Adjusting Trip to Get Lexus Serviced

Saturday, July 21, 2012--Miles City, MT to Pierre, SD via Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Mount Rushmore

I knew I would need to get my car serviced on this trip.  The fact that it only gets an oil change every 10,000 miles and that this will be the 20,000 mile service makes it even more critical.  However, there are no Lexus dealerships in Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, or South Dakota.  I had hoped I could make my trip without concern  and end up in either Omaha or Kansas City by the time I hit 20,000.  But the distances have been long and the mileage has been piling up.  I realized in Helena that I needed to head straight for Omaha.  I called and made an appointment for Monday morning knowing that there would be little to see between the two places.  But the distance from Helena to Omaha is HUGE.  I've gone a little out of my way to see the little that is worthwhile on this route.

Today, I traveled about 13 hours and made only two major stops!!  The first was the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.  It is a beautiful and nice park.  Best of all, it is not overrun with tourists.  There were people there, but the longest line of cars I was in on the whole visit was 3 or 4 of us.  I drove the loop trail seeing the unusual and sometimes colorful hill (mountain?) formations that seem more like dirt hills than rocky ones and the wildlife of the park.  Prairie dogs were in many locations and were fun to watch.  I saw several herds of buffaloes and observed how they seem to like traveling on the roads.  It's a bit scary trying to pass 4-5 huge buffaloes on a 2-lane roadway seeing how big they are and realizing they could get scared and turn on your car aggressively, especially since most of the groups had young calves the mothers were protecting.  Speaking of that, it was fun to watch one mother and her calf moving along the roadway; the mother walked along the side of the road while the calf, with so much youthful energy, ran up and down the small hills beside the road while following along.  The park is also known for its wild horses, but I didn't see any of them.

The second stop was for Mount Rushmore which is a tourist trap!  I was expecting it to be a reverent place because of it being a national monument.  Instead, it seems to exist mostly to rake in parking fees, listening device fees, etc., from the thousands of people who show up--$11 per car and $50 per bus for parking.  I had already pulled off at a roadside stop to see the monument and take a photo, so when I saw the line of cars, the hundreds of people, and the cost of the parking lot, I just continued driving.  I actually got a fantastic view, because the roadway turned and I was driving right toward the monument.  I didn't have my camera out, or I could have taken a perfect photo through the windshield.  Anyway, I have seen the monument, and I would advise anyone not to take the effort to go there.  At the base of the hill is also a tacky tourist development designed to further get money out of people's pockets.

Besides those two major sites, I drove through the town of Deadwood and was disappointed with it.  Instead of being an old city that is interesting to see, it is mainly casinos and tourist shops.  Many of the buildings are new ones made to look old.  I suggest going to see Virginia City and Nevada City in Montana instead.  I also pulled off in Wall, SD, because there had been signs for miles about the Wall Drug Store--homemade doughnuts, homemade pie, homemade ice cream, 5 cent coffee, etc.  Wall is a small town that has two blocks of solid traffic and full parking because of this business that has taken over most of one block.  I needed to use the toilet, so I went into the business and looked around.  It was interesting.  Everyone in there was eating something fattening!

When I got into the hotel room, I discovered I'm back in the Central Time Zone.  I expected it to be 21:00, and it was already 22:00.  That means I'll be getting to bed later than I had hoped.

Tomorrow, I'll have a shorter drive, but there won't be much to see.  I'll explore Pierre before leaving tomorrow morning, and I'll stop in Sioux Falls.  Otherwise, that will be it, I think.  I'll write about it tomorrow night.

Steps Walked:  Only 3140 (due to so much driving)
Miles Driven:  645!