07-12-09

I had a theory that the torture shower might be caused by not enough power to the water pump. As an experiment I took a shower immediately after the generator had been charging the batteries for an hour, or so. It seemed to be better.
I was literally wearing my last pair of clean underwear. I found a laundry mat and within 45 minutes had everything I owned clean. It was less time than I had thought it would take. Commercial dryers are fast.
I left Sheridan around noon and headed to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
I had been there on a family vacation when I was much younger and remembered the intense vibe I felt even then.
I was able to get in with the National Park pass I had purchased at The Badlands.
Before I went to explore I ate lunch in my kitchen in the parking area. I’m finding traveling in a motorhome to be very convenient. In fact since I left Minnesota one week earlier I hadn’t paid to stay anywhere and I had only eaten out once. The buffalo burger in Wall South Dakota was a must. My mother informed me yesterday that there are two “L”s in “Wall, South Dakota”. I guess I’ve been staying at too many Wal Marts.
I saw the national cemetery, and then went into the visitor center to learn what I could.
It was a hot day and I walked up the hill where Custer’s Last Stand actually happened. I looked closely at it and tried to empathies with the US soldiers. I found the hill where the Dakota Indians eventually over ran them from. It’s powerful to say the least to imagine being surrounded and pinned down, so desperate that you shoot your own horse to have something to hide behind, then arrows raining down. The bow and arrow could do what the riffles couldn’t. The Indians shot them into the air up and over the horse barricades. Eventually the Indians over-ran the hill and killed everyone.
I looked far on the horizon in every direction. The distance is vast and there are many places where enemies could hide.
Then I imagined the great Indian leaders, organizing and rising up to save their land, their families and their way of life. They were truly great with their passion and honor. They were superior warriors too. They had learned to hunt as children and knew the land. The US soldiers were hastily trained. Some were literally firing their guns for the first time. 249 US Soldiers, over a 1000 Indian warriors, with a camp of 7000 people. Custer was a fool to engage them. He made many tactical mistakes, some his fault, some due to circumstance. A company of soldiers that was there three days earlier was defeated and had left. Custer didn’t know how badly they had been beaten and he didn’t know they wouldn’t be there to help. He split his forces and sent one company to attack from the south. They were completely overwhelmed and retreated, so they never showed up. Scouts had told him how big the Indian force was, but he brashly attracted anyway.
To me what puts Custer in the most negative light is he was going to attack from the north to take women and children hostages. True warriors fight. If they are superior they are victorious. If they are inferior they die with honor defending their beliefs. To take women and children hostage is not the way of the warrior. It is cowardice and dishonorable.
The battlefield has an eerie gloom still hanging over it in the hot summer sun. I did what I had learned in the Badlands. I sat quietly for 20 minutes to absorb, contemplate and see what else I could notice. The heat, the dirt, the grass, the hills, I saw what must have been a wild horse way down in a valley. I felt the dirt with my bare feet and tried to connect with the energy of this sacred piece of earth. Humans have come a long way, but we have much farther to go.
I drove my bus with Jeep in toe over the 5 mile road that winds through the battle field. It was another good warm-up for mountain driving. The road is hilly, windy and extremely narrow.
I found a secluded pull-off with a good view and decided to reflect further with a nice dark porter beer from my refrigerator. I was sitting low in the doorway when suddenly a park ranger truck pulled in with it’s flashing lights. I got up quickly and rushed in back and set down my beer. When I came out the US Park Ranger said, “You can’t have that beer here, I saw you holding it”. I was very courteous and explained that I was just having one to soak in the moment. He was about my age and I think he too appreciated a good beer once and awhile. He was being very understanding. I offered to pour it out. He agreed that that was a good idea since “technically this constitutes an open container”. I poured out my beer, thanked him and he drove off.
I headed toward Billings Montana about an hour away. I watched a small rain cloud pouring down in the distance for much of the drive. It had intense lightning.
When I got to Billings the storm hit me. It was pouring and blowing hard from the left. My window was still stuck down half way, so I was being pelted by rain like I was outside. The storms radius was small. It was sunny everywhere else. Everything was white and bright. I could barely see. The wind was pushing me all over the road. I thought several times the wind would topple me over. I knew my exit was 446. I saw 447 and thought about pulling off. It was just one 1 more mile, so I slowly went for it. As soon as I got off of the highway the rain stopped.
I found Wal Mart and a great parking spot.
Several hours later it started storming again. There was a security guard going from camper to camper in his truck and all of the campers were moving. I waved him over from my windshield and invited him in out of the rain. He was surprised and thankful I invited him in. He wanted the RVs to line up facing the store so he could see in-between us as he patrolled at night. He was watching out for us. It was comforting and welcoming. He sat and we chatted for awhile about all sorts of trivial stuff before he went back to work.
I really felt at home here. I’m learning that although Wal Mart parking lots look alike, they can have a very different feel.