BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN

From Devils Tower NM we headed further northwest toward the Battle of Little Bighorn National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/libi/) in southeast Montana - a roughly four hour drive from Devils Tower. We really did not do justice the historical site. I recommend taking the historical tour with the Indian and Park Service guides. We still had a two hour drive to our destination tonight in Red Lodge, MT so we did the self-guided tour and moved on. It is still fascinating the history on that spot.

MOVIN' ON.....

We left that fine Bedrock community early in the morning before everyone else got going. We stopped by Jewel Cave National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/jeca), but the kids were a bit mixed about going underground and we weren't going to be dragging them kicking and screaming into a cave.......

We were on the road almost as fast as we stopped. We take Rte 16 out of SD toward NE Wyoming and Devil's Tower NM (http://www.nps.gov/deto/) first made famous in the 1970s movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This monument is a bit out of the way, but is such a unique feature, it seemed like we had to go.

We are traveling the last week of July and into early August. The first week of August is typically the Sturgis Bike Rally and we are starting to see A LOT of bikers at the monuments. They are sometimes alone and sometimes in large groups. Some offer to take our family photo in front of the monuments, but all are friendly.

The approach to Devils Tower is just as dramatic as in the movie. It is visible for miles and we pull over often to get a photo. When we arrive, it is a relatively short 1.25 mile hike around the base of the monument and we decide we could use the leg stretch so we head off. It is relatively crowded by the time we arrived but few actually go much beyond the parking lot - big mistake. We spied a few ambitious people climbing the monument - well beyond my abilities, but allegedly a relatively easy climb that can be done in a day without too much problem for the skilled climber. I carried my 3 year old around the monument on my shoulders the entire way in what would become a training for her to simply refuse to walk anywhere knowing dad would carry her. This haunts me to this day where the word "hike" is literally a four-letter word.

Rapid City Wrap-Up

After what was a looong day, we went to the Flintstones Bedrock City in Custer, SD (http://www.flintstonesbedrockcity.com/). Yes, a bit cheesy, but the kids had been in the car a lot of time now and needed an outlet. This was a great opportunity.

We had packed enough things so we did not need a tent and sleeping bags on top of that, so we rented a small cabin that slept 5 perfectly. We were able to have a small campfire and just relax. Needless to say, we did not go back to Rushmore for the fireworks, but there will be time for that in the future.

we weren't up to late - next stop....Devil's Tower National Monument in NW Wyoming (http://www.nps.gov/deto/). But the entire day will take us into Montana as well as we get closer to our ultimate destination - Yellowstone National Park (http://www.nps.gov/yell/).