Rapid City, South DakotaTo

 




This morning, we left Rawlins, Wyoming after watching the beginning of the Wimbledon Men's Finals.  Decided it was going to be too long to watch in the hotel, so we left for our trip north.  Later we found that Djokovic had not shown up and Alcaraz repeated his win from last year.  Vi was disappointed because her favorite (Paolini) in the Women's Finals the previous day had also lost.

Headed north toward Casper for our eventual destination of Rapid City.  Along the way, we stopped at the Independence Rock Rest Area which we had visited before.  Always an interesting stop to remember the pioneer's journey along the way.  As the plaque above says, it was a stopping point for the pioneers on their way from St Louis to California, hitting this spot in Wyoming close to Independence Day.  Crossed the North Platte River several times before getting to Casper.

Had breakfast in Casper and then hit I-25.  It's an unusual way to travel for us as we were actually heading south on I-25 to eventually head north.  The part of I-25 out of Casper runs in an east-west direction for a short time.  One of the things that we missed were the herds of antelopes that we normally see along the route.  Must have been too hot for them and they were staying in the higher elevations.  I think we crossed the Continental Divide at least four times between yesterday and today.  Elevation is around 6K to 7K at each of the locations.

After leaving I-25, we went through Lusk which is the site of a municipal nine-hole golf course.  One of these days, we're going to stop in Lusk, stay there in the Best Western and play the course.  Looked like a nice course with not much action.  Our route north took us through Hot Springs, SD and past the still uncompleted Chief Crazy Horse Memorial.  Beautiful work of granite art and it may rival Mount Rushmore (which is nearby) when it's finished.  

Heavy tourist season and lots of trailers and campers on the road, especially around Mount Rushmore.  Some really beautiful scenery and quite different travelling the back roads as opposed to straight Interstate 80 travel.  Wyoming has quite a varied geography and lots of natural resources, from oil to coal to windmills.  Huge ranches spread over miles. 

Arrived in Rapid City around 5:00 and were glad to check into the Best Western.  Tomorrow our travels will take as across South Dakota, passing through the Badlands and Wall Drug.  Mix of interstate and backroads.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reno, NV

We arrived in Reno around 2;30 this afternoon after completing a trip of 6,992 miles!  Too bad we couldn't have taken a detour of eight miles to round it out; however, I don't think we were thinking of anything but getting home.  Great trip, good adventures, good friendships, and awesome events. Not much to report on today's trip.  Continued on I-80 from West Wendover to Reno in beautiful sunny weather.  A little smoke in the air but didn't affect our trip at all.  Everything was fine at home although it was a little toasty since we had turned the a/c off. I think Zelda is now two inches higher since we unloaded everything. Now it's back to the routine.  Thanks to everyone who made our trip so memorable.  We celebrated old friendships, welcomed new members to the family, and thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Time for the well-worn ending - take care and enjoy life. 
Read more

Switch from Daily Updates

 Well, I have now switched from doing the daily email updates to using this venue.  It's easier and makes it simpler for people to access.  This way if someone wants to read the updates, they can.  I'll send a link to the blog and then you can check and see if there are any updates.  If I miss a day or two (and I may not update every day), you can catch up on the site.  Today was a catch-up day, laundry, organizing both Char's van, my trailer and running errands.  Weather really turned warm for a change - got up 62 degrees.  There's some talk of 70 degrees on Sunday and Monday.  As I said, these will not be daily updates, just something to let you know where I am and what is going onl  Let me know how you like this format.  Not sure I'll change it, but you have option of voicing your opinion :-). 
Read more

West Wendover, NV

Image
 We arrived in West Wendover yesterday about midday after a relatively short drive.  Who knew they had casinos in this small town (well, I guess maybe we did).  Staying at the Rainbow which is one of the Peppermill's properties out here.  Crowded because it was Saturday, but we were able to find a place to stay. The trip over from Rawlins was interesting - windmills, cattle, oil wells in Wyoming.  No wonder they are so resourceful.  Coming through Utah has its own scenery.  The ride down through the canyons from Park City to Salt Lake City is beautiful, cutting through amazing red rock canyons and then it opens up to an awesome view of SLC and the Great Salt Lake.  Unbeknownst to us, when we traveled through the canyons going East, Katie and Ryan were attending a wedding in Park City.  We would have waved as we went by had we known. Felt good to be back in Nevada and only a short day's drive to Reno.  Had an excellent dinner and enjoyed ...
Read more