Yesterday, fortunately, we had our brakes checked, even though our complete “tune-up guy” in Michigan said they were great. They had to be replaced and I am thankful, especially with the winding, steep roads through Yellowstone Park today. The weather smiled on us once again, with cool temperatures and blue sky .( As the day progressed, we realized we had not scratched the surface on varying ecosystems, terrain, mountainous views, forestation and even wildfire damage.)

The first view of the Rocky Mountains was breathtaking as we rounded the corner within miles of the park from the east entrance. Past the Buffalo Bill Cody Dam, we headed into the mountains. One of our first exciting up close and personal encounters involved a wandering buffalo, which I captured on video as he crossed in front and beside the driver’s side of the car.  He was unfazed by civilization in his path, unlike us:)

The next thrill was a huge bear on the banks of the Yellowstone River. Cars and RV’s were pulled over with cameras pointed at this great sight, and I was sad the driver missed it:( Our next stop was a trail beside the gurgling rapids of the river, so we hiked along the rocky edge. There were geese fishing for breakfast on the rocks and we hoped to see jumping fish, but it’s not the season.

Once we left that hike, we had another hike to the Norris Geyser Basin, where we passed turquoise bubbling geothermal pools, the Dragon’s Mouth Cave that growled and spewed as it hissed sulfur steam from the cavernous opening. The Norris Geyser performed for the spectators and did not disappoint, since it erupts every 20-80 minutes.

Before we left the park, we witnessed Elk grazing at the visitor’s center on the north side, and again in the river on our way into Livingston, Montana. This is as far as we will go into Montana, but the historic Murray House Hotel is a treat after this long day. Tomorrow we head back into the park to finish the thrilling and majestic views of geysers, mountains, streams, and wildlife on our way to the Tetons.

We left the Branch House in historic Deadwood, S.D., a town we would visit again, and headed to the hills. Along the scenic byway through Spearfish Canyon, we stopped at Bridal Falls and spotted not only colorful yellow autumn on the hills but mountain goats along the road. They were unafraid and beautiful.

We continued to Devils Tower, Wyoming with a picnic within sights of this beautiful landmark, tasting buffalo sausage and cheese snacks. The trip was a long journey today with ten hours on the road. We saw desolate mounds of varying colors, dotted with sagebrush. It was a smokey day, with the wildfire residue coloring the sky and obliterating the distant hills. It did not diminish our appreciation of the unbelievable varying terrain, which traversed between colorful mounds to farm and ranchland, to valley green crop farming. The colors of the earth are amazing.

Our final stop was in Cody, Wyoming. Our room is in the historic Buffalo Bill/s Irma Hotel downtown. We sipped drinks on the verandah as the rains poured onto the dry streets, hopefully washing away some of the wildfire smoke. We are within miles of Yellowstone and look forward to the day tomorrow.

Last night our entertainment was a walk through the Wall Cemetary across the road, which is perched on the outer wall of the Badlands, but we packed up and left early this morning from our little cabin in Wall, stopping in NOWHERESVILLE to find something for breakfast This has to be a first. Stale donuts and Ensure for breakfast! We followed the Sage Creek Rd., lined with Tickseed Coreopsis and groups of Buffalo interspersed with coteries of Prairie Dogs. It was a beautiful winding drive through prairie lands with farms and deer spotted along the way.

We took the scenic drive to the Black Hills, which was ablaze in yellow. Through Custer State Park, the Black Hills had an immense amount of Pine Beetle damage to the trees, so there were many areas that were barren with fallen pines and blank spaces amongst the beautiful pines. Alongside the car, we witnessed Buffalo rolling in the dirt, steep rock formations, camps, and beautiful roadside creeks. (Bill has been responsible for all the driving and maneuvered the switchbacks like the pro he is behind the wheel:)

Our first beautiful drive took us through Custer State Park and we joined the other masked tourists at Mt. Rushmore. It was everything we hoped to see and more. We did not spend a great deal of time there and bypassed the visitor center, attempting to steer clear of the people, but it was an impressive landmark.

Our plan was to have lunch on Sylvan Lake, but my guess is the season is over and there were no lunches being served, so we had another tailgate picnic. We were so impressed with Needles Highway! The views were breathtaking from every angle! We are so thankful for the best weather ever to view all the unbelievable sights.

Our end tourist attraction was the Crazy Horse Monument and we are so happy we stopped! There were Lakota dancers from the Rosebud Reservation performing native dances with the history of their tribe and it was beyond beautiful. The museum was also surprisingly comprehensive in its collections of native Indian artifacts and photos.

Our last stop for the night is Deadwood and we are staying at the Branch House downtown. We were fortunate to time our arrival for the big shoot-out re-enactment on Main St., compete with gunslingers before dinner in a once-famous brothel,. The Deadwood Saloon, once we found this tiny restaurant, delivered a wonderful meal of our first ever Bison steak. We were not disappointed with our meal in our quiet little private room.

We made a decision not to head to Montana on this trip, but to head to Yellowstone via Wyoming. We want to save the Montana trip for a future combination with Seattle, Vancouver, and Alaska. Onward we go!

We decided to take it easy today and give the driver a break, so we drove a short distance to the Badlands State Park for a hike. The weather was perfect–65-70 degrees, sunny, no humidity, and blue skies! The smokey skies cleared with the nice north breeze, so the formations appeared much more colorful today.

We entered at the Pinnacles Entrance and were greeted by thousands of chirping prairie dogs, scurrying around until humans invaded their personal space, then into their burrows! (They were cute little varmints, as they stood on their hind legs). The next sight was a herd of Pronghorn, unfazed by humans as they grazed by the roadside and crossed in front of traffic. Our last wildlife close encounter included Bighorn Sheep, grazing on grasses.

We stopped at dozens of overlooks, but decided today was the day for a hike, so we hiked the Castle Trail. At our age, we did not push ourselves to go the entire ten miles, but we hiked about 21/2 miles. Neither of us thought to apply sunscreen, so we did not hike as long as we would normally. There were no trees for shade, but beautiful even terrain, with grasses and wildflowers, some rocky climbing, and views that were spectacular.

It’s a day to relax and recover, take-out food to our cute cabin, and some sports for Bill. Tomorrow we head to Deadwood!

Just when we thought our accommodations were the best at the lodge in Mitchell, we have pulled in at the end of  a long drive and an adventure-filled day at the Frontier Cabins in Wall., South Dakota. (OK, we did the Wall Drugstore at the suggestion of friends, but we could not get out of there fast enough:) These cabins are appointed with log furniture and details I would not expect from a rental, and Bill is excited that we will be here for a few days with a log rocker on the porch for his cigar and scotch:)

We were sorry to have missed (cool name) Woonsocket, S.D., but took back roads through grassland prairies, dotted with hay bales, separated by huge acres of sunflower fields. Their heads were bowed, as the smoke from west coast fires and end of the season has them drooping, but I had no idea this was a crop of significance in this region! We headed to Pierre, the capital, where Bill hoped to get a glance of Kristi Noehm, the beautiful governor. (No such luck.) We had a picnic at a sweet park on the Missouri River and headed to the Badlands.

Through Crow Creek Reservation, along stretches of flat prairies, the only thing to be seen for miles was short grass and barely a tree in sight. We laughed as we came into the Badlands, with billboards “Feed Me Tacos And Tell Me I’m Pretty” and “Mexican Food–Local Water”, so we ate Mexican for dinner at a Cantina in Wall. (Take-out) The last sign was “In Wine There’s Wisdom. In Water There’s Bacteria” hahaha

We had a quick stop at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, where we viewed a part of our history that we have not forgotten. For thirty years, 1,000 missiles were kept in this area of South Dakota, on high alert in case of nuclear war. Bill and I have memories of the drills we had in our schools in case of this event, and to this day I remember the fear of the Cuban Missle Crisis.

The highlight of the day was a spontaneous stop, screeching to a halt to take a 20-minute helicopter ride from Aldo, who delighted in swooping down into the cavernous monuments of the Castle formations, White River, trails, and interior of the Badlands. We still had good visibility at this low level and the colorful striations of the rock. It was my first helicopter ride, so Bill let me sit up front and I loved every minute.

Aside from a “feeding the prairie dog” farm, which we did not visit, we were happy to see Bison and Pronghorn grazing beside the park roads when we left the park. Tomorrow, weather depending, we are either hiking or visiting Mt. Rushmore.

It was a corny and spammy kind of day. (I will explain later.) We were up bright and early for our drive from Rochester, Minnesota to Mitchell, South Dakota, passing more cornfields than I have ever seen in my life! Wind farms punctuated the flat prairies, as we drove along red roads. I could not figure out why they were red until later in the day, but we took back roads as much as we could, so we could see the little villages along the way. Only beanfields bisected the cornfields, which added more color on this fall day.

My husband loves Spam, so we had to stop at the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota. It was worth the stop and one of the most comprehensive exhibits we have ever seen. We had to pass four inspections to get into this empty morning spot, but after temperature, mandatory tracing information, questionnaire, and thorough handwashing, we were given a stylus to use on the exhibits. I had no idea there were hundreds of varieties of Spam sold all over the world!

We had a picnic at a rest area before our next stop at Sioux Falls Park. Our answer to red roads–the Quartzite or Jasper rocks featured at the falls is still used in the paving of the roads in this area. We were sad the observation tower was closed, but donned our hiking boots and walked around the whole park, admiring the falls from many angles, thankful to get out of the car.

Our afternoon tourist stop in Mitchell, South Dakota landed at the famous Corn Palace. What an amazing structure, with the history of the crop art dating back to 1891. Home to concerts, sports, and community events, the murals are re-designed each year with 325,000 ears of split corn of all colors.

We have been eating early afternoon to avoid crowds and had a great outdoor meal at the Back 40 Taphouse Grill, with extremely eclectic decor, before settling into a cute lodge for the night. This might be the last cool day for a while, as the temperature is supposed to go up, but we are ready for any weather. (Including snow!) Badlands or bust!