Road Trip South - Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota
After more stunning scenery, we arrived in great Falls. The first thing you learn is, there aren't any, they were dammed years ago and just a trickle remains. However there is a very informative local history centre which we visited and what we learned was to shape our next few days on the road. Lewis and Clark were sent by President Jefferson to head west over the continental divide to the pacific coast. We came across many references to their journey on our own adventures through Montana & Wyoming.
We continued south the next day to Billings Montana, for a two night stay, which proved to be one of the unexpected 'really pleased we stopped here' moments of the trip. We decided to take ourselves off and do a large loop around the scenic route, of course this meant a driving day of over 300 miles, but it was well worth it.
We drove south to Bighorn Lake and took a sedate boat ride between the Grand Canyon-like walls. It was a worth trip gazing up at the canyon walls towering 1500 feet above the river. We then drove over to the site of Custer Last Stand. Again, a real treasure to find, with volunteers and rangers on hand to graphically describe the events of the day, an interesting day, and well worth a visit if ever in the area.
On our way back to the hotel in Billings, we stopped off at one of the only places in the west where you can actually see evidence of the Lewis and Clark expeditions at Pompeys Pillar National Monument, hand prints and signs hewn into the rock. The park was actually closed, though you are allowed to explore under heavily monitored walkways. (Thankfully the loos were open too). The whole days drive worth it in every respect.
Next day we continued south. We planned to stay overnight in Sheridan and that also turned out to be another great find, a typical frontier town with interesting shops, bars and restaurants, and in a spectacular tribute to poor timing, we left the day the rodeo started. Still, it was a great place to spend the evening again learning the history of the west and names such as Buffalo Bill, who was well known in Sheridan.
Then the following day driving to catch up with some recent history, Devils Tower, from the film Close Encounters. A very impressive land mass, very popular with tourists who just seem happy to sit and gaze or visit the gift shop. There is an easy walk around the base which takes an hour or so, depending on how many stops of photos you want to take. Our ultimate destination was the town of Keystone for our visit to Mount Rushmore, though we noticed on the maps that Newcastle Wyoming was (almost) on the way, so we thought it would be churlish not to pop round, so we did. Turned out to be quite a little bustling industrial town, and about the only place we visited where we weren't asked where we were from, I somehow don't think they would have got the irony.
Still, we ate there, and drove the final part of our journey to Mount Rushmore. When we arrived it was just getting dark. Once more, the countryside and mountain views were stunning. We arrived late at the hotel and had arguably the best room in a top floor annex.
It was a short drive from the hotel to the monument and we wanted to get there quite early. Similar to lots of public parks in the US, you don't pay admission, you pay a parking fee, and it can be valid for days. We had decided to go to the monument, look at the exhibits, do a walk, and return in the evening for the sound and light. It was amazing to be told how they used simple mathematics in the construction of the enormous facades, with little margin for error, they turned out better than planned, recognisable and perfectly to scale.
The walk around the monument was relatively quiet, with plenty of opportunities to stop for pictures. As it was beginning to get more crowded we decided to head out to Custer for lunch on our way to the Crazy Horse memorial, currently under construction. There is quite a bit to see at the Memorial site, no less than the impressive statue on which the sculpture is based. Sadly work is progressing very slowly and it will take several decades before the work will be complete.
From there it was a short drive back to Mount Rushmore for the evening sound and light show which turned out this evening to be very special. We visited on the day following the tragic events happening in Nice. Every night a park ranger gives a little speech, though this night, it was in tribute to the victims of the tragedy over in France. The American anthem was sung with such gusto it did make hairs on the back of your neck tingle. Absolute silence was maintained at all times as the flag was lowered into the arms of the waiting serviceman and veterans from the watching audience. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite.
Next day we had a long road day ahead, the final drive down to Denver. We already decided to take some detours on the way, and none were more surprising than the one driving through herds of buffalo, literally either side of the car. We wound our way through the park, very slowly and aware, as one of these huge beasts could easy tip the car, so I was giving them right of way at all times.
It made the day much longer, but so much worth it. After driving for almost 3 weeks around the highways of the states, and rarely seeing a car, it was a bit of a shock to hit the outskirts of Denver, and traffic, lots of it.
We managed with the help of Martha our GPS, to find our way quite quickly to Capitol Hill, our base for the next five nights. We decamped and walked a few blocks to a small collection of shops and restaurants, where there was an Asian Restaurant, so we had to go in for some comfort food, two House Special Fried Rice duly ordered, it made such a change from the food we had previously.
In total 3780 miles driven in 23 days, approximately $300 spent on gas which was a pleasure at those prices. Martha only got us lost once, we listened to some great rock radio and spent three weeks with your best buddy laughing at everything and nothing.
Roll on the next one, and I wish that I could live it all again.