forgot to turn! I guess the navigation ghost was on a break.
My poor orienteering skills however, were actually a benefit in this case, as we continued on I-90, crossed into South Dakota and took Hwy 16 south through the Black Hills Mountains. This was a beautiful drive. The road was fun, lots of twists and turns, much better than I-90. We passed through many old towns, rife with bikers, and ended up at Mt. Rushmore around three in the afternoon. Having the dogs and pigs in the car, we could only do a quick visit- but it was enough! Mt. Rushmore was magnificent! Just the thought that individuals (without the aid of computers) could carve something so large out of a mountain, well, I think that speaks for itself! Awesome! Next time we will be going to Crazy Horse's Monument as well, although, I thought that $10 per person was a little steep. They told me that I could CARRY my dog through the statue room to get to the viewing area. Hmmmm, no thanks! We will have to make a separate road trip to come and actually see the sights.
Back on the road, we made it back to I-90. Now, if I could only find that darn skeleton. I had Emma on the job, and while I was enamored with the cute little 1880 town on the side of the road (real? or a fake??) she spotted our target. I quickly pulled to the side and with a slightly victorious chuckle, snapped off a couple of photos. My day was now complete, and a sense of accomplishment filled my head.
A few miles later (not really sure how far, since I was still feeling so joyous at finding our friend!) we crested a hill to see the town of Murdo, SD. My thought? "Really? There is a Best Western in this town?" The first thing that popped into my head was the movie 'Twister'. You know the one, with Helen Hunt and the tornados? Ya, that was this town, complete with the water tower that has the name painted on it. Why do they do that? So that when the town is destroyed by a tornado, they have a way to indentify the 'body'? "Yup Bob, that was Murdo, see that thar water tower?"
Anyway, visions of tornados racing through my mind, I pulled off the exit onto the one-stoplight road, found the Best Western (yeah!) and got us all checked in. Phew. What a day. I like day three!
Good day!!! THe skeleton man is cool. Have fun tomorrow (which is now today!)
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