Close Encounters

We left Rapid City at 8:30 this morning and pulled into our hotel in Evanston Wyoming, just short of the Utah border, a little before 8 p.m. Close to 12 hours on the road. We're really ready to be home.

Other than for gas and food, we made only one stop. Susan at Yarn Barn of Kansas had recommended visiting Devil's Tower in Wyoming. It was a little out of the way, about 35 minutes off the highway, but well worth the trip. Do you recognize it? We didn't at first - it was made famous (more famous?) by the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.According to this legend, seven young Indian girls were one day playing in the forest. A great bear came upon them and gave chase. The girls fled swiftly through the trees but the bear slowly gained on them. Recognizing the hopelessness of their situation, the girls jumped upon a low rock and prayed loudly to the Great Spirit to save them. Immediately the small rock began to grow upwards, lifting the seven girls higher and higher into the sky. The angry bear jumped up against the sides of the growing tower and left deep claw marks, which may be seen to this day upon the rock walls. The tower continued to soar towards the sky until the girls were pushed up into the heavens, where they became the seven stars of the Pleiades.I'd read the legend before we arrived and it really does look like bear claw scratches down the side of the rock.

We stayed on the Interstate most of the way, but Dick spotted a smaller road, from Casper to Rawlins, that cut about 100 miles off the trip. And added some gorgeous scenery to what could have been a boring drive. Tomorrow we'll pass through Salt Lake City and St. Georges, on our way to an overnight stay in Las Vegas. Another long day. Thank heavens for audio books!