Written by Kim
Today was a bit of a long drive as we left Deadwood heading west to Montana, We drove a little over 5 hours excluding stops. Not much to write about today so I’ll include some fun facts of our trip so far. We left home 18 days ago and have driven 4,523 miles. We’re not quite halfway because we will make the turn to return east when we hit Oregon in about 5 days. Our gas guzzler is averaging about 23.8 mpg so we’ve spent about $600 in gas so far! We’re still really enjoying each other’s company and have our movements in and out of hotels down to a science. I’m 80% done with the states with only 10 to go (blue & white). Alex has 8 (white). We’ve traveled through 16 states so far on our trip.
Today we hit 2 states – Wyoming and Montana
Devils Tower National Monument was the first United States national monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. Geologists believe it was formed by an igneous intrudion where magma (molten rock underground) pushes upward & cools. It hardened and cracked and erosion creates ridges in the surface.
Indian belief of creation – you could believe what the the Kiowa and Lakota Native Americans believe. A group of girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. The bears, in an effort to climb the rock, left deep claw marks in the sides, which had become too steep to climb.
You may recall Devil’s Tower in Close Encounters movie. I didn’t! Close Encounters of the Third Kind is about people’s experiences with UFOs, and the movie’s final act takes place at Devils Tower. The movie features visions of the tower to a young Richard Dreyfuss, who plays an Indiana man who encounters a UFO.
We are staying tonight in Columbus, Montana which is a small town about 30 minutes outside Billings. The Super 8 we are in had excellent reviews and an affordable price. There were only 2 places we could eat dinner – a pizza place and a bar & grill so we chose the pizza. It wasn’t NJ pizza but was better than a cruise ship. I’m sure we won’t starve anytime soon.
Tomorrow we are planning for a long day at Yellowstone. I’ll be looking for John Dutton (Kevin Costner) or at least Beth & Rip. Our drive to get to the entrance of the park is 2 1/2 hours so we will be out early! Until then….
The little Indian girls weren’t able to come down from the high rock so the Great Spirit brought them to the Heavens. They are the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters.