Cracker Barrel parking lot, Billings, Montana, 278 mile jump
What an amazing day! US Hwy 212 heads northwest out of Belle Fourche, clipping the NE corner of Wyoming and continues toward Billings, Montana, about 225 miles. It was a nice straight road through some of the most expansive scenery we have seen in all of our adventures. Big sky, big mountains, big valleys, big everything!
This highway, known as the Warrior Trail had only 4 towns between SD and Crow Agency, where it meets I-90 heading north to Billings. The road passed through the Cheyenne and Crow Indian Reservations; we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield Visitor Center and were saddened to be retold the stories of the treatment of the native peoples and the greater honor given to the military. The natives were promised the Black Hills, but as soon as gold was discovered there, the military was brought in to protect the gold prospectors and eventually to force the tribes off of the Black Hills.
Tired after another long day and unable to find a convenient state or national park, we decided to park in back of the Cracker Barrel in Billings. We have twice parked at Walmart; they are so noisy it is hard to get a good rest. But this Cracker Barrel was off the highway and the lot in the back was secluded. We got there about 5 and cooked our supper; another couple pulled in to stay overnight and none of the staff objected. They knew we’d be in for breakfast in the morning!