Long Haul -- Day 1

Oh my goodness, we've had a long day! We drove all the way to Butte, Montana where we spent about an hour looking for a place to stay. We finally found a room in the Comfort Inn -- more expensive than we planned, but after about 16 hours on the road we needed to stop.

Since arriving, we have been on two computers looking for accommodation somewhere around Rapid City for tomorrow night. We can find NOTHING at any price, and the prices are truly unbelievable. It can't be right, but Motel 6 and Super 8 are advertising at about $300 plus per night! The first screen says "from $59" and when we go to check availability, we get a message saying they are full and an indication that the cost is up in the stratosphere. Not sure what we'll do yet. We didn't find anything like this when we looked for accommodation a few weeks ago when we checked out these dates from home. We may just have to by-pass Mt. Rushmore, Cosmos, and Wall Drug Store and drive on!

Until now, we've had a great trip though. The most stunning sight was to see the sunset behind us -- all glowing with pink strips of clouds, and beside us, the sun still shining across the top of one heavily treed mountain. The whole mountain glowed with an almost heavenly light of gold -- stunning, to say the least.

So, ever onward! It's time for some rest and we'll tackle the accommodation problem tomorrow. We're wondering if it might be a different story if we actually darken the door of one of these motels! We'll keep you posted. What a lark!