September 2nd

THE WEATHER: Gorgeous day. Started out in the 50’s and climbed into the 70’s. Partly cloudy and dry.

THE DISTANCE: Left Hardin around 9:30 and arrived in Rapid City at 3:30. 230 miles


More of what Montana has to offer… rolling brown hills, high plains terrain. But almost like a snap of the fingers the scenery changed as we crossed into South Dakota. We began to see more trees and green grass. We saw a lot of prong horn along the road today. Large herds of 75 and one or two by themselves. We also began seeing the familiar rocky ledges that are the beginning of the Black Hills. The tri-colored buttes inspired the “black hills gold” jewelry that you find here. Pastel sage green, a pink or rose color & yellow gold. It’s beautiful and reminds me of the wild wild west. We also had a wild wild wind today! It was at least 25 to 35 knots. Gary had to hold on tightly to the wheel, especially when passing some of these big 18 wheelers.

After arriving in Rapid City we did some grocery shopping and then waited for Geoff Sheehy to pick us up at the RV park. He’s a regular commenter on the blog, so everyone should be familiar with him. He is a guy that used to be in our youth group who is now an English teacher in the local high school of 2,500 students! He’s married and has 3 amazing kids! We had a blast playing with the kids, having dinner and staying way later than we should have talking! It was a miracle that Bruno escaped in one piece…. The kids LOVED him, and showered love ON him. It was great to catch up on all they are doing.