Off like a prom dress
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2006
1
2
17
Trip End
Sep 21, 2006
Aladdin,
Wyoming,
United States
Saturday, September 2, 2006
We made a short stop in Bozeman and walked around the downtown area a little. We ate some DELICIOUS tomato soup at the Community Co-op and then we were on the road again.
We had been planning on driving to the SE corner of Montana, then camping just over the border in Wyoming near Devil's Tower. Well, we crossed the border into Wyoming, then we crossed the border into South Dakota. Huh?!? It was funny because both of us saw the 'Welcome to South Dakota' sign, but neither of us said anything right away, we both thought we had just misread it and it was a sign directing drivers towards Mt. Rushmore or something. Well, turns out we had missed a turn and drove into the NW corner of South Dakota near Belle Fourche.
It turned out that it was probably a good thing that we had done that because it was getting dark and we probably wouldn't have made it to where we had been thinking about camping anyway. We ended up camping at Bear Lodge campground in the Black Hills National Forest. It was POURING when we got there but it stopped soon after we arrived so we were able to make our dinners. Tortilla Chili Lime soup and crackers for me and Lentil soup and peanuts for Jenny. Even though it had stopped raining, the ground was really wet so we decided to sleep in the back of the car. It was a great first day of traveling, beautiful weather, (until the last 30 miles or so) good food, great company, interesting conversation.
Day #1 Mileage: 634.2
Allison
We had a great first day. It began with a visit from Santa Clause! Actually, it was my friend and boss Chuck, who bears a small resemblance to Santa. Chuck came by in the wee hours of the morning and dropped off a care package--homegrown veggies, and other goodies. In fact, Allison woke up to the sounds of Chuck clunking around on the roof of the car! Thank you Chuck, you sweetheart!!
We basically drove all day, with a couple fun stops. We enjoyed the heck out of Dr. Laura, what a bi-otch!! She made at least 3 young girls cry in the 2 hours we were listening. Now we're both addicted. After we crossed the Rocky Mountains, we starting seeing all kinds of animals!! Tons of deer and antelope, and tons of roadkill. Our route into Wyoming, then oops South Dakota, was, we decided, the bloodiest highway in America.
We arrived at our campground in the dark, and we found one empty spot that we were immediately booted out of by an RV-driver. But, as we were sitting in the car wondering what to do, the RV-driver came over and offered us one of his other campsites for the night. Very nice guy!
Jenny
