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What do you call a day with snow in the morning, rain later on, and about 100 miles over muddy dirt roads? I call it Day 4. Started out the morning in the snow at Presidents Park which contains 20-foot busts of every U.S. president. Why? Well, we paid 10 bucks to get in so they must be doing something right. Next we drove over into Wyoming and visited Devils Tower National Monument, which is truly an amazing bit of nature. Let me stop here and say a few words about Mappoint 2006. Mappoint 2006 knows every little road everywhere. I mean everywhere. Shortly after leaving Devils Tower I found myself on a dirt road. And then another dirt road. And then another. By the time we hit pavement again, we’d driven a little over 50 miles on dirt. (And when I say dirt, I mean muddy, rutted little trails through grazing land so far in the middle of nowhere I think even the cows were lost.) Now, I’m not crazy. At least not completely insane. I had the GPS hooked up with Mappoint and that crazy lady that talks to you with driving directions was always very sure we were headed in the right direction, but I had my doubts. Anyway, we popped out of the dirt in Buffalo, South Dakota (after having driven on dirt from Wyoming, through some of Montana, and finally back into South Dakota). Ravenous, we grabbed lunch at “The Oasis,” as the sign outside said, or “Rooster’s Roost,” as the menu inside said. Our meal was actually quite good — I had a bacon cheeseburger with a side of cheddar nuggets, and Shelly had a shrimp basket with a side of potato salad. Everything was quite tasty and really hit the spot after wrestling the Land Rover across miles of grazing land. From there, we cruised along to Lemmon, South Dakota, home of the largest petrified wood garden in the world. (I’m suspicious it’s the only, but I’m not one to quibble.) The museum and gift shop there were closed, so I’ll have to leave “WHY??” to your imaginations. Leaving Lemmon….more dirt roads. Another 50 miles or so. Amazingly, Mappoint seems to know every curve on these ruts. And, in case you’re ever in the neighborhood, the dirt roads north of Lemmon are in much better shape than those in the Devils Tower vicinity. After finally hitting pavement again, we drove through Regent North Dakota on our way to the Enchanted Highway. The Enchanted Highway is a 35 mile stretch of 94 which contains giants sculptures every few miles along the way. It’s surreal. You have to check out the pictures. The Enchanted highway dumps us out on I-94 which we took into Bismarck where we are spending the night. Discovered the “World’s Largest Holstein Cow” named “Salem Sue” in New Salem along the way. Had dinner in the hotel restaurant (breaking my cardinal rule!) which turned out to be very pleasant, with live piano accompaniment and a tasty buffalo (the animal, not the sauce) ribeye.
Tomorrow: Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park, Garrison Dam, Geographic Center of North America, International Peace Gardens (time permitting)
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