Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota

I need to preface with:  Yes, I'm in South Dakota.  Yes, I had an extra-special (extended) route planned out to take us to De Smet to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.  Yes, Scott was thrilled to be a part of that.  

Then I found out they're closed Sundays.  My heart broke a little bit.  I hopefully asked if we could just go anyway and I could do the tour myself (like I need a guide), but he just looked at me strangely. 

So, instead, we're going to Mt. Rushmore this morning.  It will not be the same life-changing experience De Smet would have been...but what are you gonna do.. 

We'll just have to come back this summer. 

I knew there was a gif/picture out there that would express my feelings about being back in the United States. 

My feet  are just happy to be back on contiguous soil once again. 

Yesterday (Saturday), we started out in Great Falls, Montana.  That was, indeed, a great town.  We stayed at a Staybridge Suites.  For $119+tax, we got a granite-topped kitchen, HBO, a gym/pool, and a breakfast buffet that could’ve kept us busy for hours.  I recommend them.  The front desk clerk told me she had lived on the Aleutian Islands for 3 months last winter because she was married to a crab fisherman (“was” being the key word).  She didn’t like it there, so we commiserated for a few minutes.

It was right on the Missouri River, so I had my picture taken with Sacagawea before we left.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to stop at the Lewis and Clark Museum.

We did drive through the Lewis and Clark National Forest though.  I wished we’d had more time and/or the weather would’ve been more cooperative (rain and snow), because I would’ve stopped at every “Historical Point”.

After driving through ALL of Montana, the most boring half hour of my life in Wyoming, and part of South Dakota, we're staying a nice and shady Super 8 in Rapid City.  Such a turnaround from last night...2 more days and we should be at Fort Leonard-Wood.