We woke up well rested, checked out of the hotel after having our hot free breakfast of eggs, sausage, and juice, and headed for the black hills. The night before we had looked into tours of Wind Cave, and had settled on getting to the park early enough to try for tickets. The website said tours were sold out, but might have some first come first serve tickets. We crossed our fingers and headed out. Once again passing the big president heads (a photo will appear eventually, I promise).
Upon arriving at Wind Cave National Monument, we found the line for tour tickets to be long, but moving quickly. As I stood in line for tickets, my sister toured the welcome center. Not long and we were at the front and able to get earlier tickets than anticipated. We still had to wait a bit for the tour to start, but we entertained ourselves with seeing how many of the 50 states we could find in license plates in the parking lot. Wow! Were we ever amazed…41/50 state plates and 2 Canadian provinces.
Eventually, our tour time approached, and we made our way to the entrance. The group was a descent size, but not too bad. We got the lowdown on the fact that the Fairgrounds tour was 0.6 miles, 450 stairs, and about 1.5hours. They held true to all those stats…as far as I know…I think my GPS was lost underground because I measured a little short of 0.6miles. After the underground portion, we toured above ground a little before driving through the park and finding a short hike to a fire tower. Of course we had to do the fire tower hike in preparation for my sister’s middle son’s graduation from fire academy upon our return from the north. 
After spending time checking out Wind Cave National Park, we started our trek towards the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the drop off of my sister with the Re-Member program for her week of work. Along the way, we stopped for in Hot Springs, SD, where we enjoyed lunch at Buffalo Dreamer Cafe. I'm not sure if I was just hungry from all the walking or what, but the burger I had for lunch was absolutely amazing. Having stuffed ourselves well with such great food, we decided to take a small walk along the stream in town before getting back in the car to continue our trip. It was a beautiful little walk past a waterfall and one of the springs that helped in naming the town.
The time for my sister's arrival on the campus of the RE-Member program was drawing near, and so we headed to the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. Thanks to Google maps, we had no trouble getting to the location. I dropped her off after having briefly met one of the employees with whom she would be working, and I headed out for my week of solo adventure.
My plan was to head west to Glacier National Park via Theodore Roosevelt National Park and any sights along the way. So, I headed north from RE-Member coming across the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre. There is a cemetery on the hill across the highway from the signs announcing the area, and I drove up there. As I approached the top of the hill and was trying to figure out where to park, a group of kids arrived, which discouraged me (by myself) from getting out of the car. Also, I felt like maybe I needed permission. So, I went back down to the highway and continued north.
On my way north, I found more of the roadside america curiosities and oddities as I passed this large biker bar amphitheater place that had some neat sculptures. It looked like a place that is probably well visited during Sturgis Bike week; although, it was pretty empty at the time I was driving past. So, I grabbed a few quick photos and kept going. As I continued north, I saw many signs for different Buttes, which played on my childish side and had me laughing. I passed through Butte County, where I was informed of white butte, tallest point in ND and grassy butte (there will be more buttes to come).
The 2 lane highway was wide open, and I sat back and took in the scenery. North Dakota had lots of oil diggers intermingled with windmills and farms. There was land as far as the eye could see. Eventually, I made it up to I-94, and headed towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I was finally going to see it, and I was hoping to find a camp site in the park. Right around sunset, I hit the eastern side of the park, Painted Canyon area, and took in the glorious views before heading into Medora to find a place to camp.
Unfortunately, there was no place available in the park, and so I stopped at a hotel that on line said it was maybe $100. When I asked about their rates in the office, I was informed they had 1 room left and it was $200. At this time, it was about 9pm, and I was tired, but I said, "No thank you" to the overpriced room, and headed back the way I came to Belfield, ND. I fueled up & stayed at the Trapper Motel for $130, which included $5 off my breakfast & 2 free drink coupons for the Lounge (which I didn't use...being by myself and all). It wasn't a luxury hotel, but it was comfortable enough. I placed the chair in front of the door and headed to sleep, after figuring out my plans for the next day.
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