With our arrival at the gates of Yellowstone National Park (and with a brief foray into the park) we have completed the middle segment of the Second Trip West. Time for a wrapup.
9 hops in 16 days, 1624 tow miles, 2299 truck miles, total campground cost: $750.04 ($46.88 per night). The most expensive stops were Spearfish SD and Rapid City SD, but we had a grand time at those parks, so we didn’t mind paying a premium.
The highlights:
- The Field of Dreams movie site. Very cool and free.
- Badlands National Park. Amazing scenery. Also totally free.
- Wall Drug and Wall SD. Good food, good souvenirs, free ice water. Lived up to the hype.
- Mt Rushmore National Monument. The night photos were useless, but the day photos were spectacular, aided by an impossibly clear day. $5 for parking.
- The Deadwood/Sturgis day trip. Had a great dinner in Deadwood and won some money.
- Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Beautiful and sobering. And free.
- Yellowstone National Park. Incredible. Again, got some great photos on a beautiful day. And saw some wild buffalo.
- Adding 6 states to our map: Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.
The lowlights:
- The Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. A complete waste of time.
The final segment of the trip west – STW3 – will take us from the eastern edge of Yellowstone, across the continental divide, all the way to Tillamook OR. We will travel about 1250 miles in 16 or 17 days, probably in 8 hops (there is some uncertainty as both the weather and the wildfires could cause us to reroute). We will add Idaho and Washington to our map, raising our state count to 44.