Day 53 / Day 3 of 4th leg
start mileage (our truck) 95429 / end 95948
(rental truck) 75306 / 75826
5:45am Slept okay; comfy bed & quiet room. Dogs woke up way early—turns out they were very thirsty. Then, back to sleep until just after 5:00am so I stayed up after their walk and breakfast (also took Tig for a walk) in order to get an early start to stay ahead of the weather.
Speaking of weather, we’ve waffled back and forth on I-90 vs I-80 based on various weather predictions. I called my Dad for his opinion, and he voted I-90 but will call us with an update after *checking the morning weather info.
6:15am Depart Motel 6
7:45am We’ve been driving since 6:30, after fueling up in Bozeman. The sky was pitch black and has since lightened.
‘The windmill on the south ridge was first to awaken, and with a steady churning seemed to gently push away the black cape of night, leaving only layers of dawn’s silhouettes on the eastern peaks. Soon, they too were gone, the layers blending into a muted blue-gray sky that gave itself up to the musings of the windmill.’
I wrote that mostly just to stay awake as I drive, since I was scaring Tig & the dogs with my vocal rendition of “White Christmas”.
A slight glitch today is that my walkie-talkie appears not to have charged properly last night, and is giving a low battery warning. So, David flashes his lights when I need to turn it on for a talk.
8:10am The plan is to keep going to Billings, then stop for a potty break & to buy a new tie-down strap.
Mission accomplished; strap installed. Back on the road. I can transmit but not hear on my 2-way (guess it’s a 1-way now…)
11:15 (202 miles so far today) Had to pull off on an exit because the mattress was listing to the driver’s side. David added yet another rope.
12:10pm Entered Wyoming [95678, 249 mi] Switched to rear fuel tank. Have been listening to CD soundtrack “Brassed Off”. Weather is partly cloudy, @50°-55°. The scenery has been fairly dull the last few hours.
12:30 Fuel & lunch stop in Sheridan, WY (grilled chicken @ Wendy’s)
3:30 (361 mi) road sign: 136 mi to Rapid City
4:15-4-30 Potty break before heading toward South Dakota after finishing up Wyoming: still beautiful weather despite forecasts of snow & rain for the area. Feels in the high 50’s to low 60’s, with blue skies and white puffy clouds.
About an hour later, I notice the clouds are taking on a bit of a grayish tint.
Hm-m-m-m Just got a big rock crack in the windshield! Right at forehead level.
Hm-m-m-m Just got a big rock crack in the windshield! Right at forehead level.
I’m starting to get homesick for a place I haven’t lived yet.
Dusk (sunset?) in Wyoming is like makeup on a camel—nice, but not enough to make it pretty.
5:25pm Oops! I guess I missed the passage into South Dakota since I just saw a Mile 12 marker, and we’re passing Spearfish, SD. Only 44 miles to Rapid City.
Switched to front fuel tank at 177 mi
6:01 called Leslie, she was N/A, spoke to Dave
6:20 arrived Motel 6, Rapid City, SD
*This page should be starting a new day, but it’s not, because things sort of fell apart rapidly after arrival…
We decided to go fuel up before going to the motel room, so off we went in a futile search to find a station with diesel. Just as we were about to give up, David spotted an Exxon. All was complicated by the fact that our walkie-talkies aren’t working. After a few annoying incidents there, we decided to skip eating and head back to the motel, where I discovered *my glasses were missing.
After searching my coat and every inch of the truck, David drove back to the gas station where I thought they must’ve fallen out. Before he returned, I discovered my glasses hooked into my T-shirt beneath my sweatshirt…
He soon returned, bearing Taco Bell dinner and fresh ice in the ice chest. He wisely deduced that our annoyed, “it’s all gone to hell” mood was mainly due to lack of food, and the tiny detail that WE’VE BEEN DRIVING FOR 12 HOURS!
Anyhoo, all’s well that ends well. Except for one last thing: the Weather Channel is predicting 2-3” of snow in Rapid City overnight—I guess tomorrow morning will be plenty exciting!
*checking the morning weather: Remember, this was before weather forecasts at a click
on your laptop or phone; the Weather Channel was a necessity.
*This page: my actual journal at the time is a college-ruled, spiral bound notebook, and I generally didn’t skip lines when writing (except when I was writing while driving.)
*my glasses: even though I had had RK eye surgery to correct my vision,
I used eye glasses (and still do) for driving and watching tv.
Fuel: Bozeman MT
Ours 27.25 / 17.04 gal / 259 mi / 95429.9
Rental 49.00 / 30.6 gal / / 75306
Fuel: Sheridan WY
Ours 25.20 / 16.7 gal / 270 mi / 95700
Rental 48.50 / 33.5 / / 75575
Fuel: Rapid City, SD
Ours / / 245 mi / 95947
Rental 43.00 / 28 gal / / 7585.5
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