At 8:30 am we were starting our preflight of Whiskers, the plane. On the way to the airport we were joined by two gentlemen who were flying a Sikorsky Skycrane to Nebraska to support fire fighting in that area. The Skycrane has a lift capability of 42,000 lbs. To put that in perspective, it could lift Windarra, if the fuel and water tanks were empty. It is also between 7,000 and 8,000 gallons of water. Quite a splash. There was also a Caymen single seat, dual counter rotating, heavy lift helicopter, called 'The Hulk'. We suspect it is used for selective logging.
8:45 am was wheels up as we left Bozeman and headed east passing the Rockies and the continental divide. From the air we could see large gentleman ranch homes. Up some of the box canyons we see mining operations with settling ponds.
We passed over a smooth, green topped mountain, with deep v cut valleys heading down the slopes. Next we pass a river that cuts through the rock with steep vertical walls. It is part of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.
We crossed Interstate 90, north of Buffalo, Wyoming, near Lake De Smet. Doug has cell reception on his iPad and was able to receive and send email to a customer in the Czech Republic from 9,400 ft. Isn't that amazing.
For all of you who are fans of the movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", we passed Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We came down to 5,500 MSL and flew clockwise around at 3 miles distant. It is quite impressive. Hopefully some of my photos will be decent. From looking at it, I would say that the scenes that were supposed to be on the top, when the spaceships come in and they play the notes to communicate were probably shot at either a different location or in a studio since there did not look to be enough flat ground on top that I could see. Still, it is quite an impressive site rising up from a relatively flat landscape around it.
After Devil's Tower we head towards the Black Hills of South Dakota. We take a clockwise turn around Crazy Horse monument. You can pick out the face and the top of his arm. Next we take a turn around Mt. Rushmore. This is the first time that I have ever seen it and it is an impressive piece of sculpture. It is also quite a tourist site, with a large infrastructure of hotels, restaurants and an amphitheater.
We arrived at Rapid City at 11:45 am local time for fuel, lunch, a chance to stretch our legs and to empty our bladders. After parking at WestJet we walked over to the main airport for salad. It was not gourmet but okay. Wheels were up at 12:40 pm. Before we took off we saw the Sikorsky Skycrane that we saw at Bozeman. I don't think they took the scenic route that we did.
We are 'cruising' at 9,500 ft. Below, the landscape is more brown than green, flat with trees close to the rivers and any homes or towns. Instead of the farm land being low and the hills rising above as in eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana, in South Dakota, the farming is on the high plain with the river flood plain below. We crossed the mighty Missouri River and the city of Pierre, South Dakota. As we pass Huron, SD, there is a lot more green fields in the landscape. Square and squares of fields instead of the circles we saw in Montana and Wyoming. Major roads lead off into the horizon, straight as an arrow either north-south or east-west. There are rows of trees along one side of some fields to act as a wind break I presume. We have seen a few wind farms along the way.
Just before 5 o'clock local we crossed into Minnesota, land of a thousand lakes on our way to Mankato, Minnesota our destination for this evening. Mankato was the home of Upton Sinclair for a period of time. He lived on the seedy side of town or so said our taxi driver. Mankato was also the site of the largest mass hanging in the US of 24 Sioux indians in the late 1800's. We are ensconced in a Comfort Inn for the night. Not sure where we will be having dinner.
The adventure continues....
Sent from SV Windarra iPad
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