After an interesting morning we’re on the road just after 8
and go for breakfast at the Butterfly Café at an airfield near Goodland, Kansas.
It’s curiously built into what passes for the terminal, model airplanes hanging
from the ceiling and crop dusters landing outside. Despite the surroundings my
breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast was excellent as was their
homemade jam. Bravo!
There’s some discussion as to where we’ll be headed today.
The SPC have a slight risk in Montana but that is 12 hours away and just too
far for today. So the plan is to target a slight risk in North Dakota tomorrow
with a staging post overnight at Murdo, South Dakota. Murdo has some
significant nostalgia value being the first stop I ever made on the Plains in
2006. I wonder if the Anchor Inn is still there?
It’s another lovely day and we are heading north again,
clipping the far south west corner of Nebraska
before having a stop outside of Wray, Colorado and then on past the
sandhills. Three states in half an hour, then onto the US 385. My phone once
more picks up Cell One of NE Colorado which resolutely refuses to give me a
data connection so sorting out kids sports, replying to emails etc. will have
to wait.
We stop for lunch at the Steel Grill Steakhouse in Bridgeport (very nice
burger and fries and wifi) before resuming our journey on US 385 north. Storms
are initiating north of Rapid City, South Dakota. A 2% tornado risk has popped
up in the Texas Panhandle, but hey ho we have a different plan.
As we head towards Chadron in northern Nebraska we summit a
hill and suddenly are in a gentle valley full of trees; it’s extremely
picturesque. We have a pit stop at Chadron and set off – towards Mount
Rushmore.
We cross into South Dakota and its rich, verdant grasslands
with farmers turning it all into bales of animal feed. The Black Hills come into view and the
scenery changes again into gently rolling hills with forests on the higher
slopes. A buffalo grazes nonchalantly at the side of the road and we start our
ascent into Mount Rushmore.
It’s not peak season but it’s busy enough. We travel up the
winding Highway 40 into the very touristy Keystone and park up. There’s a very
short walk through some pillars commemorating when each state entered the Union
with their corresponding flag. Mount Rushmore itself is quite impressive with
the four presidents (Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt) sadly backlit
making photos a bit of a challenge. We dropped back into Keystone and had some
beer (24 oz IPA) and some nachos before heading off for the 135 mile drive to
Murdo east on the I90. Not long after we join the interstate a car heading in
the opposite direction loses control and spins across the meridian onto our
side somehow not rolling in the process requiring some breaking and accident
avoidance.
A quick and well worth detour takes us through the
spectacular Badlands National Park with just enough light for a couple of
snaps. Arrive back at 11p.m. so the Anchor Inn will have to wait for another 11 years...,
Total Miles: 591
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