On the Road Again

Once again the Badlands eluded us.  We were just too tired and decided to spend the day beside a lake in Bear Butte State Park, have dinner in Rapid City and then retire to the luxury of the Tire Barn for TV (Wizard of OZ), a hair wash in the bathroom sink and the relative cool of their air conditioning.

Monday we went into Rapid City to visit the many statues of presidents on their street corners and wait for Celeste, who was ready by noon and…off we went!

We camped at Custer National Forest in a totally empty campground which was not typical for a National Forest in that there was an established campground with a picnic table and pit toilet and no fee.  Our first stop the next morning was Battle of Little Big Horn National Monument, which was a far cry from Wounded Knee.  First of all, it was established by the US Government and, therefore, rather elegant.  Although the main markers and information paid for by the US government was about Custer, there was a recent monument and explanation of the Indian part paid for by the Indian tribes involved.  The Indian memorial emphasized peace while the US memorial was to the battle.  All in all, it was much more palatable than Wounded Knee.

We went directly from there to Bozeman where live both David’s son Joel and his professor from college Dave and his wife Becky.  We stayed with them on their sheep ranch and had the luxury of not only our own little cabin, but an outhouse with a composting toilet.  Imagine lying in a log cabin in a real bed, lulled to sleep at night to the babbling of a brook and the baa-ing of sheep.  If I were poetic, I could write a poem about it.  That combined with showers at both Joel’s and the farm as well as washing machines at both made for a very complete stay.

Dave and Becky were charming hosts who opened their home to us so that we could come and go as we pleased and made us lamb shish kabobs for our first night’s dinner which we shared with Joel who took us on two great hikes the next day.  We decided to show off for them and made them dinner the second night using a combination of our camp stove and their kitchen.  Each day and night, our entertainment was their 4 month old border collie puppy, Hannah, who was the most mischievous dog we have ever seen, always bouncing around where she was not supposed to be.

The next day was a full day driving and driving through the Bear Tooth Mountains for about 10 hours with Joel as our guide.  Our first stop was the Boiling River in Yellowstone.  It is a hot, hot spring (about 150 degrees…someone fell in last year and died!) which feeds into a cold, cold fast running Yellowstone river.  Along with a bunch of other folks, we sat at the edge where the boiling and cold water came together.  A cm. one way or the other and you were either way too hot or freezing.  Combined with the speed of the river which made it impossible to stand, and the heat of the rocks, which made it impossible to balance, and I can’t say it was relaxing, but most entertaining.  We hiked to a fire tower , turned tourist observation post at 10,000 feet and visited with the lonely volunteer; hiked around glacial lakes bordered by 4 foot thick snow and drove and drove.  Had dinner in Red Lodge and then drove some more to get home.

The next day I actually had a manicure and pedicure and the car had an oil change and lunch at the restaurant where Joel works , then a long hike through Dave and Becky’s fields looking for sheep skulls to send to grandson Sage.

Saturday was our departure day.  Of course we had to have some lamb chops for camp dinners and I bought some more wool for knitting projects.  Dave and Becky process their own wool into yarn which they have dyed and sell their own organic, predator friendly meat as well.  Their website is www.lambandwool.com.  Visit it to order their products which we love. Goodbye Hannah Banana!