Day 10, Friday, July 18, 2008 – 380 miles
The trip is halfway over! 10 down / 10 to go! We touched three states again today – Montana, Wyoming & South Dakota!
Well, today didn’t turn out as planned. We were heading
across “Big Sky” country when the big sky started falling on us.
Knowing the forecast was for severe thunderstorms with hail and lightening
(which we were seeing plenty of) we decided
to jump off I-94 and abandon plans for North Dakota. We cut South and picked up
US-212 which headed more toward
Spearfish, SD where we had our reservations. We shot along and got out of the
rain where we found a shortcut to:
Devil’s Tower National Monument. (Even though it was
National, they wouldn’t honor our Yellowstone receipt.) Anyhow,
that is one impressive rock formation. We decided to take the walking trail
around the thing which is all uphill or at least it
feels like it. Actually, one you get up to the level, it is not too bad.
We saw some climbers. They were actually not too far from the rubble. In ’94, I saw people at the top!
The remains (historical) of a wooden ladder up in the cleft. Today’s Cathy picture at the half-way point. She can make it!
A fellow (lady) biker taking prarie dog pictures. Erin and
Levi at the KOA not only served us our dinner, they dished up our
ice cream. What a deal! All you can eat for $2.00! They Rock!
Today’s cabin. As you can see, Cathy made the other half of
the loop at Devil’s Tower. This was a five sleeper! Maybe we need
to take others with us… Anyhow! Good
night, see you tomorrow!
Day 10 addendum: We saw a UFO!
Right after uploading today’s story, a big storm blew into
the area. We scurried to our cabin and looked out the windows. We
saw this unidentified object come flying into the parking area. The camp host
came running out and moved their cars. Trees
and tree limbs were blowing down and it created quite a stir. One group of
campers even said their beer coolers disappeared!
(That may not have actually been storm related…) OK, here’s the truth on the
UFO which has now become an IFO (Identified
Flying Object): The KOA hosts told me it was a TRAMPOLINE which the wind had
blown in. Personally, I feel safer…