Month: September 2023

We headed north on Wednesday for another long drive. Despite being up at 6 am and being on the road before 8, we still weren’t able to secure a site within the National Park – their sites were full by 11:30. However, we did manage to get a nice spot in the Little Missouri National Grasslands at Buffalo Gap.

We spent a relaxing day on Thursday around the campsite – I baked some bread and cinnamon buns and had some time to relax. We were treated to a beautiful sunset that Paul captured including our trailer in it.

Then on Friday, before we headed to the National Park, we had a surprise discovery that some mice 🐁 🐁 had been busy visiting inside our trailer. We cleaned things up, glad to see they hadn’t been too destructive inside our pantry. Then we headed out to see the landscape. It’s much greener than the badlands in South Dakota.

We saw a herd of wild horses crossing the highway.

The loop road in the park is currently closed about 3/4 of the way around as they are rebuilding it, so it involves turning around and going back, but it gives you a second chance to see the hills or to get a view from a different angle!

There is also some diversity in the rock formations in the park – here was one that reminded me of mushrooms.

But then in contrast, looking the other way, were some steep peaks.

We also encountered a bit of wildlife on our drive. There was a huge prairie dog colony that we stopped to take a few pictures of.

We drove up a side road where we were rewarded with a sighting of a small herd of pronghorns.

We returned to Theodore Roosevelt National Park on Saturday for another viewpoint called Painted Canyon. We found it pretty but not as colourful as we expected. It was a good time to visit however as the sun was on it.

Before we were able to even park, however, we had about a 15 minute bison jam. The bison just go where and when they want. Combined with the fact that people want pictures, it results in a traffic stand still!

Our final activity Saturday was a trip into town for laundry. That will hopefully be our last laundromat on this trip!

We’ve caught one mouse 🐭 so far, and another escaped the trap while we watched him run away. We reset traps and stuffed blankets under our bedroom and bathroom doors so we wouldn’t have any unwelcome guests during the night. We hope tonight the traps will catch at least one that we know about and anymore that may be also around. Going to have to look for the entry points as well!

Tomorrow, we’ll make our way to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Tuesday was a bit different for us. We drove a couple of “scenic” roads through a couple of canyons, but we didn’t find them all that scenic. Lots of treed covered hills with a bit of water flowing in creeks beside the road, but nothing really impressive. We did drive through the town of Sturgis to see what the town is like. Place after place focusses on anything motorcycle. The town of Sturgis, with a population of 7,000, hosts the world’s largest gathering of motorcyclists topping 700,000 in August for a week of events including concerts.

A drive through the town was enough for us. We certainly have seen our share of motorcycles on our travels, especially in August as many of those who travelled from all over the continent took advantage of the occasion to see some of the surrounding sights, especially in Wyoming!

After leaving Sturgis, we soon arrived in the small town of Deadwood. It is full of history of the Wild West and the original Main Street is interesting. Here, we parked, and headed out to see their historic Main Street and find a bit of lunch.

In 1876, gold miners from the southern Black Hills of South Dakota moved further north where they discovered a gulch of dead trees and a creek of gold and that was the birth of Deadwood. It attracted not only gold miners, but outlaws and gunslingers, one of who was named Wild Bill Hickok. He survived only weeks before he was gunned down over a poker hand which became known as the “Dead Man’s Hand”.

The man who killed Wild Bill Hickok, Jack McCall went on to be tried but found not guilty. In the summer months, a local theatre re-enacts the trial every night. They also do various street skits throughout most days.

We also saw a collection of old cars visiting the area and a few drove down the historic Main Street which made for an interesting picture!

Amongst the many casinos, we found one where we could get a late lunch. We both enjoyed a nice lunch of Buffalo meat – Paul as a burger, me as a French dip sandwich. It was dark by the time we arrived back at the campsite. Tomorrow will be an early morning as we head to North Dakota, hoping to find a campsite in Theodore Roosevelt National Park for a few days.