27 July 2017
I got out at a reasonable time again, partly because I ate breakfast in my room, and partly...I don't know, so I probably won't repeat it.
To start the day, I continued north on SR59, up to Gillette, and onto I-90. Now, I knew I was going to spend a fair amount of my day on I-90, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention, and missed what should have been my almost immediate exit onto US14. When I looked down and saw the 'recalculating' I pondered my options.
I could stay on I-90, since I knew I was going to return to it eventually, or I could follow the GPS directions to get me back to my route, or I could cut across the freeway divider on one of the crosses (not marked "Official Use Only"). I waffled too long for the last, so ended up wasting 15 miles / 20 minutes of my hard-earned early start to return to where I should have headed off.
Up US14, then, on a beautiful day--clear skies, mid-70s temps, smooth road--hard to ask for better. And finally, after days of flatland, the hint of mountains in the distance.
Soon enough I was up into them, curving around the landscape, finally getting some wear on the edges of my tires. I came around one corner to see a sign: "Blasting 30 miles ahead, road closed from 1 to 2 pm." A quick check of the clock told me I'd get there at just after 1... Well, if I have to wait, I have a book, and my podcasts...
Then the GPSs disagreed on the route. The newest one wanted me to take US14, the other three all said 14-alt. I made a command decision and went with the majority. Must have been the right choice, as I never saw the blasting area, and looking at the map after, the computed route was US14; it looks longer, but 14a may have been twistier. So a win all the way around.
Where they came back together was at the Bighorn Canyon NRA Visitor Center, so I was able to score a stamp without going out of my way. Oh, and dig out my wet towel--the day had heated up after I came down out of the mountains.
US310 took me from there up to a gas stop, and onto I-90, where I spent the rest of the day. It's mostly signed for 80 mph, but I just don't want to go that fast, for the most part. So I park in the right-hand lane and let traffic pass. Surprisingly, I'm not alone, and there are some that are in even less of a hurry.
Eventually, I've done my 400 miles, and start looking for a stopping place. There's a Super 8 ahead, with an Albertson's a half mile north, so I get off in Belgrade just as it starts to sprinkle. As I'm waiting at the counter, I hear the clerk quote "...$159..." Yikes! It's not even the weekend! When I ask, it's "Yellowstone..." et al. And the usual "Everybody else is more..." AAA gets it down a bit, as does my request for 'cheapest'; I hike out for groceries and wind the day down.
But when I go to take my shower before bed, there's no water. WTH? Seems there was an accident up the road, took out a power transformer and tripped some breaker or something; nobody knows for sure. Go to bed dirty, and wake up the same--still no water. I score some bottled water to make coffee, and have breakfast...they're scrambling, but the manager is on vacation, and ???
I just checked, and it's back on, so at least I can brush my teeth and flush the toilet.
Motel: $102.72 ($30+ discount for the water problem)
Groceries: $16.42
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