Oh the Places We'll Go...day 4

Wow! We have just 3 more states until Washington!! We of course had continental breakfast, but considering the small hotel we stayed in, there wasn't a whole lot to choose from. The doughnut holes put out in tupperware containers weren't too bad...just strangely packaged. We woke up this morning early and set out by 6:30am. It was still dark and foggy! We crossed into Mountain Time near Pierre, SD.

Our first road sign that we actually got to stop on the road and take the picture! We only got to do this because I wasn't fast enough with the camera so we passed the sign...luckily there was an exit just up the road and along with it was a small road that ran alongside the highway all the way back to the sign! So we drove back, put the camera on the hood and snapped the picture...the dogs are getting used to these strange little adventures!

When we found an exit with a Wal-mart we pulled off to get our t-shirts! This statue was at a red light and Sanford did NOT like him! We thought it was pretty cool though! While we were walking the dogs at Wal-mart it started to SNOW!! That's an exciting occurence for a girl from NC :)

Even though it was snowing, it wasn't sticking. I'm sure this snow was from a previous snow fall, but still pretty!

We were impressed with the hills and valleys! Those look like snow clouds Mom! :)

Thanks to I90 being empty, we were able to stop at the actual road sign to take our picture! Sanford is at least getting the hang of looking at the truck :) Dad had to buy a beanie at the Wal-mart and I had to put my coat on!! I suppose if I had been really prepared I would have had some kind of sticker to put on the sign...I wonder what they said...I didn't notice them until I looked at the picture later.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument: Memorial of the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry and the Sioux and Cheyenne in one of the Indians last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25, 1876, 263 soldiers and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer, died fighting several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. (http://www.nps.gov/libi/index.htm)
These cliffs made me think of Mom! That's really what all of the mountains, hills, valleys, etc. made me think of...

We watched this plateau growing bigger and bigger as we came closer to it!

Whoa! So, if you return to the day 1 post you will notice quite a difference in size from the Appalachian Mtns. I know Mom, the Appalachians are older :)

This rainbow was just a big chunk coming out of the clouds and reaching down to the ground. These things were what made the trip exciting...weather, mountains, old houses (later on), etc.

See...the abandoned homesteads were really cool! All we could talk about was what happened to them, why they were empty. Of course the new and improved homestead in the distance could explain it. It's still neat to think about the history of these places!

Another very large mountain with SNOW! :)

Mom I posted this for you! The sun was beginning to go down so it was kind of hard to get a clear picture. This is a very large quarry in the side of the mountain...

This is what we assume they did with the reject from the quarry...just filled in the valley on the other side of the mountain! Crazy, huh?!

And one final mountain before it's too dark and the camera will only focus on headlights...

Our lunch today was in Montana, at a gas station :) There was an Arby's inside but the gas station had more to choose from, so Dad had a salad and I got a hot dog. The dogs were of course tied outside for a little bit while we ate in the cold! Something funny that we noticed, casinos everywhere! Inside the gas station!!

Much to Katie's dismay we did not stop in Butte, MT. We drove to Missoula and slept in a nice Broadway Inn and Suites (pet friendly!). We had McDonalds for dinner and were pretty tired after driving for over 800 miles today! I owe a lot to Dad, he did the majority of the driving! He claims it was so I could take pictures...hmm. It was definitely a long day but fun at the same time! Only one state between us and Washington!