Big Sky!

There are lots of cops in big sky country. Don't believe it when everyone tells you you can drive as fast as you want in Montana. I've still avoided a ticket but had one really close call while setting a land-speed record.

Yellowstone is a huge park that would take a few days to see entirely, but in a few hours I saw a few wild things - bison, deer, Old Faithful.

For a cowboy town, Bozeman is sure bereft of cowboy boot stores. There is one place, Carter's, that makes custom boots if you need a presidential seal or Kansas jayhawk. But turnaround time is 4 months and I didn't want to hang around Bozeman that long.

For my next stop, I audibled when I noticed Deadwood is pretty close to Mount Rushmore. I was a big fan of the HBO series so I decided to stay there for a night. The road to South Dakota was bad and rain poured on me the whole time, but this did make for a spectacular rainbow on the side of the road. Actually two:


I did find boots in Billings, which was a relief because I figured I'd need them in Deadwood. As it turned out, Deadwood turned out to be pretty kitchy and there's a casino in every hotel/bar/restaurant. Next up: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and a big drive across South Dakota.