Sacajawea (Dignity)

All too early this morning, the alarm awoke us and another marathon day of driving soon commenced. We followed the fabled Yellowstone River out of the high country, with snow caps in the distance, on either side. We paralleled the Lewis and Clark Trail for awhile, crossed the Little Bighorn (Custer died for your sins!), driving I-90 all the way to Sioux Falls. Tomorrow, we return to the Lou, but the Midwest heat and humidity has already arrived. We’re back in the Central Time Zone.

We finished our first audiobook, Kerouac’s On the Road and began another The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. The first one was a frenetic monologue diatribe set in the fifties. The second seems to riff off the first and is even more frenzied. The character Dean, who is a pseudonym for the person Cassidy appears in both books.

We stopped for lunch in Sheridan at the Cowboy Cafe, a venerable institution. I liked the restrooms labels, “Men” and “Women or handicap”. I’m just saying. Anne wasn’t amused with my observation.

After 500 miles over two days, we exited Montana, with 500 more to go today. We swung south and then east through Wyoming. In South Dakota, we passed signs for Devils Tower, Custer State Park, the Center of the Nation, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. All places we visited last year. No time now though, because today it’s all go, go, go. We skipped Wall Drug, but stopped at the rest stop that overlooks the Missouri River, with a giant sculpture of Sacajawea (Dignity). We had Cowboy Cafe pie there that we had ordered to go. After that it was press onto the motel.