Day 8 Thursday Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Austin, Minnesota

229 miles

Foggy start and 66*

There was a herd of buffalo in a field close to our campground. Our first stop today was in Garretson to find the park with Devils Gulch in it. The park is known for the time Jesse James and his gang robbed a bank in Minnesota.  His escape route took him to a spot where he and his horse had to jump a ravine in order to avoid being caught.  We spent an hour talking with the docent and walking the trails.

The next stop was in Blue Earth, Minnesota to see the 55' tall Jolly Green Giant.  The docent there gave us a can of  sweet corn for a souvenir. The town is named Blue Earth because the clay around town is blue which has become a favorite with local potters.

We got a campsite and still had time to visit the Spam Museum before they closed.  Michelle spent about 20 minutes with us pointing out a few interesting facts about Spam. We had no idea except our Dad's both had to rely on Spam for meals in the field during WWII.  The museum was recently renovated so everything was spic and span.

We missed a turn on the way and had to to a u-turn to find this park.

Wire bridge across the gorge.  I was leary
about walking across.

We climbed to the upper ledges to
have a look down. There was
no fence or notice of danger.

Down at the water level, we could
see tall ledges along the river bank
and the work of water erosion.

Looking up at the wire bridge
from the river below.

The only section of fencing protecting people from falling.

We try to do about 200 miles a day.

Built in 1979, the giant cost
$5000 to construct.

The red building is a small gift shop.

The new and improved Spam Museum!

Paul Bunyan and Babe

Spam everywhere!  

Who would have  thought!

I hadn't heard of these girls before.

Choices of flavors

It's not lips and butts!  It's from the good cuts.

Musical instruments  made from Spam cans.  They were actually played in concert.

The meat is packaged and then cooked in the can.

What's your favorite?  I bought bacon flavored to put on a skewer with pineapple chunks roasted on the grill.
I haven't had Spam since I was a child.

Dinty Moore is a subsidiary of Hormel. Do you know what ox joints taste like?

Day 5 Hardin, Montana to Rapid City, South Dakota

93* by afternoon

344 miles

We were on the road by 9 AM.  Yesterday, the truck passed its 100,000 mile mark. Weather was warm-81* before 10 AM.  Along I-90, a truck passed us carrying two kayaks and a full size refrigerator.  We wondered what they were doing for vacation. We’ve seen very little wild life but today, we smelled a skunk and saw a deer that didn’t make the dash across the road. In the afternoon, there was a small herd of antelope in the fields near the freeway.  In Wyoming, we drove along at 4500’ through the rolling hills beside the Big Horn Mountains. The town of Buffalo, Wyoming was on our list just as a place to have a beer. We found parking and walked around town looking for coffee and a chance to stretch.  Since it’s Monday, many shops were closed.  “The Busy Bee Cafe” was open so we went in and discovered that Buffalo is Craig Johnson’s (author of the Longmire book series made into a Netflix series) hometown.  We’ve seen the series and hope there will be another story this fall.  Sonny asked the counter girl if the Longmire series was filmed in Buffalo, but no, it’s filmed in Texas.  However, once a year, the cast visits Buffalo for a weekend to sign books.

Back on I-90, we noted the unusual names of side roads and thought about having to write your address out if you lived on Dead Horse Creek Road or Crazy Woman Creek Road or Crazy Horse Creek Road.

Sturgis, South Dakota was on this leg of I-90, so of course, we planned a stop.  The town is quiet compared to early August when the bike rally is happening.  Sonny found me a walking stick emblem  for my collection and he bought an unmentionable bumper sticker.  In Summerland, we found Camping World to look for a ladder and night lights but had no luck.  We got a campsite at Rapid City KOA, sat in the hot tub that nearly drowned me with it’s powerful jets and enjoyed breakfast in the KOA kitchen.

Continuing on I-90

We've passed many fields of hay.  Here's a stack ready for winter. 

Rest stop to stretch.

Buffalo, Wyoming is a small town on our list for no
 particular reason.  After we found 6 streeet parking spots for our rig, we wandered down the sidewalk looking for a coffee shop and  found "The Busy Bee".

The bar was marble decorated with bees.  Note the old

milk shake machine in the right photo.

Poster advertising the Longmire event in July.

Our waitress was a college student from Romania who was on a summer exchange program.

This mural made the creepy bathroom
more attractive.

The town had several statues of relevant events
 like the sheep being rounded up by the dog.

We had to take a cruise through Sturgis for old times. 

One of the hopping hot spots.

Long stretches of road gave me time to  practice my voice drills which  consist of 10 functional phases in everyday living to be spoken at 75 decibels. Another drill is to hold a note for at least 45 seconds and 60 seconds on a good day.
Sonny gets closer to 45 seconds every time we  practice!

Day 7 Winner. South Dakota to Sioux Falls, South Dakota

255 miles
Short day due to visit to  tire shop.  The Corn Palace in Mitchel, SD was on our list of places to    check off but Sonny couldn't be convinced to do a drive by.  I'll look for a photo from a past trip. The area a very green,  no shortage of rain. Mostly black angus cattle in the fields. The light over the table was shattered on today's drive along with a dish from the cupboard. We camped at Sioux Falls KOA.

Tires of all sizes at a farm implement store.

Bumper sticker in the small lobby of the Country club Motel and RV Park. The

name of the town was actually Winner.

Rest area looking back at the Missouri River we had

just crossed. The sign is warning about snakes.

The rest area was near the Lewis and Clark trail so the interpretive center had information about their trip and a life sized model of a boat they used on the Missouri River.  Here is a statue of Sacagawea.

Day 6 Tuesday Rapid City, South Dakota to Wounded Knee to Winner, South Dakota-Trouble

225 miles

We took a break from I-90 to see the Wounded Knee battle ground.Very scenic and no traffic through parts of the Badlands and Reservation Lands. We encountered a few delays when the road was under construction. There were fields of sunflowers with their heads bowed and tires hooked to fences.  We wondered why that was and later learned at the tire store that if the fence is electric, the wires are attached to the tire sides.  Then the rancher can move the fence or gate without get an electric shock.  

(Formatting pictures and story has been a challenge today)

The road was straight for a long ways.

"Tatanka", a ghost town

Large tire attached to the driveway gate.

We learned about the massacre at Wounded Knee at this sign board.

Day 3 Deer Lodge, Montana to Hardin, Montana

Travel Day-321 miles
Air is hazy with forest fire smoke.  61* at 11 am

Traffic is almost nonexistent.  Sonny can use cruise control. We crossed the Continental Divide at 6700'.  We talked about how a mesa is different from a butte.  The smart phone told us a butte is taller than a mesa and a mesa is larger around than a butte. Along the freeway, we saw train cars with Boeing 737 bodies being transported to Seattle.Driving break in Big Timber.

Uncomfortable  thought on the way to the bathroom!

Some KOA signs are so small.

Traffic is wonderfully light!

Continuing East

Day 4 Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument

Today, we visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield.  We purchased tickets for the bus tour and then listened to an orientation. Our tour guide was a native Lakota. We've been there 4 times and learn something new every time. Afterwards, we had lunch at a little cafe outside the park.  On our way back to the campground, we drove through Hardin where most stores were closed.  At the campground, we got into the pool to cool off from the 90 degree temperature.

A committed historian with "Last Stand" on his plate.

Welcome gate at the battle field.

Tour narrator. One story he told had to do with why
some native people wore long belts like the one
this gentleman has on.  The warriors were not well organized
 into fighting units.  Rather, they would independently rush the soldiers,
hop off  their ponies and stake the long belt into the ground. With
 their weapons, the warrior fought till he won or died.

The battlefield covers several miles of gentle rolling
green hills.

These markers indicate where soldiers and Indians fell in battle.

In recent years, another memorial has been erected in honor of the
native american who fought for the land they loved.

The monument is a circle of stones with history notes carved into the granite.

Old settler's cabin now used as an art studio near the battlefield.

On the way back to the KOA, we drove
around the streets of Hardin.  It
was a hot Sunday afternoon and
it looked like the town had all gone to bed.
This an example of  the buildings'
construction style-brick 1-3

stories.