Saturday, August 16, 2014

10. Saturday, August 16-enroute Yellowstone

I would highly recommend anyone stay in the Americinn (get it?-America Inn :)) ), in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, not that it is a major stop on any interstate.

We usually stay at one of the major chain hotels (Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn, etc.) but took a flier on this one. Lucky choice as the room was great, the staff very pleasant and helpful, and the breakfast good. Too bad the internet sucked or I would rave about it.

As we left Belle Fourche, we stopped at a 120 year old country store in Alladin, Wyoming. Touring the building, I came upon (for me) a treasure-a 1920's telephone switchboard that turned out to be the original switchboard for most of the county.

120 year old country store

1920's cord board, complete with antlers, They would not sell it........Damn

The plan was to drive toward an ending inYellowstone after seeing Devils Tower and Little Big Horn where George Armstrong Custer made his last ego-fueled mistake.  We got to Devils Tower, looked toward Little Big Horn and realized we had made a HUGE mistake in estimating both distance and time.  Not too much yelling involved, frantic phone calls to Yellowstone reservations to secure a room for tonite (later changed to Sunday night) and a decision that ultimately said "Screw it, we are in no hurry and can do whatever we want".

We did see Devils Tower,

How does anyone adequately explain how this looks in the middle of nowhere?

skipped Little Bighorn, and took an absolutely fabulous drive through the Bighorn National Forest. I cannot overstate the beauty of the area.

Bighorn National Forest
We pulled off the road and had a great lunch surrounded by pines and 2,000,000 bugs. Good stuff!

Alone at last! No one for miles! Dr. Pepper in hand!
We ended up in Cody, Wyoming in a 'mom-'n-pop' motel named "A Wyoming Inn". How mortifying!  Actually very clean, very good Wifi, low price.....who could want more?

Home, sweet home. Tomorrow...YELLOWSTONE!!
Daily stats:

  • 382 miles
  • 6 hours 30 minutes
  • Loud discussions----several
  • good sights and times----many



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