The planned attraction for the day was the Devils Tower in eastern WY. This is a national monument administered by the National Park Service.
Sheridan, WY
I decided to visit the city of Sheridan first. This is a western themed city along I-90. Technically, I was backtracking as I was heading west on I-90 when the intent is to go east, but it was not terribly far away. There were some scenic overlooks on both sides of I-90. See the photos on the westbound side.
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I spent a little bit of time in Sheridan. It had a nice downtown area with lots of interesting shops. It was sunny today so there wasn't the same gloomy feeling from the previous day. For lunch I had buffalo chicken (a fitting choice considering where I stayed the night before). Mexican food has nothing on that. I felt like my mouth was on fire! I took a few photos of historical buildings in Sheridan and then got on the way east. See the photos.
On the way back, I stopped at the other scenic rest area along I-90. Scenery overall on I-90 was nice but nothing like US-16.
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After passing Buffalo, WY, the Wall Drugstore ads began to appear along I-90. Wall Drug is located in Wall, SD. Ads are sometimes in the form of small signs and sometimes in regular billboards. They have silly ads like "It's Cool. Wall Drug" or "Free Ice Water - Wall Drug" or "5 cent coffee - Wall Drug." There are all sorts of tacky ads. But, the place is famous and will be a destination on my trip.
Devils Tower
Finally, I got to the Devils Tower. This is an area sacred to Native Americans. There is a two mile walking trail surrounding the tower. They ask that people stick to the trail unless they plan to climb the tower. Climbers must register with the National Park Service AND check in once they've come down. By the time I got there, the visitor center was closed. But, no problem as I had no desire to climb the tower!
In walking around, there was much more to see than just the tower, though that was beautiful in and of itself. Seeing the forest surrounding it was quite interesting. Wildfires left logs in interesting poses and new life grew around the remains of burned areas. See the photos.
After visiting the tower, I had dinner at a small restaurant. This was a nice time. The owners and workers chatted with me for a while. They were just common, every day people who were very friendly. I found they had recently acquired the business and were not at all prepared for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally a few weeks back. The motorcyclists make a run to the Devils Tower. This family brought in relatives from all over the country to handle the load. The waitress was from Florida and would be going back soon now that demand was lower.
Hill City, SD
My destination for the evening was Hill City, SD, which is about ten miles away from Mount Rushmore. When I entered into SD, it was not at all like eastern SD. Yes, there were some flat areas with farmland. But most of it consisted of mountains and hills. This was a very populated area with cities like Sturgis (as in the motorcycle rally), Rapid City, etc.
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I had to get off I-90 and head south for almost an hour. Hill City is a tourist area and a western-themed town. I arrived quite late. The Internet didn't work in my hotel room. But, after bugging the clerk a bit, I was able to persuade her to reset the system and make it work.
On various web sites, it was claimed that this area of SD was in the Central Time Zone. However, maps show the line between Central and Mountain being somewhere close to the middkle of South Dakota. The hotel assured me I was still in Mountain Time. It was good to not lose an extra hour. Of course, I would lose it fairly soon.
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