August 26, 2010 Devils Tower to Lewistown, MT

Today was a long drive. The temperature hovered around 100 degrees. Last night it dropped to below 50. Tonite cool again and tomorrow hopefully not as warm, but windy. It was hard to leave the Tower. The moon was near the Tower this morning, so before the sun washed it out we got some pictures.

Back on I-90 through Wyoming, past Gillette, Buffalo and Sheridan. Came upon the Big Horn mountains. Into Montana and past Little Big Horn battlefield. Down to Billings and then on rt. 87, 145 miles to Lewistown. This is definitely big sky country. Not much to see but rolling hills, hay bails, small herds of cattle and the occasional group of pronghorns.

Tomorrow on to Watterton Lakes. Oh Canada.

August 25,2010 South Dakota to Wyoming

We cross the Missouri and head west through the plains. Fields of sunflowers break up the corn and hay fields. Huge grain elevators and shiny, short, squat grain silos can be seen from the road. Black cattle stand out against the brown and green fields.

Coming out of Rapid City we pass a big billboard for Bob Dylan and Ozzy Ozborne performing at a campground in Sturgis, I think.

As we near Wyoming, bluffs turn red and the clear sky just accentuates the colors.

Off the interstate heading north to Devils Tower. Just amazing. Our campground is just outside the national monument, so we set up and head up. We see climbers on the rock. It is about 3:30 in the afternoon and climbers are heading out to go up and down today. The fastest time going up is 18 minutes. I cannot believe it.



We walked the Tower Trail around the perimeter. Glad we were there when it was only 85 degrees. Tomorrow expected to be 95. Stopped to take pictures of the prairie dogs. They are so cute.





We went back to the campground for dinner and returned at dusk to take sunset photos. Hoped the moon would rise near the Tower, but it was not to be.

On the way to Chamberlain, SD August 24, 2010

It rained overnight, but the clouds blew out and it became a beautiful, windy, cool day. The crop duster was out early, sweeping low over the nearby fields. We headed out and over the course of the day in Minnesota, we saw hundreds of windmills in a number of windfarms along the way. The windmills loom up over the cornfields. Once we crossed into South Dakota, they disappeared. The tax structure must be different in each state.

The wind continued to blow and got stronger as the day went on. We passed mile upon mile of sunflowers along the highway and they danced in the wind. Monarch butterflies were everywhere, heading south. Signs along the road tout the Corn Palace(they took down their "cute" signs, i.e. aw shucks, just stop) and Wall Drug. The goldenrod is already blooming here.

We ended the day at the rest stop and overlook of the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark stopped here on their way to the Pacific as well as on their way home. Betsy reminded me on my last stop here two years ago, that Laura Ingalls Wilder described crossing the Missouri here with her family. Perhaps it is because my ancestors once lived in South Dakota that I am drawn to the place. It feels very comfortable.

To the Great Plains August 23, 2010

We left Stillman Valley and the Rock River and headed north and then west. First to Wisconsin and then into southern Minnesota. At the crossing of the Mississippi, there is a welcome center for Minnesota. It is an eagle habitat. No eagles to be seen today. As we passed through Minnesota, we saw beautiful barns with metal roofs in a variety of colors-green, silver and blue.

The land flattened out as we left the Mississippi. Everything looked very lush. We camped at a roadside KOA, in the middle of a cornfield.

August 22, 2010 The Prairie

The Illinois Prairie-Not much left. We went to the Nachusa Grasslands, a tall grass prairie not far from Stillman Valley, where we stayed with our friends, Bruce and Joan. They always find a neat place to hike. It was hot; but we hiked through the groomed and ungroomed paths, taking pictures of the wildflowers and the butterflies. Overhead we saw what we thought was a northern harrier or a ferengous hawk. This is the prairie that was made famous in some circles because an eagle attacked a deer. No such drama while we were there.

We then moved on to the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour. Lots of history here that one may have forgotten from 6th grade history. John created the steel plow that led to the plowing under of the prairies. Gumbo earth-sticky, thick soil, was the norm and the steel plow cut right through it. What a juxtaposition of sites that we visited today; what the prairie looked like before the plow and what the plow brought about-rich farmlands.

As a fundraiser to refurbish the statute of Black Hawk, teepees were set up around the area and decorated. Sort of like the cows. Very colorful.