Billings to Custer

 Bug Count: Approximately 50. This past week it was too cold for the bugs to come out.

Today is the end of my fifth week on my road trip adventure. One week to go!

I woke and dressed this morning and left the KOA campground a little after 7 am and headed to Denny’s in downtown Billings, just a couple of miles away. Denny’s was having “Baconmania” so I tried the “Triple Play Bacon Sampler” consisting of three types of bacon, two eggs and cheesy-bacon hash browns. I wouldn’t do that every day but as a one-off it wasn’t bad.

After breakfast I went and gassed up the car and headed, a little after 8 am, out I-90 toward the South Dakota-Wyoming line. All the road conditions indicated that it was open and dry. Around 9 am I arrived at the exit for the Little Bighorn National Monument, so I decided to detour about a half mile and visit it. The exit for the monument had water over the road with road crews directing traffic onto the high side lane. At the turn off the exit I noticed the access ramp continuing southbound was closed.

Heading down I-90 toward Wyoming

I spent about an hour at the monument touring around the battle sight and the national cemetery. The park rangers had just finished placing American flags on each grave for Memorial Day and were wiping down the head stones. I drove down the road to the battle sites, but about ½ mile down that road it was closed, probably due to flooding, etc., so I returned to the parking lot and walked up to the Final Battle site. On my way, my friend Ron Williamson called to see how my trip was progressing. Ron and his wife Kay were on there way to Chicago to visit family, and Ron called since he hadn’t seen my posts in several days since they were traveling. It was good to hear from him.

Little Big Horn Visitor Center

Final Battle Site

 

National Cemetery

 Final Battle Site Graveyard

 Custer’s Tombstone, though he was eventually buried at West Point

After I toured the sites that were accessible, I got back in the car and headed on toward Custer, SD a little after 10 am. I had to back track back up I-90 a couple of miles to an exit so I could turn around and get back on I-90 south bound. At the overpass for Little Big Horn, the road was covered with water and traffic was forced into one lane to get through, but it was only a  couple of hundred feet and there was no back up as traffic was light at that time of day. I drove another hour and stopped in Sheridan WY for a pit stop and a snack and continued on my journey.

Scenic Overlook just past Sheridan WY

I reached Moorcroft, WY around 1 pm where I exited I-90 to US-16 to go to Custer. As I was preparing to exit, I saw a sign that said “Texas Trail Museum”. Well, of course, I had to check that out! I found my way to the museum and it is a local museum, supported by the county that highlights the Texas cattle trails that came through Wyoming and Moorcroft in the late 1800s. They also have historical items from the town as well.

West Texas Trails Museum

After I toured the museum, it was back in the car and on toward Custer around 1:30 pm. I arrived in Custer around 3 pm, found the Econolodge and checked in. I searched for places to have dinner since I just had a snack for lunch. I went to the Sage Creek Grille, where I had a grilled chicken sandwich with Swiss cheese and bacon and served with grilled potatoes.

On the road to Custer

Mileage from West Yellowstone to Custer

After dinner I went and gassed up the car for tomorrow’s adventures and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow I will visit the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore. Someone told me not to pay the $30 or so for Crazy Horse since it isn’t finished and unlikely to be in our lifetime, but that you can see it from the highway, so pull over and take pictures there. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be fairly good in the morning with highs into the 50s. If I finish with those two then I will check out Jewel Cave and/or Wind Cave. To tour the caves you have to have a ticket, with advance reservations recommended, but I will go and take my chances and see what happens. If I don’t get them all in tomorrow I can finish them Sunday before I head over for The Badlands National Park and my hotel in Wall, SD that afternoon.

See you down the road!