14
July 2010
Notwithstanding the fact that we were pretty much sticking to the
Interstates, it seemed a shame to be so close to an iconic National
Park and not visit, so we detoured north-ish on US 14 to Devil's Tower,
made famous-er by Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
I enjoyed the road, which was twisty and hilly, and signed for 65. Once
into the park and wrapping around the monument the speed limit dropped
to a glacial 25, but there were things to look at. And I don't know why
I was surprised that people are actually allowed to climb it, but I
was.
After getting our stamps, we took a few pictures, and stopped on the
way out for a couple more. Then back down via another hilly twisty road
to the 80 mph I-90.
There are a bunch of National Parks in South Dakota, many clustered in
the Black Hills area, but those aren't very close to the road we're on.
There are two at one exit, though, the Minuteman Missile Site (the
actual site is some eight miles west) and the Badlands. The drive
through
the badlands is worth doing, sort of like Bryce Canyon flattened out.
We didn't do that this time; we went to the visitor center from the
east entrance and only had to contend with tourist traffic for a couple
of miles. And some road construction--they're repaving the (entire?)
road; the east end is mostly done, although we were held up for a
minute for (something).
Then back out onto the drone. There's a lot of road construction,
although they try to minimize the impact by closing one lane and
dropping the speed limit on the other to 65, except where the
construction is actually happening, where it's 45. That'd be OK, but
invariably we'd get behind the one guy that couldn't quite manage 65,
much less push it a couple of mph, so by the time it went back to two
lanes, the rest of the traffic was miles ahead. Grr!
Fortunately, the weather was moderate all day, and didn't heat up much
in the afternoon for a change; good thing, as we'd made reservations in
Sioux Falls and lost an hour into the Central time zone, so it was
after 6 before we pulled in to the parking lot of the Comfort Inn.
There was a Wal*Mart sort of across a couple of parking lots, although
we walked around the block to get there, and had to ask for directions.
States: Wyoming, South Dakota
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