Eastward ho!

July 24 Belvidere/Midland, SD

Y'know, I think there are more flies in Douglas, SD, than in Florida. I got five flies in here just by quickly getting in and out of the RV. I've killed one, Puck has gotten two (judging from the dismembered parts I can find), and the remaining two are demoralized and on the run. Hopefully.

Also, the water at the Douglas KOA is probably the most chlorinated I've ever encountered. Not only wasn't it drinkable, but showering in it was not pleasant either. Good thing I still had water left from Dubois.

I left fairly early, got diesel and headed southeast. As part of this change of trip I had decided to go see the Oregon trail ruts and Register Cliff in Guernsey. The interstate was skirting what would be the last Rocky Mountain I'd see on this trip, and the Oregon Trail kept crossing the road (and if you knew where it was, you could still see where it ran). When I got to Guernsey it turned out the ruts were down a very (appropriately?) rutted dirt road that shook hell out of my rig and made me think my wheels were going to fall off again. Ouch. Then a fairly steep walk.

The wagons had to get over a hill here, which was made of soft stone. The wagons eventually wore a five-foot-deep, six-foot-wide and fairly long groove in the soft stone. You can see where the wheels went, where the hubs of the wheels scored the walls, and even where people walked. It was a bit eerie, to tell the truth; when I was standing in the middle of the ruts, I had the strangest feeling that I should get out of the way!

A few miles away, many of the 500,000 immigrants had carved their names in another soft cliff, and many of the names are still visible. Also at Register Cliff, there had been a Pony Express stop--it had never really occurred to me that the Pony Express followed the Oregon Trail (and then the California trail) on its way, with stops every 10-12 miles to change horses.

Actually there are four trails: Oregon Trail, California Trail (for the 49'ers), Mormon Trail, and Pony Express trail. They overlap a lot up until Fort Bridger in far southwest Wyoming, and then split to go their separate ways.

After Guernsey, the sightseeing for this part was over. I took a very secondary (but paved) road up to the main-ish route to the Black Hills, and went from foothills to plains in just that long. On the way up to the Black Hills, towns were few and far between: gotta love a sign that says "Next services 81 miles".

It was south of the Black Hills that two climatological things occured: it started to get cooler/cloudy, and the wind picked up. Way up. The same front that was cooling things down was making it really windy. So I didn't stop anywhere in the Black Hills--I was pretty much in "just keep going" mode, at least in part because there aren't that many campgrounds here and I wanted to make sure I got a spot--and I also didn't stop in Wall. It had warmed up and looked crowded and I was tired, so.

I stopped in the KOA east of Belvedire. Other than the famed 1880's Town!, famed in song, story, and "Dances with Wolves", there is nothing within sight here. Not towns, not trees, not nothing except for cows and the Interstate over there. The campground has a few small trees/shrubs, but I'd hate to be here when it's really hot. Hence, I'm continuing east. I hope to get to Minnesota today, or wherever, and then up to the UP of Michigan. It's supposed to be cool and maybe a bit rainy--yay moisture!