Just the wife and me, with plenty of time so we just took it slow, with no long driving days.
The Yellowstone area had snow showers the week before and some were predicted for our week. Highs were forecast for the upper 50's, lows in the 30's
Friday, May 25: Left at 6AM for the nine hour drive to Sioux Fall, SD. Ran into some severe thunderstorms just east of Kansas City, but we made it to Sioux Falls in time to visit Falls Park. This is a really nice city park which features the falls of the Big Sioux River. It was the site of an old power plant and wheat mill. The wheat mill went bankrupt since they don't grow much wheat in SD, but mostly corn.:confused: This area was allowed to run down, but a group of citizens got togeather to restore the area into a beautiful park. If your headed though town on I-29 or I-90, check it out. Best of all there's no charge, but it can be a challange to find. The only down site to the visit was the cloudy conditions.
Saturday, May 26: Day two destination was Spearfish, SD just west of Rapid City. Was going to head back to Falls Park if weather conditions were better, but it was foggy so we headed out. On I-90 at Chamberlain, SD there is a rest area with an awesome overlook of the Missouri River which we always stop at, but it was closed due to road construction. If it's open it is worth the 15 minute or so stop.
Our next stop was Badlands National Park. Again, the low clouds and foggy conditions took away from the experience. We did manage to see some Big Horn Sheep along the road, all ewes no rams. The beaty of this park is very dependent on the lighting conditions. Low clouds and fog don't make for the best viewing so we headed over to Wall Drug.
In case you don't know, Wall Drup is probably the king of the tourist traps, although it is free to visit. I consider it to be so tacky as to be a must see at least once. Don't forget your free bumper sticker.
The sun popped out, so we decided on a detour to Mt. Rushmore. As we went up in elevation the clouds and fog returned. By the time we got to Mt. Rushmore it was so foggy you couldn't see it if you were 10 feet away. We didn't even bother to stop, but just headed to Deadwood. Here is where we visited Mt. Moriah Cemetery, the burial place of Wild Bill Hickok. The fog made this place extra creepy.
Devil's Tower tomorrow.
Sunday, May 27: Finally, some sun is poking through. We got to Devil's Tower early so there was very few other people. We did the three trails we like. The hike around the base of the tower takes about an hour and gives you a very close view of it. The Joyner Ridge trail takes you farther distance away so you can get some better photos. Finally, there is a trail that goes right though a Praire Dog town. Got to see some babies. This National Monument is about 45 minutes off the interstate, but it is well worth the stop.
Back on the road again with our destination Cody, Wy. We get to Buffalo, Wy elevation 5000 feet and it's sunny and 65 degrees. Cody is also at 5000 feet, but in between is Powder River Pass elevation 10,000 feet. We head up the mountain and the temperature begins to drop and rather quickly. When it hits 55 degrees it starts to snow. I don't know how it can snow at 55, but it was. The temperature keeps going down till it hits 30 and it's snowing hard. Luckily the pavement is too warm so it's not sticking to it yet. We make it to the top and see a snow plow coming the other way. So they are planning on it sticking I suppose. In Alpine areas of the Rockies, this can happen at almost any time of year. Once we start heading back down the temperature goes back up and problem solved.
We don't make it into Cody in time for the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum, but we did have time for Old Trail Town. This is a collection of old cabins from around the area. They have the Hole in the Wall cabin of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It's worth a peek.
During the summer the town has a nightly rodeo and a street gunfight.
Tomorrow into Yellowstone.
Part 2 to follow in this thread
