Newcastle Wyoming, Gateway to Black Hills via US 16, Along CanAm Highway via US 85

 

Back in 2012 we spent nearly a week in the Black Hills.  Our goal now is Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which lies in western North Dakota, but we wanted to go back through Custer and the Black Hills.  Could have driven into Custer today, but it will be in low 30's tonight, where it will be in upper 30's here tonight.  Now, we are thinking we might just skip Custer all together and head up to North Dakota...by Sunday it is suppose to be in the 70's during the day and 40's during the night, this next week maybe the best weather they have for the rest of the year.  Although it would be nice to see Mount Rushmore again, the cold would not make it enjoyable.

In the meantime...we have seen a lot of wildlife out and about, mostly Pronghorns.  A Pronghorn is known as America's Antelope, even though they are really not an Antelope, but nearly everyone calls them an Antelope.  Real natural Antelopes are found throughout Africa and parts of Asia.  Pronghorns are naturally found only in Canada, USA and Mexico.

We have seen well over a hundred Pronghorn so far just in Wyoming on this trip.

We have also seen a lot of Turkeys

And also a number of deer.

 Most of the drive today looked a lot like this until we got past Gillette...except for...

...the Powder River Country which is the Powder River Basin area.  The Powder River runs south to north and in the spring it flows VERY FAST, creating a crazy shape around the river area.

Past Gillette and the mountains start to appear in the distance.  Back in 2012 we visited that area because that is where Devils Tower is located.  

Decided to stop in Newcastle at the City owned Crystal Park Campground, which gives us options on heading north to North Dakota on US 85 (part of the CanAm Highway) or east to Custer South Dakota continuing on US 16...it all depends upon the weather.  My guess is that we will head north from here...time will tell.