We hear turkeys gobbling at sunrise. We hit the road knowing that we’d reach our destination before the end of the day, which is a really good feeling. Crossing into Montana, we pull over at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to explore the famous story of General Custer and Crazy Horse, but the park is closed because of the virus. Across the highway, we pull into a fun-looking tourist trap called Custer Battlefield Trading Post and we soon meet the character running the place. His name is Putt Thompson and he couldn’t be friendlier. He opened the place in 1985 and says he’d never seen anything like this summer. Sales are down to a third of normal. He clearly recognizes the dilemma of wanting tourist business when the community is not ready for it. Many of his employees are Native American, and most are scared to come to work since their communities have been hit so hard by the pandemic. As we say goodbye he removes his mask to reveal a warm smile, which I’m guessing is partially from the fact that my wife and kids just bought one of everything he sold in the store.
We reach the cabin late in the afternoon with the car so covered in empty wrappers, spilled cereal and strewn toys that you’d have a hard time spotting the seats that we know to still be buried under there.
#pandemictravel #tatler #texastravel #rvlife #rvliving #traveltrailer #traveltrailerlife
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