WEDNESDAY - We woke up early today, around 6:00AM, but stayed in bed under the covers until closer to 7:00AM.
It was cold outside, around 50°F, and since it usually stays 10°F warmer inside THE POD it was around 60°F. We've not been running the furnace at night to save on battery power. We still haven't been able to determine why the battery charge controller is saying the batteries are all charged up when they are actually below 30%. You don't want to take a lithium battery below 20% charged or you risk damaging it. Guess it's time to seek professional help!
We were on the road by 9:30AM and didn't even make it 4-miles down the road before we pulled over at a scenic overlook to take one last photo of the Bighorn National Forest.
This overlook is called Hospital Hill Interpretive Site with some storyboards about it's history.
Just 10-miles later, after negotiating one more of those 8% downgrades in the road, we stopped in the town of Buffalo, WY (pop. 4415) to purchase gasoline at a Maverik Station for $3.09 a gallon. You know what else Maverik Stations sell, that's right Mountain Dew Honeydew flavored.
Mountain Dew Honeydew flavor was released in Canada for a limited time from August 2023 to October 2023. It has now been made available in the United States, starting in July 2025, as a Franchise Exclusive Flavor, sold only at Maverik and Kum﹠Go gas stations.
Just outside of Buffalo we hopped onto Interstate 90 East, which is what we'll be traveling on for the next 130-miles.
There were no towns on Interstate 90 for the first 68-miles of our travels. Actually, for over an hour there wasn't much of anything to see between the towns of Buffalo and Gillette.
Entering the Insterstate at 10:00AM. Not a lot to see, including the absence of traffic.
10:23AM: With no traffic it wasn't a problem for me to go 60MPH when the limit was 80MPH.
10:37AM: Finally some full grown trees, there must be a forest around here somewhere.
There are only 12 Walmart Supercenters in all of Wyoming and we just so happen to be passing by one today in Gillette, WY. We are going to make a stop to see if Tricia can find another pair of shorts to match the ones she purchased in Montana, she likes them that much!
This cowboy metal art sculpture was on the corner of the Interstate exit in Gillette.
Also she needs to by more yarn so she can complete her current knitting project. I hope to purchase a case of Dragonfruit flavored Mountain Dew, a Walmart exclusive flavor, but don't hold much hope of doing so.
Tricia found her yarn, but no shorts and no Mountain Dew. Next door was a Taco Bell so we enjoyed an early lunch while being off the boring Interstate.
While in Taco Bell I saw a new flavor of Mountain Dew in the fountain which I had to try. It's called Baja Midnight, which was just released on August 14th. It blends the flavors of passion fruit and tropical lime to create an interesting taste. It wasn't however my new favorite, Honeydew still holds the top spot for me.
After lunch it was time to get back on the road and travel another 60-miles of the boring Interstate driving until we reach the town of Sundance, WY.
That is Sundance Mountain up ahead, which looms over the town of Sundance.
It's where we will finally exit the Interstate and only have a short 3.5-mile drive to our campsite.
This is part of the 3.5-mile approach road to the campground.
The Black Hills National Forest in more often associated with nearby South Dakota,
but it does spill over into Wyoming where we are staying at the Reuter Campground.
Another spacious campsite here in the forest, but very little solar charging will happen here.
At least there is decent cell phone service, so I won't have to setup the Starlink dish.
THURSDAY - The skies looked pretty clear at 6:15AM, but we are forecast for some rain showers early this afternnon and then increasing to thunderstorms by bedtime, just great!
That means that our sightseeing plans will have to be moved forward so that we're not caught outside when the rain starts.
The sky at 6:15 AM this morning.
By 8:15AM we were headed up the road to Warren Peak Lookout Tower. When I say, up the road, I really mean "UP" the road. The lookout tower is only 4-miles from the campground, but it's a full 1200' higher in elevation and at least 5°F cooler up there.
Still a half mile away, but it's easy to spot the lookout tower.
At this point we left the paved road behind and started up a gravel road to the tower.
Even from ground level at the tower we could see cows on a nearby hill.
There's even a picnic table with a view up here, in addition to the vault toilet.
This 54' steel tower was built in 1960 to aid in early wildfire detection in the National Forest.
The room at the top was locked, but we could climb to just below the floor level of it.
That area over there is "off limits" to the public. It's the Sundance Air Force Station,
which in 1959 was the world’s first nuclear-powered radar station.
It is said that on a clear day you can see Devils Tower just 20-miles in that direction.
Today is not a clear day, with the clouds and smoke from the Canadian wildfires.
On the way back "down" to the campground, Tricia took another photo of Sundance Mountain.
Tommorow we head out for a "new to us" National Park. Any guesses?
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There's those pesky elevators that caused our return trip to South Dakota!
At the bottom of the elevator ride is this entrance to the cave.
Wind Cave doesn't have all the usual formations we're used to seeing in a cave.
This cave popcorn is familiar to us, we see it everywhere.
Here is some more of the very delicate Boxwork formations.
This is Flowstone, another familiar formation to us.
Here the Boxwork looked like a bunch of dried leaves glued to the ceiling.
Before 1903, when Wind Cave became a National Park,
Once back outside we took the time to walk down to the Natural Entrance of the cave.
The tribe members return to this sacred site and tie prayer ribbons on the trees.
This tiny 18" hole in the ground is the original entrance to the cave
