Chamberlain, SD to Billings, MT

Wednesday November 28^th

When I left the room this morning the sun was streaming straight down the hallway—so it was the day that the motel hallway lined up with the rising sun.  A good omen I hope! 

Got rolling by 9am and was running low on gas a couple of hours W of Chamberlain; gas stations were scarce, either closed for ever or closed for the season.  But we found a Conoco waiting to take our money at Kadoka.  Then on to Rapid City for our daily lunch/breakfast at Perkin’s.  From Rapid City it’s only another 60 or 80 miles to the Wyoming line and I thought it was just a short hop across WY and then into MT.  But the short hop turned out to be several hundred miles.  We were at Sheridan, WY about dark and then drove on to Billings, MT before we stopped for the night.  Then when we watched the weather on TV we found out that the West Coast is having a big storm.  There will be lots of rain for the next few days; we will have to watch road reports for the passes where there could be ice and snow.

From the Mississippi to the Missouri

Tuesday November 27^th

Cathey let me sleep until I woke up on my own, which didn’t happen until 7:20, so it’s my fault that we got a late start today.  First stop was a nearby Shopko to pick up some of the items that we discovered missing from our travel kit.  Got on the road about 9:30.  I forgot about Don Piper’s scenic route (along the Root River) west from La Crosse and regret it.  It’s one of those drives that is pleasant but parallels the main road and doesn’t take much extra time. 

Sunset in South Dakota

From the view via I-90 in eastern MN, I would say that the farms in MN are less tumbledown than what we see in eastern WI.  I think the difference is that the consolidation in the dairy industry has left many old farm buildings falling down.  But in MN the focus is more on cash crops so there are more farms still populated by farm families.

Made a lunch/gas stop in Austin.  Discovered the smells of money (the Hormel plant in Austin and the sugar beet plant further west); both of which I would prefer to the big dairy complexes near home. 

 Made it as far as Chamberlain, SD; we could have gone a little farther but motels beyond Chamberlain are iffy.  Chamberlain is where I-90 crosses the Missouri River –then the WEST begins!

We Reach Escape Velocity

Monday November 26^th

And we’re off like a turd of hurtles!  Too many last minute things to do…..

We finally got everything together and got on the road at about 3pm.  Cathey was doing the driving so that I could rest, but the passenger seat in the Suburban is not conducive to rest for large Polacks with achy knees. 

We made it as far as La Crosse and stopped for the night.  We didn’t get far but we did it in the best way – uneventfully.