Day 372: Welcome to South Dakota

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Ben

Getting off to a late start, we continued East into South Dakota. The route we’ve taken since leaving Alaska was designed to specifically get us to South Dakota. Since we no longer have a permanent domicile, we decided to transition our state of residency to South Dakota, with its lack of state income tax and its low 3% tax on vehicle purchases. We initiated this transition before buying the truck and 5th wheel, but we did have to physically be in South Dakota to get our new drivers licenses.

South Dakota law requires that we reside in South Dakota for one night before giving residency status, so we stayed at a small private campground behind an RV dealership near Sturgis, South Dakota:

The $17 fee doesn’t get us working WiFi, but we do get full hookups and, more importantly, a receipt we can use to show our one night of “living” in South Dakota. See the trip map for driving details.

Day 371: Custer’s Last Stand

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Ben

This morning we drove East out of Bozeman, crossing the great grassy plains that compose most of Montana. Towards evening we reached Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the site of “Custer’s Last Stand”, where Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Custer and five of his seven companies, 268 men, were killed to a man by a force of over 2,000 Sioux warriors. The kids got to work on their Junior Ranger workbooks:

At the battlefield site, markers indicate the locations where the soldiers fell:

Custer’s marker, lower left corner, has white writing on a black background:

The soldiers were hastily buried by late-arriving reinforcements. In 1881, 5 years later, most of the soldiers were reinterred under this stone memorial. Custer’s remains went on to be reburied at West Point:

When Trish and I were last here in the ‘90s, this Sioux memorial adjacent to the battlefield had not yet been built:

It’s odd standing here, watching the cars roll along the interstate in the distance, and imagining the battle as it occurred on this very spot a mere 138 years ago:

There is also a military cemetery here, where veterans from the Indian Wars through modern times are buried:

The kids received their Junior Ranger badges:

Leaving at 8pm, we continued driving past sunset, arriving at the Walmart of Sheridan, Wyoming a bit after dark. See the trip map for driving details.

Day 370: Bitterroot Valley, Day 3

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Ben

Today we prepared to leave Aunt Linda’s ranch:

B with Coyote:

Trish and the kids took short rides on Coyote:

Dillon in his stall:

Bitsy:

After saying goodbye at around 3pm, we drove South, then East to climb out of the Bitterroot Valley. We stopped to visit Big Hole National Battlefield, where the army ambushed the Nez Pierce attempting to reach refuge in Canada after refusing to settle on their government-mandated reservation:

This Howitzer was fired three times from a hill overlooking the Nez Pierce encampment before the Nez Pierce overran the emplacement and captured the gun:

The Nez Pierce were camped where the trees meet the plains. 80 Nez Pierce and 28 US soldiers lost their lives here:

The kids received their Junior Ranger badge. For this park, they are smaller and made of metal:

We drove on to overnight at the Walmart of Bozeman, Montana. See the trip map for driving details.

Day 369: Bitterroot Valley, Day 2

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Ben

This morning we awoke early to be on the road by 8am so we could beat the heat on a morning hike along Lake Como, a local reservoir. The hike was quite scenic:

Eventually, we reached the headwaters of the lake where there are a set of small waterfalls:

The kids built a diversionary dike to force water down into a dry channel next to the creek:

Down below, there’s a bridge over the creek:

Due to issues with Endomondo, only the last 4.8 miles of this 6 mile hike appear on the map:

Everyone drove back to the ranch, but I rode my bike back. It was a really hot day, and I was spent by the time I returned to the ranch:

Aunt Linda’s horses wear these face masks to keep flies out of their eyes:

The barn has five stalls:

We pet the colt that Aunt Linda is watching for a friend of hers:

Another great day in the Bitterroot Valley! Tomorrow we will probably head out and continue East.

Day 368: Bitterroot Valley, Day 1

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Ben

Shabbos here at Aunt Linda’s ranch was relaxing. We went for a couple walks and watched the horses graze.

This morning, the kids took the paddleboat out on the pond:

The RV is parked out by the barn:

Later in the day, Aunt Linda drove us up to a manned fire tower at the South end of the valley. The watchman explained what he does and showed us around inside his watch tower, which is also his house six days of every week:

Being the highest structure for miles around, the watch tower has some pretty impressive grounding for lightning strikes:

Winds carry smoke from fires in Washington state into the valley, reducing visibility quite a bit:

Back at the ranch, the colt was taking a nap:

It’s really hot here, so I’m glad we have this Y adapter. It allows us to bring two conventional household circuits into the RV’s 50 Amp, two circuit connector so we can run both air conditioners, one on each circuit: