Day 24 - Norfolk, NE to Custer, SD - 425 Miles


After our interlude in Norfolk Nebraska we headed north to Mission South Dakota where Vickie's mom grew up. But first a side note about this monument we ran into in Nebraska.

We were on part of the Lewis & Clark Trail when we spotted a monument that we assumed was about Lewis & Clark. We were wrong, but we were also very moved by this more recent memorial. It was about two law officers who died in the line of duty during a flood, Trooper Fred Guthrie and K-9 Trooper Reed.

This is very close for our family. You see Trooper Travis Matheson (now Captain) and K-9 Trooper Jack spent many years working to protect the people of Washington. Vickie and I were blessed that Jack got to spend his last year of retirement with us before he passed on.

Moving on to the trip at hand we made it to Mission South Dakota where we went in search of the grave of Vickie's Grandmother Bessie who died back in the 1930's. A stop at the City Offices lead to a phone call to a woman with the Episcopal Church, which lead to stopping at her house, which lead to another woman and an internet search, which lead to Trinity Cemetery.

 


Success.

It was lunch time and  we stopped at the Starlight Cafe, a place you would probably never go into because it barely looked like it was in business. There was a car at a home-made drive through window, so what the heck. The reward was big thick juicy outstanding burgers and fries. If you're ever in Mission...

Badlands National Park in South Dakota.


This was were Vickie took her walk. Stunning scenery and a place that the Lakota Sioux used. The earth is two-thirds water and the rain and rivers created this amazing landscape over millennia.



Then it was onto Custer South Dakota in the Black hills for the night. There was a winter weather warning and some light snow as we drove in. Then, an after dinner shot:


Followed by a next morning shot:


Yowsa! Time to head to Little Big Horn.



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