Deadwood in the Water

Odometer: ~145119
Distance So Far: ~401 Miles
Days On the Road: 2
Final Stop: Minot, ND

Mom and dad inched closer to the Canadian asymptote this week, arcing up through Montana and into the Dakotas–the part of the US that, if the country were a kitchen, would be the tupperware you left at the top of the cabinet and only remember when you get the energy for a deep clean.

Then again, what’s more American than turning nature into facades of old dead guys, open fields, and bizarre sculpture art along otherwise empty stretches of road? I challenge you to find a place more representative of our culture than the yawning stretch of flatland that is the central USA.

Mom and dad have been on the road for about a week now, and have already made great strides across the northern states, racing the autumn leaf changing to Vermont. They’ve got some deadlines to hit near Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah pageant, but we’ll hope after that they can slow down a little and smell the metaphorical (and literal) roses.

From Dad

September 4, 2025
We got an early start and attended a session at the Billings, Montana temple. It is a very pretty temple, and the workers were very friendly and helpful. Then we got our first disappointment of the trip. We stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and it was CLOSED! It’s only open Fridays through Sundays. Today is Thursday. Bummer. Anyway, we saw the area that the battle happened, even if we couldn’t go on site.

We then drove for several hours to Deadwood, SD, and spent a little time in that tourist trap. Actually, we enjoyed walking around and seeing some of the chainsaw wood sculptures. But every other business is a bar or a casino, or both. Then we went to Mt. Rushmore. We decided to go in the evening so we could see the mountain at night. There was a 40 minute patriotic program preceding the lighting, that was very good. It portrayed some of the contributions of the four presidents on the mountain.

Then I plugged Fremont Street instead of Fairmont street into Google Maps, and got us delivered to the wrong part of Rapid City. By the time I got that figured out and corrected, we got to our hotel around 10:30. I should have put my glasses on to read the fine print.

September 5, 2025
We got a late start this morning. Checkout time was 11:00; we were out at 11:05. Mostly driving today. However, on the way we planned to drive on the Enchanted Highway in North Dakota. It was hailed as having some metal statues constructed by a local person, spaced a few miles apart along a 30 mile, otherwise less interesting, road. These things were HUGE—up to
30 feet tall. There was a family, a cowboy and a stage coach, pheasants, deer, grasshoppers, and other things. The artwork was really cute, and made a nice break-up of a long day of driving. Since it is harvest time, we saw lots of harvesters in the fields reaping wheat; acres and acres of sunflowers, corn, and soybeans. There were also hundreds of rolls of prairie grass out in the
fields and along the roads. Most needed to be hauled away still, but some were lined up in a long row looking like a giant rolling pin.

A few miles south of Minot, the sun set over the prairie, turning the clouds a brilliant orange, red and purple. I was actually able to get a good picture of that while Linda was driving at full speed.
The wind blew all day, mostly from the front and side. It made me glad I wasn’t riding my bike! It also reminded us why North Dakota is so clean—everything gets blown away to Minnesota. I think I now know the true meaning of windSWEPT!