Day 5 Nebraska to South Dakota

"Oh Beautiful for spacious skies and amber waves of grain..." and today we saw many spacious skies and amber waves of grass all in the Sandhills of Nebraska on our way to South Dakota. Beautiful trip--a tiny narrow 2 lane road, peaceful, quiet, and full of solitude. We put on a little "Willie" and enjoyed the drive. The Sandhills, 19,000 square miles, is the largest tract of stabilized sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere! We made a stop in the small town of Arthur to talk to some of the old-timers (since we are also old-timers) One fella told Phil that out of the 10 most desolate counties in the US, we were passing through numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6! Numbers 1 and 2 are in West Texas! He was correct--very desolate, but beautiful country. Some dunes, and you cannot tell they are made of sand, rise up as much as 400 feet and are 20 miles wide. The wind was at our back most of the day, and blowing briskly...you could hear it whistling through the hills when we stopped. No AC needed for most of the day. This was true horse and cattle country. I saw my first REAL cowboys riding out to check their herd! (I'm still looking for you Dorothy!--sorry, inside joke with my sister!)
Yesterday and today we saw a curious sight. Boots placed upside down on fence posts for miles!
I had googled it on my trusty iPhone and not found a consistent answer--did find these: 1) the boots may deter coyotes. 2) It's better to stink up a fencepost than a house. 3) Some people just do things. We had just seen more boots today when we stopped in Arthur to chat with the old folks...they said the boots were there to outline the cemetery, and the boots represent the Cowboys who have "gone West"! I guess that is Arthur's version! Anyway it was fun to see! What else do you do with old boots? I'll include a picture, since my Aggie Jeremy says more pictures, less words!
I made Phil stop at Carhenge (picture included)...they say it is an exact replica of Stone Henge, just happens to be made with cars painted a stone grey!...I'll let you travelers that have been to England be the judge of that! Let me know! ;-) After the hills, we went through the Pine Ridge Area of Nebraska, just for a bit. Large juts of rocks here and there with many pine trees. Pretty. One very sad thing about this area- The Pine Bark Beetle (he has killed a few of our trees at home too) has devastated many trees in NE and South Dakota. In some areas it looks like a forest fire has destroyed the trees. You would think that someone would find a "cure" for that beetle!
Hot Springs and Custer South Dakota are beautiful, old western looking towns (not corny Western but real). Hot Springs has many buildings made with red rocks--very old architecture and pretty. I hope we have time to go back to Custer and look around more.
Sighted our first Buffalo and prairie dogs. I got so excited about the buffalo in the distance, and started shooting away (photos), zooming in as much as I could. Rounded the next corner and had to stop because they were crossing the road right in front of us! Then a little further down, they were all standing, resting, etc. right beside the road! I guess they are going to become boring after a while since they are so plentiful.
Enjoying the Non-humidity--my lips are chapped, but my hair looks really great, so I guess it is a fair trade off! ;-)
Phil and I have "not seen the elephant" yet. (that is what the pioneers said when they made the decision to turn around and go back home) Our main problem is that there is so much to see and just not enough hours! We think we have tomorrow and the next day mapped out here at Rushmore, hoping for more good adventure. I had no idea the area was so full of fabulous drives to make and things to see. I hope we can hit the highlights.
With that I will close for the evening...no more news from the McCamper where the women are much stronger today, the men are cooking supper (!), and the children are still at home wishing mom would post more pictures and use less "big words"! haha!