High Plains Drifters!

Clear blue sky and sunshine ensured that we hit the ground running today, as we checked-out, gassed-up, and headed north for Rapid City (South Dakota). We soon found ourselves surrounded by high and wide-open plains, a vast flat expanse of uninterrupted grassland, occasionally scarred by the odd tree or herd of cattle. By mid-morning the temperature was already in the high eighties. We broke our journey at the historic Oregon Trail sites, one marking the place where numerous wagon trains had carved ruts into the sandstone rock to a depth of four-feet, and another where a transient people had carved their names into the soft rock cliffs for posterity.

Walking back to the car we were struck by the hundreds of nesting swallows and their peculiar and expertly constructed nests, which clung to the cliff face like inverted straw bottles. Then without warning, we simultaneously glimpsed a large snake, too close for comfort, bearing the markings of a rattler! We jumped, it stayed put!! Sanity prevailed as we realised that despite its markings, it was in fact a (big) non-poisonous Bull Snake! We exited stage right and headed for the nearby Fort Laramie historic site.....which anyone of a certain age will remember fondly from their TV-youth!

There, we signed up for a free and excellent guided tour that exceeded its allotted forty-five minutes by an hour!

Afterwards, we grabbed a Pepsi and headed for the car, pointing the GPS towards our next 'des-res' in Rapid City, three-hours away.

With roads devoid of traffic we arrived late afternoon and having checked-in we visited the nearby 'Colonial Inn and Bar' for dinner. Despite its 'Arby' lookalike exterior, this eatery was a find, serving-up great American food (and drink!) at reasonable prices! (We finally located 'Channel Xirus XM 5'....50's R&R on our satellite radio and today's track reflects the fact that I've listened to this artist music a lot today!)