Today’s schedule is a big one.  Drive from Rapid City SD to Big Horn Wyoming to see the spot of Custer’s last stand and then cross Wyoming to Yellowstone park.  On the way Bunny learns that the road to Yellowstone across Wyoming is very curvy and has a lot of elevation gain.  So she determines that the best route is actually to drop in from the north out of Montana.  The roads are much less curvy and less elevation gain.  So we set our sights for Livingstone mt.  Then she realized that I had actually got the wrong location for Custer’s last stand.  I was going to Big Horn Wyoming, but actually the spot of Custer’s last stand is at Little Big Horn in Montana which just happens to be on the way to Livingston Mt.  Funny how things work out sometimes.  Well it was over 4 hours drive to little big horn and around 8 hours to Livingston mt.
We got to Custer Last stand and it was very good.  Bunny and I enjoyed it much more than we thought we would.  There was a lot of history leading up to the event and much more to the story than just where Custer was finally killed.  The whole thing stretched over 3 to 4 miles.  Really interesting.  But once again an exhibit is closing and we still have to find a place to stay in Livingston mt.  After a lot of reaseach we found an RV park for a reasonable price and a short drive to Yellowstone.  Its not HoJos but it will do … Tomorrow Yellowstone … Maybe we’ll find a picnic basket … Hey Bobo….

I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got to Mt Rushmore.  We have all seen pictures but what does the area around them look like… what is the history of these stone faces.
We took a leasurly day.  Slept in had breakfast and coffee worked out in the fitness center and sat in the hot tub then headed out about noon.  It was only gonna be a 30 minute drive which was really good because I was exhausted from yesterdays driving.  I got in the car and started out and felt like all I wanted to do was go back to the room and sleep more … We got to Mt Rushmore and it energized me.  The thrill of seeing these carvings for real and also learning the history of the carvings and a lot of american history also.  For example George Washington wasn’t actually our first president til 1789.  I always thought he would have started in 1776 as soon as we became a country ….
Anyway … I walked the trail around the base of the carvings and met Bunny back at the car.  I had hoped to drive to 2 other tourist attractions but we were exhausted and headed for HoJos.  We were even too tired to head down again for complimentary wine and beer … actually we had our fill the night before. 

Bunny and I are sitting in the parking lot of a rest area in Iowa.  We are looking at 8 1/2 hour drive to Mt Rushmore and the black hills our next stop.  What to do????  We decide to just do it !!!! Just bite the bullet and not waste 2 days getting across south Dakota to the black hills.  So we decided to reward ourselves with a motel room once we got to rapid city south Dakota … the biggest metropolis outside of the black hills.  Bunny went on price line and got a Howard Johnsons for $39 a night.   WOW is that cheap … Probably a dive but we set out for rapid city an 8 1/2 hour drive. 
If you look at a map you will understand how boring this drive is. … You go straight across south Dakota and I mean straight .. All I had to contend with was an occasional slight hill and big trucks going by me.  After a while Bunny called ahead to confirm the reservations and found out they have a complimentary beer and wine bar from 6 pm to 7:30.  We now have a new goal … To get there in time for happy hour.   Step on it ..
We pull into rapid city and find the Howard Johnsons.  Its a little before 6 pm we made good time…It looks nice!!  We check in and find out they have a pool, fitness center, 120 channels of cable TV (we have been without for a week now) and free breakfast.  We get to the room … Nice … So we get on price line and get another night ..because we are going to spend the next day seeing my Rushmore and just find another place to stay in rapid city .. Why not HoJos.  We got another night at HoJos thru price line but at $49 per night but still that’s equivalent to a RV site.  We go downstaitprs for complimentary wine and beer … Oh My ….

We were up early and showered .. again … and made our way to the casino.  It was empty … There was no one there but it was 9am on a Monday morning.  We found out that the whole casino was nonsmoking … Unheard of … Also a portion of the casino was actually a riverboat.  Although you couldn’t tell where the casino on land started and the riverboat part started.  We had coffee and played some machines.  While we were playing and my friend John Elvik called and we set to meet up around 6 pm because it was a 5 hour drive to LA Crosse from where we were.  We packed up and hit the road. 
After 5 hours and 307 miles we got into LA Crosse.  John was out and about for work but asked if we could stop by his work around 7 pm.  So we did some grocery shopping and drove to his work.  He is the head maintence guy at the local YMCA.  He gave us a tour … It is a HUGE place … It is a large fitness center and more.  We got to see pics of his 3 boys .. He has a big 17 year old and a pair of twin boys 15 yes old.  I hadn’t seen John for probably 15 yes.  It was great to see him and see how well he is doing … It was great catching up and we both wished we could have spent more time catching up but he had to get back to work and we had to find a place to stay for the night.
We said our goodbyes and hit the road.  I had another casino in mind, but bunny had found a rest stop actually on an island in the middle of the Mississippi river we could stay overnight at … how cool does that sound …. The rest stop was 20 minutes out of LA Crosse.  It was just off the freeway out of town, but when we got there the freeway was under construction and so was got confused and missed the turn off.  Then it looked like it was gonna be a huge hassle to turn around with the construction going on so we set out for the casino I had originally plan on.  But it was a 2 hour drive and it was already after 8:30 …
So we set out for Diamond Jo casino.  It was just gonna be a sleep over stop. 
The stop was actually in Iowa.  Bunny figured out that in Iowa they let you stay in a rest area for up to 24 hours.  Diamond Jo’s just happened to be next to A very nice rest area.  So we pulled into the rest stop and quickly hit the hay.  We woke in the morning got our coffee from the cafe inside this Great rest stop … See Bunny’s blog about this rest stop.  We were trying to decide where to aim for next.  The next stop on the itinerary was Mt. Rushmore.  Which we figured was 8 1/2 hours away.  It was around 9:30 am we were not sure what to do .’.

Before we get too far down the road, we need to post something about our Maid of the Mist experience. This is the boat tour that one takes to get “up close and personal” with Niagara Falls (we “experienced” the Maid of the Mist on Thursday; it’s now Sunday).

The above photo was taken before the boat ride with Niagra Falls in the background.

Marty’s perspective of the boat ride: (this is a verbatim transcript of his comments) It was wet. It was great. Did I mention it was wet? It was about 45 minutes long. Did I mention that it was wet?

Photo of Bridal Veil falls from boat – this is before it got really wet! When we got to the main falls (Horseshoe) it was too wet to use a camera. We were in white out conditions anyway…

Bunny’s perspective: I’m renaming this boat ride “The Maid (I wish I had) Missed”. For $17 each, we basically got familiar with how victims of a Class 5 hurricane would feel if they were stupid enough to ignore the evacuation orders. We were able to get an up close view of Bridal Veil falls (the much smaller of the two). But the main event (Horseshoe Falls) was obscured by torrential rain/mist and a visceral fear that the rocking boat would not make the turn and that our names would be listed among those “lost at sea.” Most of the people on our boat – and there were droves – didn’t speak English which explains why they were there: they couldn’t read the warnings on TripAdvisor. We had no such excuse. But I can say “been there, done that.” And move on… 🙂

A selfie of us after the boat ride. The only reason I’m smiling is because it’s over. 🙂

We woke up in Battle Creek Michigan at Firekeeper casino.  The drawback of hiking over 3 parking lots to get to the casinos was out weighted by the great bathrooms,  lots of free coffee and pop and the free overnight stay.  We walked to the casino in the am for coffees and bathrooms and made the trek back and hit the road.  Today’s driving was gonna b easy.  An hour and a half to Notre Dame and then 2 hours to the next stop Hollywood casino in Joliet Illinois.  On our way to ND we wanted to find out if students were going to be there or not.  We did some research and found out that it was graduation day for the senior class.  OH BOY …what have we done.  We were going on the worst day to visit.  We figured it was gonna be a zoo.  So we took our time getting there and arrived around 2 pm.  Things were settling down and people were leaving so it was easy to find a place to park.  As it turned out it was a Great day to visit.  It was special watching these newly graduated kids celebrating and taking pictures with their family and friends.  We blended in nicely taking our pictures and moving around the campus. 
It was around 5 pm and time to move along.  We hit the road for our next stop in Joliet IL at a place called Hollywood Casino.  Bunny had called and talked with them the night before and found out they had an RV park with water and electrical hookups and bathrooms with showers.  2 hours later we arrived and hooked up and showered.  The next days stop was gonna be LA Crosse Wisconsin to see a good friend of mine from high school.  I called himbut got his roommate and left a message hoping he would call back tomorrow.  I went to the casino and Bunny went to bed. 

We are sitting in a cool old-fashioned diner INSIDE this amazing museum (in Dearborn, Michigan) having a late lunch. Marty ordered the Sloppy Joe; I’m having an open-faced beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. They’re playing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys. 🙂

Here’s a photo:

We will publish another blog on this museum but here’s one more photo to whet your appetite:

It’s a Tucker! More later…

OMG, I just got my order!! Here it is: