Adventures on the Loose

We left Yellowstone, but not before getting stuck in construction traffic again. That just gave us a nice opportunity to eat lunch! We visited the Battle of Little Bighorn, formerly known as Custer's Last Stand, in Montana. It was informative, but basically looked like a big field with markers in it. There was a short scenic drive that tried to guide your imagination to re-enact how the day went. The next day we were back in Wyoming to visit the nation's first National Monument: Devils Tower. It is a big rock that might have been the center of a volcano forever years ago. I like the local name of Bear's Lodge better since it kind of matches most of the Native American stories that explain how it got out there all by itself. The story also lends itself to explaining the formation of some constellations, so yeah, I like it. We spent a bit of time hiking around the base before hoping in the car again. Next, we visited Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. We were there in time for a ranger-guided walk (in the rain) which was nice. We even managed to squeeze in a trip to Crazy Horse, another mountain carving nearby, too. We had a non-camping night at Ellsworth AF Base before heading back to Cheyenne. Of course, I requested a short detour so we could also drive through part of Nebraska on the way home. And even though she rolled her eyes at me, my wonderful sister did, in fact, stop the car to take a picture of me under the Welcome to Nebraska sign (which was riddled with bullet holes...haha.)