Its been an eventful couple of days. We followed the advice of a bus driver and followed Rte 16 east from Cody to Buffalo where we picked up the I-90 east to Sundance on the 24th. I must say he gave us good advice - this took us through Big Horne National Forest. Totally awesome scenery again, mixed with challenging driving.
This road took us through another mountain pass that was about 30 miles in distance. The road just seemed to keep climbing, even though at times, it looked like we were finally going down the Rialta kept on chugging up hill. We did most of it in second so just merrily went up, up, up.
Eventually we came to what appeared to be the brink - road just sort of disappeared ahead - and pulled into a scenic lookout. Since it was raining we picnicked in our respective rigs and gazed at the view the whole time. We were in the clouds, but still had a wonderful scene falling away from us. One of the more spectacular things was the huge snow fences they’ve built here. They add something to the landscape because of how they are built - these are structures, not fences and they amble over hill and dale, sometimes alone, sometimes in row. Must be an awesome sight when the snow is blowing.
Like Yellowstone, this park has a lot of winter activity. Would love to visit when the snow is down, but sure wouldn’t want to drive these roads in winter..
So, turns out we were at the top of Powder River Pass, at 9,666 ft. It got really cold up here, and Russ swore there were snow pellets in the rain. So, all the distance we had chugged up, we now had to switchback down. Quite an experience. Jack is very good at driving these mountain back roads so I don’t worry, but I do hang on. One hand is out the window snapping pictures the other keeping me steady and giving me the security of holding something solid. So today we started by going from almost dessert to alpine - before lunch.
After filling up with gas in Buffalo, we got onto the I-90 anticipating some easier traveling for a while. What a laugh. Sometimes I’m so dumb - forgot Russ’s feelings about multi-lanes and speed are as bad as they are. The limit is 75, and this is a great road through wide open spaces. Traffic steady but not heavy. Jack kept his speed down to 65 with cruise control because he knows Russ doesn’t like ‘fast.’ And about half of the distance we traveled was under construction so our side of the highway was down to one lane and a speed of 45. No one was working, just the cones to keep traffic in one lane - the other was obviously going to be stripped the next day.
Saw lots of prong horns (sort of like an antelop) along the road sides and this is a very scenic drive because the landscape changed quite dramatically, so the construction was almost welcome because it left lots of time for enjoying the scenery.
At 4 we were at Sundance, just 19 miles from the state line and South Dakota, saw a RV campground and decided to pull in. Nice park, but as soon as Russ came in to register we knew something was up. Later on he came over to our campsite and ‘lost it.’ He was totally bummed out because Jack had been driving “so fast”. I pointed out that they never once used the walkie talkies to say ‘Hey, slow down,’ nor did they slow down themselves. They know that if we loose sight of them we just pullover and wait. We’ve been doing it all along.
Anyway Russ got so upset he threw the maps at me and stormed off. Jack went in the other direction so that he wouldn’t loose his temper and make things worse and Carol started to come aboard me. Shot her down by pointing out that Russ is a big boy, driving his own rig, and in charge of how fast and how safely he drives.
They came over later that evening and apologized. Russ was “very tired” apparently hit 6 of the construction cones and was pretty upset because he didn’t feel in control.
So now we all know Jack right. He was upset. He’s been trying so hard to be considerate, to do things to make it easy and enjoyable for Russ. I have to tell you I have been amazed at his patience. We don’t drive fast, in fact he never breaks the speed limit because of his earlier eye problems. Just doesn’t want to take chances.
Anyway, this am Jack has this “he wants slow, he’ll get slow” attitude so cut our speed back to 50. On the I-90 that is a little hairy, but we didn’t have far to go, just 120 miles to WALL, home of the famous Wall Drug. Story here is that a couple settled in Wall in 1931 because they just couldn’t face going any further. He was a pharmacist and opened a drug store but they had few customers. The main road went nearby but no one stopped until ‘the Mrs’. came up with the idea of offering free drinks of ice cold water. They also offered a 5 cent cup of coffee with a donut. The business took off and now encompasses a couple of square blocks. It’s a touristy place, that still offers 5 cent coffee on the honour systems, good home cooked food, and a whole passel of western stuff to buy ranging from fine western art to tacky souveniers. It is still owned and operated by the same family. A neat place to explore.
Then I decided to heck with Russ, we had planned to take the Badlands loop road, before making time and I wanted to do it so keeping to the theory of they follow where ever we go, we set out for the South Dakota Badlands National Park.. I did set out a route that takes us off I-90 which we could pick up from the other end of the loop.
I think they enjoyed the Badlands. Hard to tell ‘cause they are barely speaking. It is such a totally different landscape. You drive out on the South Dakota grasslands that are rolling, but flat, then suddenly the land breaks away into these absolutely stunning formations. The landscape is a masterpiece of erosion, barren with little plant life, and so beautiful it looks like castles rising up from the grasslands. The badlands have vibrant colouring often in bands, some formations are red, others yellow or white, or strips of several colours. I hope our pictures do it justice, but know they won’t you can’t capture this magnificence on a piece of paper or a computer screen.
OK, so we rolled on through the badlands and instead of taking I-90, we crossed over heading due north to our alternative, Rte 14 a lesser traveled road. Just minutes later it turns into a gravel road, and off we go out into the grasslands where nary another creature can be seen or heard. Glad we didn’t have a breakdown out there because I don’t think many folks use that road. We made it through and after about 60 miles realized that there are no campgrounds out here in the boonies. They are all along the busy highways. Finally ended up parked in a funny little campground in the cottonwoods behind a rundown local bar and gas station in a little placed called Midland
We made an early stop (4:30) because this looks like it for a few miles and we could all do with a relaxed restful evening. Its going to be a long few days trying to get back into Canada in time for Russ to pay his bills before the end of the month, without going over 50 miles an hour.
One interesting note. As we left the Badlands we passed two historic site. One is a “soddy” - its an original, built by settlers well over 100 years ago and now preserved and managed by the Parks people. The other was the site of a Minute Man Missel launch place which you can now tour. They are about a quarter mile apart. Two strong images of the USA. Intrepid pioneers, settling the west in truly adverse conditions and modern military might keeping the world’s bad guys at bay.
More next time
Love Julie