Day 13 - outrunning the storm

 

Day 13 - outrunning the storm

 8:30 a.m. Driving east on I-80, reminiscing about the last 2 weeks.  

The highlights:

- first glimpse of the Badlands (with thunderstorms all around us)

-Emerging from the tunnel in the Black Hills to see deer in the forest and Rushmore in the distance.

-pool and hot tub at Days Inn in West Yellowstone

-sunrise and full moon with sounds of wolves (far) and cows (close) in West Yellowstone

-feeding prairie dogs in the Badlands

-Canyon and Lower Falls in Yellowstone

-driving close to buffalo in Custer and Yellowstone

-seeing grizzly bear and black bear cubs in Glacier

-views in the Tetons

-Jenny Lake trail hike (and bear scratches on tree)

-Glacier National Park views from Highline Trail ledge

-Little Bighorn grave markers

-VRBO at Columbia Fall, MT (fireplace, hot tub)

-Running Bear Pancake House in West Yellowstone

-Snow King Mountain Resort in Jackson Hole, where we couldn't stay, but enjoyed their lobby. :)

-Listening to wolves in Yellowstone

-Stop off Beartooth Highway 

-Swimming at Rawlins, WY hotel

-Johns Lake hike in Glacier

-Buffalo sleeping by the road in the pre-dawn at Yellowstone

-Norris Basin at Yellowstone

-Buffalo walking in front of geysers at Yellowstone

-deer at VRBO

-seeing moose and 2 huge elk at Yellowstone

Lowlights:

-speeding ticket

-crowds and traffic jams

-weather at Logans Pass at GNP

-Hidden Lake hike

-all the closed things because of COVID

- pitiful or nonexistent hotel breakfasts because of COVID

-missing Colorado because of fires and snowstorm :(

-tiny hotel at Mt. Rushmore

11:58 a.m. GAS at Loves somewhere in Nebraska.  9.5 gal x $2.09 = $19.74. Switching drivers.

4:20 p.m. I drove 230 miles across Nebraska, listening to Bon Jovi.  Lost an hour switching to CST.

GAS at Loves at Wood River, NE.  9.6 gal x $1.99 = $19.20.

6:00 Cornhusker's hotel in Lincoln, NE.  I got it on Priceline for $48. Not sure why, but maybe because it's attached to a conference center where no events are taking place and I booked it at the last minute. The pool is closed due to...well, we all know why.  I didn't take a single picture today.