Planning for the Yellowstone adventure is well underway, having kicked off in early May. Many would say that is probably not enough time to put anything together. We have worked with shorter timelines though. In addition, we are not exactly planning to travel during high season, which offers a few advantages, the most important being population levels. Crowds are not what we look for in an escape from the grind. It might have been at one time, but is no longer. Besides, one needs an unobstructed view of other tourists making poor choices.
Once the decision was made that Yellowstone was undoubtedly on the horizon, I quickly settled into my initial planning phases. How long will the journey take? Where are we going to stay? How long are we going to stay? These three points decide everything.
A quick exercise in mapping routes uncovered that we were facing an 18-hour trip across the pavement. However, if we find the eastern entrance closed due to snow, it could be as much as 24 hours; ironically, by way of the north entrance.
Much of the trip up to the site will be along I-80. It is not ideal or particularly desirable, but necessary to ensure time savings and keeping attention focused on the primary destination. There would be time to dawdle along and review some of those points of interest on our return.
Two days to get there did not seem too bad, overnighting in Casper before heading into the Park. Three days to return seemed reasonable, enabling three full days in Yellowstone. That seemed simple enough, so we booked the Yellowstone portion, as everything advised that the earlier this happened, the better.
We set about reviewing the return route, considering what we might want to have a look at on the way back. There were a few things that we had not considered initially. It would be colder in that region. Many things would be closed. That left a lot of points of interest along the way that we had already discovered.
In the meantime, somewhere along the way, my dear comrade concluded that Devil's Tower would be something we must see on the return trip. There had not been time for it on our previous visit to the Black Hills and we would be in the area after all.
While it is in the same state, and only inches away on the printed map, I sincerely struggled with the perception of being "in the area." Some things are not worth arguing though, particularly if it means riding home with that disappointment lingering in the vehicle like a plague.
Mapping times and distances over and over again, the return route was as awkward as it could be, felt a little more rushed than it should be, and included much more interstate time than either of us cared to consider either interesting or exciting.
Yellowstone to Rapid City is about 7.5 hours, leaving just enough time to wave at Devil's Tower as we went by. Heading to Sioux Falls from there offered up the great expanse of prairie across South Dakota, with very little to interest the eye, excepting the Badlands.
This was about the time I began to truly recognize the scope of this return trip. It would take much more specific and upfront planning than the rest of the journey did.
We talked around and around on how best to configure this return trip, while continuing to ignore destinations already encountered during previous expeditions. There was almost no way around it, until we began to consider our timing.
Long ago, we learned that 5 hours is just about the perfect amount of time to travel on the road. It leaves space to do a few things, as well as stumble upon an array of other odds and ends. Additionally, it enables time for a decent breakfast on the morning of departure and arrival at a destination early enough to revel in a hearty celebratory meal and perhaps stroll around town, followed by a solid eight hours of sleep, prior to rinsing and repeating the next day.
Placing all of that into the equation related to a strong desire for a more leisurely return to the homestead by abandoning and ignoring the interstate system, we concluded that we would need a fourth day and it was highly probable that Nebraska would likely be involved.
Routing remained difficult, though only momentarily. New interesting destinations suddenly unfolded.
In the end, we decided that we would treat the departure from Yellowstone, much as we treated the arrival. Buffalo would be the first overnight. We would depart there for Devil's Tower and a night in Custer in South Dakota. Turning south, we intended to cross the Great Sand Hills of Nebraska to arrive in the bustling metropolis of Broken Bow for one last night. Home will greet us the next day.
With that settled, further consideration of the journey out to Yellowstone led to deciding upon leaving Friday afternoon and overnighting in Lincoln, NE. That would shave 3 hours off the first day on the road. enabling a slightly more relaxed trip.
In the next phase, we will get a handle on where we stay in the spots and what we are going to do along the way.
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