Billings to Council Bluffs

Today was all highway, all F-150, all clawing our way towards home.  This part of the trip is always the toughest...we're tired from three weeks on the road and missing the comforts and familiarity of our homes.  Oh yeah, tired of 8 MPG and $3.75/gallon too.

But we had light traffic, decent highways, few construction delays and good weather.  In spite of KC not sleeping well, we took a man-sized bite out of our 2,300 mile drive from Bigfork to Homer and pulled into a Hampton Inn in Council Bluffs around 10:00PM.  It turned out to be a very bad choice.

We also took a couple of detours today....one that was a predictable waste of time (See Wall Drug....NOT) and a drive through Badlands National Park, my first visit.  Badlands is an ethereal place belonging more on planet Mars than alongside I-90.  The landscape is like nothing else I've ever seen.  I'll let my, mostly iPhone, pictures describe it because words just fail me.

Once we finished Badlands we focused our attention on DRIVING, finishing off South Dakota (bad highways, monotone scenery and wind), turned right on I-29 at Sioux Falls and pushed southward through Omaha (Hey, Warren!!) to Council Bluffs and a Hampton Inn for an immediate turn in and a 6:00AM wake up call.

Disaster awaited us.