Day 19

Starting Point: Wall, SD
Ending Point: Billings, MT
Mileage: 849
Weather: Still really hot, got up as high as 38 degrees; however, we have crossed the threshold into mountain climate, meaning the humidity has ceased.
Accommodations: Motel 6


We decided last night that it will likely be a long time before we get to South Dakota again, so we had better do some touristy things in the early part of the day (before the weather got unbearable again) and enjoy the absolutely gorgeous scenery. We took an hour long trip through The Badlands National Park, and we were not disappointed. One gorgeous view after the next, turn after turn. It's nearly impossible to describe, except to say that if you've never been, you really should.


After that we headed west to Rapid City SD; unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to visit the city, which also looked quite beautiful, and instead headed to Mount Rushmore. It was also worth the trip, being both beautiful and impressive. It may not have been the "life changing patriotic experience" the billboards had promised, but a lovely thing to see nonetheless.


We then took an absolutely beautiful drive through the Black Hills Forest on the way to Deadwood SD. Both Kathleen and I became fans of the HBO show by the same name, and so we were excited to see the burial place of Will Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. The town itself is of course much more modern now, but the old main street is more or less preserved in an 1876 kind of way, however, very much for the tourists - still though, it was fun, and worth the trip. The cemetery itself was worth seeing.

Then we began the long part of the journey, for the day. Through the north-east corner of Wyoming, grazing the edge of the Rockies, and in through the south-eastern part of Montana, where we have found our days-end in Billings. Finding a hotel was a tricky one though, as the people working to clean up the latest Exxon spill are using most of the hotel rooms. We did find a cheap room at a clean, but not exactly a Fairmont, Motel 6 in an off-highway district, and feel safe enough to get a good nights sleep, and begin the long haul north tomorrow.