Well, the trip odometer hit the 2,000-mile mark this evening, and I’ve not yet made a cast. Tomorrow, we will fish all day, and I’m really looking forward to sampling both lakes and streams in the Black Hills. The plan was actually to begin our fishing this evening upon getting to town, but we simply ran out of day.
By the time we completed the drive to Sidney, Nebraska and then to the Black Hills region, it was bordering on being too late to start fresh in a stream. Instead, we drove directly to Mount Rushmore, which otherwise would have been part of tomorrow’s plan, and took time to enjoy this magnificent monument.
Most of today was spent driving. Best we can figure, we logged about 12 ½ hours of driving time, and it seemed like at least half of that was in Kansas. If you’ve crossed the Great Plains in a vehicle, you know that hills and trees are pretty welcome by the time you reach the other side.
A highlight today was visiting the Cabela’s Worldwide Headquarters and the place where Cabela’s began. We stopped there to pick up some of our trip gear, including rods, reels, float tubes and accessories for them, and camping gear. I’m pretty sure we’ll break out the float tubes tomorrow.
We also swung into the retail store while we were there. That was partly because I have trouble not taking a few minutes to gawk at the mounted animals and generally look around when I am close to any Cabela’s store. It was partly to pick up a can of bear spray, just to be safe, when we fish in Yellowstone National Park and in other areas that are within bear country.
Most significantly, while we didn’t fish today, we arrived in the Black Hills, which means we conquered the drive from Georgia to the start of our big Western trout loop. As daylight faded, Asher and I admired some of the beautiful waters we will explore tomorrow!
By Jeff Samsel