Around noon, I got to Sturgis and decided to just drive by, maybe catch a glimpse of the motorcycle-sized parking that Stephen talked about. I just followed the I-90 business loop through town and didn't see the motorcycle-sized parking. In fact, it was just an ordinary small town. But, as I was headed back to the main I-90, there it was -- the local Harley Davidson dealership. So I just had to swing by. This is what happens when you go to b-school; you visit the businesses that you read about like you visit a museum. I didn't even bother with the motorcycle museum just a block away. :-)
It was very windy in South Dakota, more so than yesterday during the tour.
Around 1:00 pm MST, I was in Wyoming, which is also beautiful with its very red soil and very green rolling hills, that kinda reminded me of California. I stopped for gas in a small town somewhere in Wyoming then took a short nap under a tree in a rest stop. It was an absolutely beautiful day -- sunny, breezy, blue skies, a few little white wisps of clouds. I could have hung a hammock under that tree and stayed the rest of the day.
There was a section of the highway where the asphalt was as red as the soil. I figured they probably used some of the local dirt in the mix. I thought that was cool.
Red asphalt
Around 5:30pm MST, I hit Junction 94, so the route after that point, I had already passed on my drive from WA to MN last year. In fact, I stopped for gas at Big Timber, MT, and I realized I got gas there before, when I saw the little gift shop off to the side of the gas station.
Yes, as I've said the first time I drove through here, Montana is definitely beautiful. I think I'll build my B&B near the Yellowstone River, which runs by the freeway, sometimes to the left, other times to the right.
There were more cars around Billings, MT. Probably the crowd leaving town for the long weekend.
When I drove last year, I realized that you're really driving with the same group of people because you keep overtaking them or they keep overtaking you. Today, there was this shiny new dark red SUV, hauling a beat-up trailer with a beautiful white horse. The horse turned its head to look at me with its left eye. It made me smile seeing the horse the first time I overtook them, so I remembered them. After I stopped for a nap, I overtook them again. That was fairly normal. Then about 30 miles to Butte, I overtook them a third time! Each time, the horse would look at me. :-)
I found the exit, I turned left, I saw the hotel sign, I turned left into a street by the hotel, and it turned out to be the freeway entrance back to I-90 going east. Well, I didn't want to go back up the mountains, so I took the first exit, which was Hwy 15 going north. I was getting worried that the first exit would be miles away. And it was. Five miles up an incline to a little town called woodville. So I exited and went back south on 15. Then on my way down, there was a sign for a scenic view exit. It was definitely a beautiful view of the city lights from that height. However, it was already very late and I was very tired. So I didn't stop.
Lo and behold! The hotel has free wireless Internet access! Hallelujah!
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