When in Montana - you white water raft!

We visited Yellowstone a couple of years ago, but we didn’t white water raft. It has been on the bucket list! Check! Lots of fun. The water level is down and I understand that June can be a wild ride. We may have to do it again! Mark was tossed out because the girl sitting in front of him fell out and shifted his side of the raft into the water. Listening to safety instructions he did as instructed and was back in the raft within seconds. I wasn’t worried and he said it felt good to get wet!  We found a picturesque place to park the camper! 

Leaving the Yellowstone area, we were stuck on 1-90 for a little over two hours due to a car crash with a fatality. We watched the ambulance, care flight and coroner pass. I said to Mark, we lost two hours and someone lost their life. No big deal for us. It was a gnarly accident and I pray for the others involved. As we passed, a state trooper with a sign that said “thank you for your patience”. 

We had a huge climb up the pass outside of Butte to cross the continental divide. We got about 7 miles to the gallon going up! On the way down, Mark had a challenging experience going slow enough with the winding road and then contending with the wind through the pass. 

We got in very late to the cutest RV park,  ever. Jim and Mary’s RV Campground in Missoula, Montana. Each camp site has its own flower garden. Super clean with tall pine trees. 

What the hail? Little Bighorn and Alpacas!

We were rudely awakened by a storm way too early at 5:00 am with heavy rain and hail and a freaked out dog. Luckily, the hail was pea size but sounds so loud and much bigger on a thin camper roof. With sleep done for the night, we started our day driving from South Dakota through a portion of Wyoming and ended in Montana. 

Nothing but big sky, grass and hills for as far as you could see in all directions. We passed through Gillette, Wyoming and Mark spotted  a huge locomotive graveyard. 200 train engines left to die on unused train tracks. The trains went on for a couple of miles. Curious, I looked it up on the World Wide Web and found that in 2016 there was a downturn in demand to move coal and general train transport in the US and the locomotives were not needed and have been left to sit.

Most of the land is federally owned or Indian reservations- which prompted me to research about reservations. The tribal member driving the truck sitting next to me was not a wealth of information. Speaking of wealth... the wealthiest tribe is the Shakopee Nation out of Minneapolis-St Paul. Each member (about 500) get paid $1 million each annually from their successful casino and golf resort. I married a guy from the wrong tribe! 

We stayed at a small RV campground called 7th ranch. A working ranch with a well thought out campground. It was a pleasant stay, plus they give you free ice cream - score. 

We visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield - home of Custers Last Stand. Two days in June 1876 when about 300 members of the 7th Calvary died along with General George Custer battling the combined tribes of the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. The US government wanted to end the Indian independent and nomadic way of life.   The battlefield is huge with big hills and ravines. Fun fact- about half of the 7th regiment lived. They were fighting another battle about 5 miles away. 

A marker designates where Custer fell - there were mass graves and soldiers buried where they died. Most of the officers were exhumed and moved to cemeteries in the Northeast. Custer is buried at West Point. 

We arrived at our second Harvest Host location in Belgrade,  Montana - the Sentinel Alpaca Farm. They have about 300 alpacas. We got to feed, pet, feel the fur and learn all about these sweet creatures. Very tame and gentle. The owner, Nathaniel (a burned out Boeing engineer) gave us a tour, provided a history lesson and answered all of our questions. The white babies were born last week. Our camper looks out over the mother’s grazing field. A fun free stop for the night. 

The farm had a very friendly pig that came to greet us! Kate was thinking she hadn’t met a dog like this before! 

First National Monument- Devils Tower

It was a bit of a drive but glad we went to see Devils Tower, Wyoming.  Wow - our nations first national monument designated in 1906 by Teddy Roosevelt. There are different theories about how it it was formed but consensus is volcanic activity creating rare  phonolite porphyry made from cooling magma.    

We first spotted it 14 miles away and it kept getting more impressive as we got closer. We spotted two climbers midway up the lower columns. Crazy people. 

Indians view it as sacred ground and prayer clothes can be found hanging from trees.   

Prairie dogs can be found everywhere. 

We saw the center of the nation exit with a monument you can stand on to be smack in the middle of the US but we had visiting Deadwood on our list -  you know gold rush- calamity Jane and Bill Hickok... bars and gambling- which is not our thing. We should have picked the center of the nation. 

Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park

Bucket list item - Mount Rushmore - check!
It is impressive! Built from 1927 - 1945. Heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.  We went to the night time ceremony that really tugs on your American pride heartstrings and then back to see Rushmore in the daylight. We were there in time to watch the morning light change the color of the rocks. At night they show a video of the history and why each president was selected. I could figure out the first three, but why Teddy? Ahhh...well that makes sense... He was a conservationist and established many new National Parks. 

All the states have flags along the mall to the viewing theater except Mississippi because they don’t have a state flag. Mississippi voted to remove their flag because of the confederate symbol. This will be a very controversial statement but personally I don’t agree with removing history - statues to flags.

Stumbled across some really cool bridges called “pigtails”. When was the last time you saw a bridge made out of trees? The road made a spiral. You drive under the bridge and then on top of the bridge. 

I thought Zion National Park was one big rock... Custer State Park has massive rocks with beautiful lakes. We took a long hike around Sylvan Lake and navigated some tiny tunnels to view the park. Gorgeous area. 

Refrigerator woes, Black Hills and Crazy Horse

We dashed off very early this morning  to spend three hours at a RV dealership trying to see if there was a solution to our refrigerator problem. Long story short they said it’s broken. Mark called Jayco directly. They are working on a solution including a mobile repair service. I am not holding my breath. It is a significant inconvenience but in the big scheme of life - minor. 

We got to the Black Hills later than expected. By the way - Black Hills got its name because as you are driving up the thick pine trees look black. 

Crazy Horse is a bit pricey - but they are trying to fund the sculpture without asking for government assistance. I don’t think they have made much progress in the last 5 years or so. But you can pay $125 and go to the top and jackhammer a piece and claim that you helped carve. We passed. First blast was in 1948 and today it is very far from completed. They have been working on it for 72 years!!! This is what they plan it to look like. Maybe my great great grandchildren can see a completed sculpture. 

Planned- smile...

A young woman and Lakota tribe member, Star Chief Eagle, along with several young tribe members demonstrated traditional dance. Very informative.  They don’t smile because of the seriousness of the dance and to concentrate. A bit of trivia- Indian children were taken from their families an put in boardinghouses  to assimilate as “America Anglo’s”. The tribes are working hard to bring back and honor long forgotten language and raditions. I usually cringe at the price of admission at some of the tourist traps but I felt like this was beneficial. 

Another bit of trivia-  Mark’s family are members of the Choctaw Nation. 

We are staying at the Mount Rushmore KOA. What a mega KOA 600 plus sites and all FULL. Pool, splash pad and oh yes.... a wine bar! 

Badlands and Minuteman Delta Silos

Whew- the breeze feels like a furnace! It is very hot, dry and dusty here in South Dakota. Canadian wild fires have brought smoke and haze into the area. 

Today, we visited the Badlands National Park. Home of unique geography and one of the richest fossil beds in the US. An  ocean once reached this area and fossils of sea turtles, alligators, clams to hippos and camels (to name a few) have been discovered. 

The park changes as you travel the 24 miles from gate to gate. You can see grasslands on one side of the road and deep water erosion created canyons on the other. 

We saw lots of wildlife- bighorn sheep, pronghorn, prairie dogs and bison. 

South Dakota has preserved a few of the once hundreds of minuteman missile silos. Two people worked 24 hour shifts in a control center designed to protect them from a nuclear blast. Each launch facility had 10 missiles to control from a bunker made of steel and 4 foot thick concrete walls. 

I am old enough to remember the duck and cover drills in elementary school. Oh what they didn’t know about a nuclear bomb back then or maybe they did and were just trying to make people feel better about potential survival. 

Some missile  silos around the country have been turned into luxury homes! I think that I could live very easily underground. 

The random sight for the day - a huge Tesla charging station.