2005-10-04

I awoke to find that the tire with the very slow leak was now completely flat, courtesy of a small screw. I never did find the handle to the jack and so was forced to use a can opener in its place (and it actually worked). As I put on the spare the wind filled every crevice of my being with cold dust and sand. I drove back to Scottsbluff to get the tire fixed.

From Scottsbluff I headed North on 71, cut over to 29 on some county road, and continued North to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. An interesting stop--local fossils and a little local history.

I kept driving North past Harrison out into the Oglala National Grassland, which eventually turned into the Buffalo Gap National Grassland as I meandered further North into South Dakota.

I don't know why, but I enjoyed driving across miles and miles of nothing but rolling prairie. (There were cows, too, of course.) I bet it would be a real spectacular drive in the spring when the grass is green. Much of the view was blocked by a steadily increasing fog, however, that turned to a light rain and then to a heavy rain and then to (if my ears aren't deceiving me) sleet as the day progressed.

Eventually I got back on Highway 71, connected with 385 and found myself at Wind Cave National Park. This park protects a stretch of prairie with all types of critters on it, including buffalo, pronghorn and prairie dogs, all of which I saw. I took the Wind Cave tour. Not the most awesome cave tour ever, but interesting all the same.

From Wind Cave I kept moving North on 385 until I arrived in the Northern part of the Black Hills where I AM now parked. NOAA is reporting a winter storm warning and predicts up to ten inches of snow by tomorrow. Because of this, I decided not to place myself too far off a main route. There's a good chance I may be stuck here tomorrow. But after a few days it's supposed to warm up again, so I shouldn't be stuck here forever.

Two weeks ago I was sweating under a canopy of mosquitoes, and now I'm camping through a snow storm.