Day 3 Mitchell, SD to Devels Tower, MT

Day 2 is in the books.  We left Dakota Campground in Mitchell, SD at 9:00 AM.  About an hour latter we reached the Missouri River at Highway 90.  There is a real nice visitor center there and we stopped and took a couple of pictures.  After we crossed the river, it seemed like the road went straight up.  We were continually going up a grade AND the wind was blowing very hard from the Northwest.  I had forgotten how much nothing there is between Sioux Falls and Rapid City.........booorrring.

We stopped at Rapid City for fuel and lunch at 1:10.  We then finished the day by driving to Devils Tower were we are staying overnight at a KOA Campground located right at the base of the tower.  Kind of a pricey campground at $53 for the night, but a very cool place to be.

We had a huge headwind today.  I guess it was just payback for the great tailwind we had yesterday.  Winds were a steady 15 mph, gusting to 35 mph.  We drove 374 miles in 7 hours and 30 min.  We did not have enough fuel to get to Rapid City because of the headwinds and stopped in New Underwood to fuel up.  Because fuel was so expensive ($4.91), we only put in $48.52 and 12.4 gallons.  We then drove on to Rapid City and stopped at a Pilot Truck Stop.  Fuel there was $3.959.  It took another 26.53 gallons to fill it up.  Fuel mileage for today was only 7.3 mpg (darn headwind).  We also climbed in elevation about 3000 feet.  You can see that on the Route Log.



On to Bozeman, MT tomorrow

Click here to see Day 2 route and pictures

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