Travels with My Dad—Day 3

The day started after our complimentary motel breakfast with a trip to the ubiquitous Walmart for replacement toiletries.  As a matter of fact, a lot of places in America are ubiquitous:  Ruby Tuesday, TGIFridays, Walgreens, Applebees. Perkins, Cracker Barrel (except not in Oregon, sigh), even Macaroni Grill.  Day’s Inn, Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, Holiday Inn Express---you get the idea: it’s hard to find the distinctive local touch anymore when everything is a chain or franchised.  So far we have counted 4 “Original Pancake Houses”: how can this be?  It’s a contradiction in terms.   If you skim quickly down the following 5 pictures you will see the panorama they were intended to be.  When I insert them as a group, the evil computer gnome keeps changing the order of the prints so that it makes no sense as a panorama at all.  So just glance down quickly to see the wonderful Bighorn Mountains we traveled beside and perhaps they will blur together.




 

 
The above are 2 samples of "stitched together" panoramas that I took to Costco last night and they cannot, apparently, print them, even if I order an 8x10.  What good are these computers if I still have to piece the pictures by hand, anyway? But I digress.
 
We made it through Rapid City, South Dakota and all the way to the Missouri River without noticing the time or towns flying by because of our recording memories session. 
We saw miles and miles of coal cars on the move.  We learned later that with an engine on the back of the train as well as the usual 4 on front, they can pull 137 coal cars.
 
Then we went across the Missouri, not a great picture of it .

On the other side we drove around a bit looking for a viewpoint:
    The auto bridge and the railway bridge unfortunately coincide…
 At a rest area overlooking the Missouri we could get a bird’s eye view,

but unfortunately this sign dampened my ardor for picture taking:

Our day ended after dark with a very windy and cold entry into Mitchell, South Dakota, and a supper at a yummy Ruby Tuesday’s before our stay at one of the aforementioned Inns.
Day’s End:  ~448 miles, mountains, plains, coal cars and the great Missouri.