[Wild Blue]

Day 3 of pre-PCD road trip:
Billings, Montana, Little Bighorn National Cemetary, Devil's Tower Wyoming, Mt Rushmore, to Rapid City, South Dakota
Total Miles: 1326

Hitting some very scenic locations today. These spots are the main reason I bent my routing a bit north from Tacoma WA to Oklahoma City, to hit these spots. I've been all over the USA and greater world, but for example, this is my first time to Mt. Rushmore, so I wanted to knock it out.





Nice little hot breakfast buffet at the Hilton in the morning before hitting the road.





And then I hit Jimmy Johns on the way out of town, to grab a nice sandwich for the road, since I'd likely be wayyyyy out in the pairie around lunchtime.

Don't judge, lol... Jimmy Johns is another joint that we don't have in Alaska. Super yummy sub sandwiches, and LASER fast service. I just did the drive-through this time, and by the time I pulled up to the window, I handed them my credit card, and they handed me my completed sandwich.





My route for the first half of the day detoured off of I-90, to hit a couple sites in southeast Montana, and Northeast Wyoming.





First up was the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and Cemetary. As a retired military officer, and combat veteran, I take things like this very seriously, and it made me quite somber. For one, I think we need to honestly view our nation's history not just with rosy-colored glasses, but also ponder the darker parts of our history that were not so good.

This is arguably part of that.

Here, LtCol George Custer made his eponymous "Custer's Last Stand" at the Battle of Little Bighorn. It was a terrible day. Custer was routed, and all his men died, along with a great unknown number of native American Indians. This was followed by an more terrible reprisals against the Lakota Sioux, and Cheyenne.

For years, the location and story was told from the white man's perspective, naming the site "Custer's Cemetary". Eventually, it was renamed Little Bighorn, after the battle.





All the burial plots in the cemetary, and throughout the greater monument site, are all US military. (some military personnel that have died later have been allowed to be buried in the cemetary). The native American Indians that died, were all taken by their tribes elsewhere.








Note in the foreground, the Brigadier General buried next to the Private. In death, we are all the same.

LtCol George Custer was the senior officer in battle. Marcus Reno had been made a Brevet Brig General during the Civil War, which is a form of a honorary rank and title. So, in death, he was buried with the full rank. There's actually interesting stories about Marcus Reno.





All through the site, there are these signs. I thought it was a great idea, being able to use your own phone and make calls to get information, instead of having to rent some audio tour system from the site.

Heck, you could even call that number now and listen to the info if you liked.





Such a beautiful (and scorching hot) day. Temp upwards of 100 degrees F. I find it somewhat profound, looking at battlefields, quiet and all still today. Just picturing the terrible battle that happened right there, and imagining what that must have looked, felt, and smelled like.

You can drive a path through the site grounds, seeing and learning about different portions. You'll notice white headstones dotted here and there among the hills, where US soldiers were buried where they fell in battle.





Here, a sculpture commemorating the American Indians that died has been placed, many many years after the site was created.











Back into the back roads, the landscape transitioned as I got closer to the Wyoming border, going through several small old prairie towns.








We are indeed in the wild west, and just catching the northeast corner of Wyoming, where the landscape changed again.





... which brought me to Devil's Tower National Monument. It started to appear on the horizon a bit of a ways out during the drive, almost like it was calling. (lol)





Even today, just seeing this thing makes we want to say "this is important... this MEANS something!" I also feel a compulsion to shape a lump of mashed potatoes on my plate into this shape whenever I have enough.

Those who are film buffs will recall that this is what happened to Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", a landmark sci-fi film of its kind, which featured Devil's Tower.

















I find this rock formation quite fascinating. There are some other formations kind of like it in the world, but here is this one, just sticking up out of nowhere in northeast Wyoming. No other formations like it around. It's not like it's part of a volcanic lavafield with dozens of these things around.

It's quite stunning to look at, as you drive and/or walk around the monument.





I particularly like how this picture turned out, after I drove down a back trail for a bit.





Once again back on the road, after taking back roads, I rejoined I-90 and crossed into South Dakota.








First up in South Dakota, was a little stop off the highway into Sturgis, best known for its annual motorcycle rally. The rally has already happened this year, so the town wasn't that full. I can't even imagine what it's like during the rally.

And then I checked in early to my hotel, "Tru by Hilton" in Rapid City, South Dakota. I'll show the hotel tomorrow morning, since today has so many pictures.

But my night wasn't done yet! After getting settled for a bit, I took off, intentionally having planned to do Mt. Rushmore late in the day.





It was a rather nice drive, with surprisingly steep hills, that I didn't know were quite that dramatic around Mt. Rushmore.





There were many, many hotels along the way, with lots of tourist stuff in the vicinity of the monument. Had I known, I wouldn't have stayed in Rapid City, and would have preferred to stay closer.

No biggie.





Wow. Pretty impressive sight!








I intentionally planned to do Mt Rushmore at the end of the day, capturing the evening light at the monument.

But I also wanted to stay for the daily lighting ceremony after dark. There's a 30 minute ceremony, where a park ranger talks rather poignantly about liberty and freedom, what it means to various aspects of the American life, and the need for constant adherence and protection. Rather thoughtful. Then there's a video about the monument, concluding in the lighting itself.

I hope you can see this video below and enjoy it.

I was pooped after a long day with lots of sites. More tomorrow!