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whitehall to yellowstone to deadwood


Day 8. Man, that day 7 post was a bit of a doozy, huh? So many links to get everybody up to date and keep everybody up to speed! Well, you’re here, and you made it. We’ve over half-way finished this road trip already! That was quick! And so the beginning of the end but not like in a morbid way.. just in a very factual, ‘my road trip was only 13 days’ kind of way! Breathe, everyone. Everything's grand! Anyway, I have a tendency to ramble, so let’s just get down to business, yes?

June 20, 2018

Whitehall, MT to Yellowstone National Park to Deadwood, SD

Whoo-ee! It has been a long day, and it’s only 7:30! Archy and I woke up in Whitehall and were on the road by 5:30 AM. We got a little lost at first, and thank the high heavens I printed out paper directions just in case my GPS failed. It did. Shocker. And guess what?! There was no service/reception at our campsite either, so no GPS. As much as people make fun of me for being a dinosaur who loves hard copies, I am sure happy to be that dinosaur. It saved my tush today.

Once we got un-lost (thanks to my paper directions and my trusty compass), Archy and I headed on our way to Yellowstone National Park. It took us about 3.5 hours, including potty breaks and refueling stops, but we made it to Old Faithful! The drive was, yet again, beautiful with only small bouts of rain along the way. Yellowstone is breathtakingly beautiful with its winding rivers, hot springs, rolling hills, and wildlife. There were wild buffalo! (or maybe they were bison.. I don’t know, but man they were cool!) And Old Faithful was definitely a sight to see.

The drive from Yellowstone to Deadwood was long, winding, and peaceful. I feel so calm when I see winding rivers and creeks. It’s like they encourage you to slow down and just enjoy the moment. Montana sure is something else. We also passed through Wyoming, and I thought of Pete and Jason, two of my neighbors in LA since that’s where they’re from. Wyoming is beautiful, too.

I caught up with one of my closest girlfriends from college on my drive, and her baby is due in early September, a Virgo baby! We joked for a bit about virgos (because I guess I am one - if you believe in that stuff), and it was really nice to catch up. I miss her, and I’m so happy she’s doing well!

Archy’s doing great. She’s such a wonderful travel partner, though she leans to the quiet side. She did not want to get out from the bottom of the sleeping bag this morning. It was adorable.

We got checked into our hotel in Deadwood, and it is unlikely we can have a late check-out tomorrow morning. It’s okay, though, because our next campsite is Mt. Rushmore, which is only an hour-and-a-half away.

I’m pretty tired from driving (it took 14 hours total to get from Whitehall to Deadwood with stops). I just took a nice hot bath and listened to some unplugged recordings of some indie artists I like to relax.

No restaurants deliver here, which is such a first world problem that I’m laughing at myself. I’m going to see what’s close, watch some TV, and snuggle with Archy until we fall asleep in our room with two queen beds: one for her and one for me. Just kidding. It was the only room they had left, which is insane to me but c’est la vie. It’ll be so nice to have a bed tonight; the bath and cup of tea I just had was amazing. Hoping I’ll be able to wake up early-ish and explore Deadwood a little before I move on to Mt. Rushmore.

This trip has been so amazing so far.

P.S. - there’s a casino in my hotel. I’m not going to play slots, but it’s kind of cool it’s an option.

P.P.S. - ordered a large cheese pizza, called to check after an hour and then after another half hour, and they forgot. I told them to forget it since it’s 10 PM. God I wanted that pizza. Ugh. but on the bright side, I got to watch Property Brothers and saved myself $20.

Did you like that recap? So much drama! It started off with "Whoo-ee!" You know when a journal entry starts with a term like that, you're in for something, right? Also, I swear I need more words for 'breathtaking' and 'beautiful' because that's like all the middle of the United States is, y'all! To the point where you're like, 'ok, I get it.. lots of natural beauty... so now what?' And then those postscripts? A casino in a hotel?! Takes me back to working in Atlantic City in a casino/hotel right out of college. But wait! A second postscript? I will neither confirm nor deny if I cried when they forgot my pizza. But I will confirm that I love all things HGTV, including the PropBros.

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