Bumpy Roads, Hot Winds, & A Petrified Forest....

Sunday....our only Sunday on the road - where we won't be going to church. So we missed that....as we were driving along the road, we saw several churches - out in the boonies - holding services and we were tempted to drop in.....but we decided against it - and just pressed on. Luckily, we have had "church" every day - as we have seen some of God's most beautiful creations in the past 3 weeks. Yep, we have been on the road for a total of 3 weeks - and we have had an awesome (although tiring) time.
So we left Spearfish - but not before one final breakfast at the Millstone.....

Biscuits and gravy....the breakfast of champions.
FAT champions - with clogged arteries...but champions no less...

So we took off up Hwy 85. There were quite a few trucks - but we followed that through the pretty little town (both pretty and little) of Belle Fourche (definition: beautiful fork - of the river - not of the breakfast plate.....) Once we got about 30 miles outside of town, we took Hwy 168 over to Hwy 79.

We went over 280 miles today....
long day and we were tired afterwards...

These highways were pretty much devoid of human population - so Jeanette and I seemed to have the road to ourselves. Except for the skunk who walked into the middle of the road and stared at us.... so I g-i-n-g-e-r-l-y  drove around the little guy - and we were both keeping a close eye on his tail - but we got by without incident. But he sure didn't want to move for me.
Then the birds were crazy all day....I guess they are getting the "rush" from the vehicle moving by, but they like to dart in front of the bike and get a "lift" or a boost or something - but we had one little bird who didn't quite make it. We didn't realize it, but he made the trip from South Dakota to North Dakota with us....(for those of you who are sensitive, we found a nice little bird sanctuary for him - and released him to be with a bunch of his new friends.....)
So we went into North Dakota (got that state off of our list of 48 states to visit - only two left... Minnesota and Wisconsin... if you were counting)...
We had a quick break for gas....

And then we continued on to the site of the LAST BUFFALO Hunt - right outside of Hettinger, ND. This field, known as "Hiddenwood Cliff" once housed Gen. Custer and his army - and the buffalo was so prevalent, they could walk up and "shoot their dinner".
Now, (to be precise - as well as politically correct) - the white hunters killed off MILLIONS of buffalo....but this place is celebrated as the "Last Buffalo Hunt" and it was done by Native Americans. Men, women and children came and over two days, killed approx 5,000 buffalo.

Hiddenwood Cliffs (the cliffs are off in the distance....
these plains were once covered with buffalo)

The plaque at the site....

HEY!  Someone TP'd my house!

So after our trek into North Dakota, we came back into South Dakota and made a stop in Lemmon, SD. Lemmon has two attractions that it is known for (besides the fact that all three of the town's restaurants close at 2 pm on Sunday....)
One is the Grand River Museum - with the famous "cowboy riding the metal triceratops"

Yep, first Mt. Rushmore, then Crazy Horse 
and now this....the fun never stops in South Dakota....

Actually, the sculpture is pretty cool - 
it uses recycled metal pieces - 
There were shocks and cam shafts...
I am not sure if they are all car parts, 
but it is really pretty impressive...

Here I am to give relative size to the sculpture....
the cowboy is life sized....not sure about the dinosaur...

The other cool thing Lemmon has is the "Petrified Forest Park." Which is a little park that was assembled with all petrified wood....it is free (my favorite price!) and is actually pretty impressive...

The wishing well and the Museum....all made of petrified wood.

Close-up of the wishing well

This is actually a big fountain - with water flowing throughout

The park is actually pretty big - 
it encompasses an entire block of downtown Lemmon

Some of the "trees" of the park

So we got to our destination, (Watauga & the Dakota Country Inn) early this afternoon. The wind again was picking up and it was tough to ride the last couple of hours. But the Inn is nice - we walked in and there was nobody here.... a sign on the desk said to pick your own room....so we did.....
Tomorrow is another "mileage" day - where we need to get to Huron, SD - so the NEXT day (Tuesday) we can make it to the Corn Palace. Not sure what we will find tomorrow - but that is part of the fun of our adventure......
Hope you are enjoying sharing it with us.
Wade and Jeanette
GNTNYCGTB LY <3