After leaving Neil and
Joel heading in the opposite direction back to Canada I caught yet
another greyhound bus to take me from Missoula to Billings to collect
my hire car. This was a pretty long journey that took most of the day
and by the time I got to Billings I was already pairing back my plans
to push on to Wyoming that night. Things deteriorated when I
discovered I'd actually booked my car for collection in Butte rather
than Billings 200 miles back from where I'd come. Thankfully the girl
at the desk was really kind and managed to arrange for me to hire a
different car to drive back to Butte to collect the car I should've
been driving without costing me too much. So back to Butte it was and
ever farther from my planned destination.
By the time I got the
actual car I'd be driving east, a rather sleek black Nissan Altima
complete with cruise control and a booking stereo with bluetooth
connection for my iphone it was almost 11pm. My original plan for
Wyoming was now well and truly up the spout and the best I could hope
for was to make it back to Billings and making the trip to Wyoming
the next day. This would take a further three hours and was made all
the more difficult with the conditions throwing up pretty much every
shitty bit of weather you could name: freezing fog, snow and icy
roads. Somehow I managed to hold it all together and by around 2am I
stopped at a motel just about 60 miles short of Billings.
The next day I'd given up
on cursing my stupidity and feeling frustrated about loosing time to
enjoy the different stops I'd plotted along my route (its hard to
stay pissed off (even at yourself) when you're confronted with
Montana). A new plan in mind I set off for that day's new final
destination: Rapid City, South Dakota. Along the way I'd visit
Devil's Tower – a 300 and something metre rock formation in
Wyoming, buoyed by the knowledge the drive itself would offer ample
opportunity to reflect on my trip, the book that's becoming ever more
coherent and listen to music – loud; all while soaking up the
wondrous landscapes of Montana and Wyoming that lay in wait.
I'd made it to Billings
an hour after breakfast and the fearsome weather of the previous
night had given way to blue skies with high cirrus clouds streaked
across its pale blue expanse. On turning towards the south soon after
I left the by now familiar landscapes I'd enjoyed in Montana for the
last few days and entered the county of Big Horn where that foolhardy
killer of innocents and celebrated American Custer got his ass handed
to him. I didn't feel much like stopping here regardless of schedule
but the landscape with its baron simplicity and geological formations
was instantly reminiscent of the westerns I'd watched as a boy and
man. And as things would turn out this was to be the theme of the day
as Big Horn gave way to Crow Country – a native america reservation
where the countryside was pocked with some of the most dilapidated
settlements I've ever seen. I found out later that its not a good
idea to stop here if you're white as there is so much animosity about
the Crow's plight. All I could think of at the time was the movie
Jeremiah Johnstone where Robert Redford is pursued by the Crow
through the mountains relentlessly to avenge the ancestors for his
crime of walking through their sacred burial ground. Soon enough I
was to see mountains such as those he was pursued through as I
finally entered Wyoming. First through the Big Horn mountains, then
high plains and desert. All with those majestic Rocky mountains
making up the horizon to the south and west. I wondered how it
must've felt for the first pioneers entering such unfamiliar lands,
and the native americas finding these strangers with their guns and
sense of entitlement but most of all I thought how I would have
longed to be one of those people native or pioneer who was able to
walk this land before roads and settlements of concrete and glass
arrived...
I stopped in the little
town of Sheridan, Wyoming for some lunch where the town is laid out
along the same lines I imagine it was when originally settled with
one long main street marking almost all of the settlement. It must've
been the sight for at least a couple of duels and maybe even a heist
of the Wells Fargo bank which completely authentic. I stopped in to a
rather elegant restaurant and enjoyed friendly service from a
wholesome Wyoming girl and stretched my legs a little before getting
back on I-90 and making for Devil's Tower. I'd decided to visit
Devil's Tower pretty late in the day but when you see a picture (I've
included one below) of it you understand how otherworldly it is, and
in my book that's a good enough reason to seek it out (you might also
recognise it from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind). By
the time I arrived the sun was waning and cast its light across the
fields of windswept wheat surrounding it a glistening blanket of gold
against the imposing darkness of the leviathan. I was once more in a
state of awe at the natural beauty here in the west. Back in the car
I travelled onwards for another couple of hours coming down from the
high plains past the historic town of Deadwood, arriving in Rapid
City, South Dakota 600 miles under my belt for the day, craving for a
deep restful sleep.
I got up early the next
day and made my way to the Black Hills to visit Mount Rushmore and
Crazy Horse statues. Mount Rushmore was a little underwhelming,
although it did peak my interest in the President I knew least about
– Teddy Roosevelt. It inevitably suffered when held in comparison
to the much grander albeit incomplete statue of Crazy Horse nearby
that will when finished consume the entire mountain its cast from.
Crazy Horse didn't win any prizes either when held in comparison to
the Black Hills where both monuments lie. Forested and covered in
snow these rolling hills were yet another inspirational aspect of the
natural beauty in all its abundance that marks this part of the
world.
By lunchtime I was on the
road for my last stop of the day: the Badlands of South Dakota. These
jagged rock formations are like nothing else and should be visited by
everyone at least once if humanly possible. Their serrated forms rise
out of the plains and have an ethereal feel that is quite unlike any
other I've known. I know it seems strange to describe them as
ethereal given their imposing nature and permanence but they felt
like I'd dreamt or hallucinated their ghostly forms. Perhaps it was
the blanket of snow that covered them or my own preconceptions I'm
not sure? Either way it was definitely enhanced when a long eared owl
flew in front of my windscreen no more than 2 feet away! After a
couple of enchanted hours travelling this strange world I resumed my
journey east and pushed on for Minneapolis arriving at midnight. This
would give me the luxury of not driving the next day and 900 miles
under my belt for the day on the straightest most uneventful roads I
expect I'll ever see I was pleased of that.
The home of Prince didn't
seem willing to give up any of its secrets to me in the day I had to
explore so I decided to take a visit to the polar opposite of the
co-operatives and wide open spaces that had dominated proceedings
thus far and head to the biggest shopping mall in the northern
hemisphere: The Mall of America. There's not much I can tell you
about this place that you couldn't guess short of the fact it has a
series of roller-coasters in the centre of the complex and is barring
this bright spot marked by vast areas coloured grey, beige or
magnolia. Feeling like I'd made a big mistake, especially as the only
item on my shopping list (stamps) seemed to be the only thing they
didn't sell in there I made my way to the cinema and was happily
transported to a happier place watching the fabulous new movie by
Alphonso Cuaron: Gravity. If you haven't seen it on the big screen
please do so while you can its a thing of beauty.
The next day marked my
last in the car which by now I'd grown rather fond of and only
required a quick 4 hour drive to Madison, Wisconsin where I was
scheduled to spend 4 days in a Housing Co-operative. I'll let you
know about that in my next post...
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