Road Trip, Day 3

Distance: 436 Miles (1756 total)
Time: About 6 hours

This was a really fun day. We woke up early in the middle of the Black Hills in South Dakota. Who knew it was such a beautiful area? Our Best Western was surrounded by huge pines and hills, and everything smelled amazing. We took a short drive to Mount Rushmore and gave ourselves a pat on the back for managing to get there in low tourist season and walk right in. On the way out of Keystone, SD, we followed the signs to "Bear Country," a massive drive-through wildlife park where we saw elk, bison, cougars and lots of black bears up close. This was definitely Bosco's favorite part of the journey!

After exiting SD, we went through gorgeous Wyoming for a few hours before entering Montana. Our day spent driving through Wyoming and Montana may have been the highlight of the trip. It truly felt like the wild west, with virtually no signs of civilization all day long. I had no idea such vast, unspoiled expanses of land existed anymore. Heading westward, we actually drove right off into the Montana sunset, all tangerine and indigo in the vast sky. Stunning!

We eventually arrived at our destination, Billings, Montana, and were charmed by the town, though we only saw it at night. We headed to the historic downtown area for dinner at a cozy, fire-lit restaurant, and Ben had what he proclaimed "the best $12 steak I've ever had" while we both sipped on the local brew, Moose Drool. Success - and bed, sweet bed!