After leaving Mount Rushmore, I headed to Bozeman, MT to visit my friend Ryan. The scenery through the Black Hills was breathtaking so when I passed a sign for Devil’s Tower, I impulsively took the exit and followed the small road through the forest to our first national monument. I had the road almost completely to myself and the hour and half detour was completely worth it.

I stayed two nights in Bozeman because the cats and I needed a break from driving and I haven’t seen Ryan in almost seven years. Ryan had to work on Thursday so I spent the day wandering through downtown Bozeman. I found a coffee shop and worked a little, then hiked up Peet’s Hill for views of the city and the surrounding landscape. Bozeman is really a nice little town, a little bit like Champaign but better because its nestled in the mountains. I wonder if UIUC is such a good school because the professors there don’t have any distractions (ie. hiking, biking, fishing, skiing) and therefore work too much. We went on a hike to Grotto Falls just outside of town in the early evening, which was nice. There was a layer of clouds hanging over the mountains threatening rain which, coupled with the early evening lighting and the dense pine trees gave the trail a Twin Peaks kinds of feel.

Its another 11-12 hours to Portland from here. I’ll probably stop in Washington tomorrow night and finish the last 3 hours of the drive along the Columbia River Saturday morning. Jeff is in Texas so there’s no rush to get to Portland and I’m enjoying my laid back cross country drive.

Devil's Tower, Ryan and some deer, me at Grotto Falls