The Big Cupcake

Our next stop was Devil's Tower, WY. For many in our generation, this landmark is best known for it's prominence in the movie, 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. The location of our campsite was amazing; as you can see, we had a view of the tower from our bedroom window! For me, a primary benefit of camping is location ... location ... location (no motel required). The campground has a nightly screening of 'Close Encounters' in their outdoor theatre with the tower rising just over the screen!

There is a small visitor center at the base of Devil's Tower and an approximately 1 mile paved trail that circles the monument. We took the trail and enjoyed the close-up views and chats with other hikers. The monolith looks slightly different from every angle. While in the gift shop, we learned that thunderstorms were predicted for that afternoon, so we didn't dilly-dally.

There is a prairie dog town en route to Devil's Tower. These little guys used to live throughout the Midwest but now their populations are restricted to protected areas like Devil's Tower. We enjoyed watching them and listening to their chirps and squeals.


Just as we pulled out from Devil's Tower, we got a severe thunderstorm and tornado warning on our phones. Mr. Snootypurse is from the Midwest and decided it would be best to try to stay in front of the storm since our route went away from it and there wasn't anyplace to shelter our motorhome. It was a nail-biter on a couple of occasions and we were grateful to arrive safely in Spearfish, SD. A tornado sighting was reported about 18 miles from Devil's Tower!

Little Bighorn National Monument

    


We began our journey on Memorial Day 2018. We are driving a 24 foot Forest River Forester motorhome, rented from RV Northwest, in a big loop that includes Mount Rushmore National Monument and Grand Teton National Park. This is the longest road trip we have ever taken and our first in an RV. The initial few days were spent driving through areas we had previously visited with overnight stops in Spokane, WA and Missoula, MT to visit with cherished friends and their families. The most noteworthy aspect of these travel days were the swollen rivers throughout Montana and Western Wyoming due to a quick spring thaw. I-90 westbound was even closed at one point, but we were headed east.


Our first "official" sightseeing stop was in Garryowen, MT where we paused to take in Little Bighorn National Monument, the sight of the Battle of the Little Bighorn aka Custer's Last Stand. The photo on the right was taken at the top of the hill where Custer's Last Stand occurred. The white tombstones indicate a soldier's final resting place. Despite an animated presentation by a park ranger on the covered porch of the visitor center, I had a hard time envisioning the action as the visitor center is surrounded by many green, rolling hills. We took an optional 4 mile drive out to the site of another related battle. It was hard to imagine that the troops at the various battle sites had no method of communicating and thus could not assist each other.


The sunset photo was taken from our campsite at 7th Ranch campground just down the road from Little Bighorn. This was a lovely campground located on the side of a hill overlooking the valley. Not for the last time, we wished we could stay for an extra night.