{"id":2594,"date":"2014-07-06T07:30:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T12:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2594"},"modified":"2014-07-06T07:30:43","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T12:30:43","slug":"big-sky-vacation-day-2-bears-dont-need-cell-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=2594","title":{"rendered":"Big Sky Vacation Day 2: Bears don’t need cell coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Second leg of our journey began early today.\u00a0 We got moving around 6:00 so we could be on the road by 7:30.\u00a0 Sounds early, but we had some big plans for the day.\u00a0 The road was still pretty open with little traffic.\u00a0 In South Dakota, the speed limit is 75.\u00a0 This suits me fine.\u00a0 I love to drive fast.\u00a0 Rich stuck right at 75 without upping the control a nudge or two.<\/p>\n

Rich started out the morning shift.\u00a0 This allowed me to work on my right arm a bit before the temperature got above the 84 mark.\u00a0 There was a motive for Rich driving early though.\u00a0 That would come later in the day.<\/p>\n

At Chamberlain, we prepared for the big drop.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t gone 90 through South Dakota and gotten to the Missouri River, you\u2019ve missed this opportunity.\u00a0 It is one of my favorite things about this drive.\u00a0 When you reach the town of Chamberlain, the road drops a way to the Missouri.\u00a0 The hill is long and just falls forever.\u00a0 Going west is the most fun.\u00a0 Today, we filmed going down the hill using Rich\u2019s new camera.\u00a0 The video was awesome.<\/p>\n

After that, we made our way steadily across South Dakota with a goal in mind.\u00a0 We were stopping for lunch at Firehouse Brewing Company in Rapid City.\u00a0 We found this place on a vacation back in the 90s.\u00a0 It was so good back then and we hoped it hadn\u2019t changed.\u00a0 We arrived in town about 12:30 and made our way into downtown.\u00a0 Firehouse is located in the old firehouse station in downtown.\u00a0 They converted it into a very nice brewpub.\u00a0 The beers have always been enjoyable.<\/p>\n

We came around the corner and discovered that Firehouse had almost taken over the entire block where they sit.\u00a0 There is now Firehouse Winery two doors down.\u00a0 In between the brewery and winery is the merchandise store.\u00a0 We got right in at the brewpub and got seated.\u00a0 Rich already had his beer order ready.\u00a0 One Smoke Jumper Stout, please.\u00a0 Me?\u00a0 I\u2019m having beer, but with root in front of the name.\u00a0 They make a great root beer also.<\/p>\n

We started off with gorgonzola ale soup followed up with sandwiches.\u00a0 I had the Proud Turkey and Rich had the bison brisket done Carolina style.\u00a0 Both were great.\u00a0 Rich followed up with the Chukkura Pale Ale as his second beer.\u00a0 I think the Smoke Jumper was still his favorite.\u00a0 Mine, too!<\/p>\n

We took pictures outside before moving over to the merchandise store.\u00a0 We had to pick up a shirt for someone on Rich\u2019s bowling team.\u00a0 Arnie loves Firehouse also.\u00a0 I saw a second shirt that I could resist. \u00a0It\u2019ll be a surprise for someone.<\/p>\n

Taking the picture out front, I realized they had a new logo and it fits.\u00a0 They says:\u00a0 Firehouse, the restaurant with the unfair advantage.\u00a0 So true.<\/p>\n

After stopping off to pick up some items, we hit the road again.\u00a0 This time, we were headed to Buffalo, Wyoming for the night.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been through this area before.\u00a0 Our first time was our honeymoon as we headed to Yellowstone National Park the back way.\u00a0 It\u2019s a beautiful drive, but it does take a while.<\/p>\n

Somewhere outside of Devil\u2019s Tower, the temp hit 100!\u00a0 It was a scorcher.\u00a0 Rich was looking north off and on and could finally make out Devil\u2019s Tower in the distance.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the largest thing out there.\u00a0 We visited there a long time ago.\u00a0 I think Rick (Andy back then) was about 3.\u00a0 Rich remembers it well as the time that Andy was driving his mother nuts.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those stories we tell Rick all the time.<\/p>\n

Rich was checking his phone from time to time.\u00a0 He says he was just confirming that he was out of cell coverage, in case someone was trying to call him.\u00a0 Since it was Saturday, I didn\u2019t think anyone would be looking for him, but me.\u00a0 Rich said he told the guys at work that he would be out of coverage during the day.\u00a0 His exact statement to them was:\u00a0 Bears don\u2019t need cell coverage.\u00a0 True.\u00a0 But if they had coverage, they didn\u2019t have opposing thumbs and couldn\u2019t answer it anyway!<\/p>\n

We made it to Buffalo in good time.\u00a0 That\u2019s about when we remembered the time change.\u00a0 We had crossed over into the Mountain Time Zone back in Chamberlain.\u00a0 We had gained an hour.\u00a0 We got to our hotel and checked in.\u00a0 At the door of our assigned room, we ran into a snag.\u00a0 The card wouldn\u2019t open the door.\u00a0 Rich went down to the desk to retry the cards.\u00a0 Nope, still didn\u2019t work.\u00a0 I took them back down and the clerk decided the battery in the door lock was dead.\u00a0 He assigned another room for us.<\/p>\n

Luckily, those keys worked.\u00a0 We settled in and went through the literature about town.\u00a0 We decided to eat at the Winchester Steakhouse.\u00a0 This was because it was close, but also because it had great reviews for their steaks.\u00a0 When in Wyoming, you have to eat steak.\u00a0 And it was all true.\u00a0 Rich ordered a rib eye.\u00a0 It was cooked perfectly and tasted like the great Wild West.<\/p>\n

After dinner, we decided to look around town since it was early.\u00a0 Buffalo isn\u2019t that large a town.\u00a0 I soon had us on the road up toward the Big Horn Mts.\u00a0 This was the road we took into Yellowstone.\u00a0 Up in the initial mountains, we came to the Big Horn National Forest.\u00a0 We stopped at a couple of overlooks and read some plaques.\u00a0 Different sections of the rock along the road had been dated and new signs showed the age and era for each section.\u00a0 The oldest was Pre-Cambrian and dated about 3 billion years old.\u00a0 The youngest sign was labeled for 500 to 600 million years old.\u00a0 It was just a baby.<\/p>\n

Along the road, we were seeing black tail deer having their evening meal.\u00a0 We missed the first couple.\u00a0 I did manage to stop for one and Rich took some pictures.\u00a0 Poor guy was eyeing Rich with a lot of suspicion.<\/p>\n

We got some shots of the tallest peaks in the Big Horn range.\u00a0 Most of these were in the 12,000 feet range.\u00a0 And there was plenty of snow on top of them.\u00a0 Bet it was really cold up there.<\/p>\n

When we had left the steakhouse, it was 90.\u00a0 At the first overlook in the forest, it was running about 76.\u00a0 We turned off the air and rolled down the windows.\u00a0 By the time we got to the end of our drive to turn around, it was running about 71.<\/p>\n

We drove out in the forest for about an hour.\u00a0 At Crazy Woman Creek, we turned onto a dirty road to check out the backcountry a bit.\u00a0 The road was rutted and pretty rugged.\u00a0 As we drove, we saw these incredibly blue birds.\u00a0 It was like a bird right out of a Walt Disney film.\u00a0 The summer flowers were blooming everywhere.<\/p>\n

The road took us right to the creek.\u00a0 Since we could see how deep the creek was, we decided the adventure would end there.\u00a0 We got some pictures of the exposed granite faces on the hills around.\u00a0 As we were taking pictures, someone came driving from the other side of the creek.\u00a0 We watched them cross and it didn\u2019t see too deep.\u00a0 Oh well, time was getting late and we decided to head back to town.<\/p>\n

We stopped to bother the deer and view one more overlook comparing the mountain peaks.\u00a0 On the way back down the mountain, we stopped for the outcrops of really old rock.\u00a0 We have pictures of the signs to prove someone thought the rocks were really old.\u00a0 These things were around before cells came in anything but single celled.<\/p>\n

Back in town, we headed to the hotel to settle in for the night.\u00a0 I\u2019m writing this blog and Rich gave up and went to sleep.\u00a0 Well, it guess it\u2019s time to call it quits for another day.\u00a0 East Glacier Park is the destination tomorrow!<\/p>\n

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\"Firehouse<\/a>
Firehouse Brewing Company and Firehouse Winery in Rapid City, SD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rich<\/a>
Rich in his best pose after a couple of great beers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Temp<\/a>
Temp on the outside gauge said 100!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking up the valley at the Big Horn Mountain range.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Our<\/a>
Our subie in front of some really old rocks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"What's<\/a>
What’s left of a mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Crazy<\/a>
Crazy Woman Creek that we didn’t forge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Picturesque<\/a>
Picturesque view at Crazy Woman Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Granite<\/a>
Granite face of a small mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sign<\/a>
Sign of the times. That’s some really old rock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This is what 3 billion year old rocks look like. Not bad for their age.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful view with some old rock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"One<\/a>
One of the many black tailed deer in the area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Almost<\/a>
Almost sundown in the Big Horn Mts in Wyoming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"These<\/a>
These are just baby rocks at 500 to 600 million years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Antelope<\/a>
Antelope out in the tall grass. They really do play.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Second leg of our journey began early today.\u00a0 We got moving around 6:00 so we could be on the road by 7:30.\u00a0 Sounds early, but we had some big plans for the day.\u00a0 The road was still pretty open with little traffic.\u00a0 In South Dakota, the speed limit is 75.\u00a0 This suits me fine.\u00a0 I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,12,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2615,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2594\/revisions\/2615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}