Roadtrip 2024: Week 3 "Forest to Prairie"

Another week of driving west through Minnesota then North and South Dakota into Wyoming. Did 1,300 miles this week to a total of 3,750. Right now I am in Bighorn National Forest at about 9,000 feet boon-docking at a side road in the woods. Tomorrow, after an early am hike - there are supposed to be moose here - I'll find a place with internet to send off this post. At the end of last week I was going through some cloudy weather for two days. That had cleared up and I had two most beautiful days in Minnesota with dark blue skies and lakes. Unfortunately, also lots of mosquitos. In Grand Rapids I rode my bike on a rails to trails path followed by pizza lunch at their brewery. I spend the night at a campsite in a beautiful lake SP and continued on towards Fargo, ND. Before getting there I saw the Norwegian viking ship replica that was built and sailed through the Great Lakes and over the Atlantic back to Norway. Very cool! The Atlantic crossing took them "only" six weeks. Another dude with Norwegian ancestry built a replica of a Norwegian church from Vic. There must not be much to do here in the winter? Crossing over the river into Fargo I went to their local brewery. The only other customer was a guy from Pennsylvania who flew for Labor Day to Fargo as North Dakota was the only state he had not been to. We talked and it turned out he knew the town I grew up in Germany very well! He had been working at the Army NATO headquarters there. Bartender studying psychology in her last semester and coming from a 100 person settlement in North Dakota confirmed my suspicion that folks are more introverted as you leave civilization. "We tend to keep to ourselves!" Heading south from Fargo the speed limit was 80 and I stayed the night in Sheyenne National Grasslands. Wanted to mountain bike some, but these sandy trails were really for horses. I may have been the only camper without a horse trailer. Next day I kept going SW and I spent the night at Lake Louise SP in South Dakota. Following day, I crossed the Missouri River at Fort Thompson. Visited the Spirit of the Circle Monument of the Dakota People; a pitiful sight with broken beer bottles and trash. Found a feather of a spirit that needed to get out of there and took it along. Kept going SW into Badlands National Park and also saw a nuclear missile silo. Had lunch at the Firestation Brewery in Rapid City and glamped at their KOA campground with WiFi, pool and hot tub. I actually used the hot tub until closing time as it got quite chilly. Next day headed to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park. Did two long hikes in Custer SP and also stayed there overnight to see the Bison herds early the next morning followed by a two hour bike ride along another rails to trails path. Then drove out of Custer SP to sleep at the KOA in Spearfish. Left there early in the morning to cross into Wyoming and see Devils Tower. Then drove two more hours to where I am now. Thats about it for the week. Two bad things happened this week. One, I ran out of beer in Custer SP. The Walmarts here have a separate entrance for alcohol so they can employ 16-year olds in their main store and I forgot to go in there!! Two, I cooked broccoli and the whole van smells like it. This has been also noticed by the countless flies!! I hope the pictures tell a better story.... Maybe it's me and not the broccoli?

Bike ride in Minnesota. Maybe it gets colder in the winter?

Typical lake in Minnesota. Look at the blue!

Grand Rapids Brewery. Prosciutto pizza would have been excellent if less salty.

Another Minnesota lake in the evening

Minnesota sunset

Firetower to get overview

Minnesota at its best

Viking ship replica that actually crossed the Atlantic!

Norwegian church replica

As long as the cross is on the top you can have some of your existing customs

Beer!

An evening in North Dakota

Great night, even without country music.

Good morning North Dakota

Spirit of the Circle Monument with Missouri River in back

Badlands NP

"Minuteman-land is eerie. On the surface, no weapon is visible. But beneath the empty prairies and forested hills the gyroscopes are eternally spinning . . . each ready to steer holocaustal destruction to its pre-selected target." John Hubbell, 1962

Unlike previous missles the Minuteman used solid propellent. However, the gyroscopes needed too long to start up "as needed" and had to be running all the time.

I wish I could fly to Germany in 30 minutes.

Firehouse Brewing in Rapid City

How come I haven't been chiseled in stone?

Crazy Horse. This project may take a while to complete considering it was started in the 40s.

Custer SP

Custer SP. It felt really close driving through here

The Needle at Custer SP

Custer SP

Bsion herd in Custer SP

Bison in Custer SP

Not nice starting a ride with a dirty bike

Lots of bridges on this rails to trails project

The Devils Tower

Seven girls ran from a bear and jumped on a rock. They prayed for the rock to grow so the bear can't get them and it did. You can still see the bear scratches on the rock and the seven girls as the Pleaides or Seven Sisters star cluster.