Back to Gillette, Wyoming

After our adventures in Spearfish, we headed back to Gillette, Wyoming for the DOAI National Rally. Again we had problems with low coolant as we climbed hills. We barely made it back to Cummins in Gillette as the coolant spewed out of the radiator and sprayed all over the front of the pickup. It was sticky and smelly. Cummins ran it through some tests only to discover that we have a bad radiator cap. The cap costs $4.30 but the total bill was $150.00. Jim is still skeptical if it is just a radiator cap but we have had no problems. We haven't really driven over any mountains since the cap change. We'll see.

The first few days of the rally we were really on our own to check out the area. Along the interstate outside of Gillette is a huge open pit coal mine. The activity of the shovels and over-sized dump trucks were fascinating to watch. We found out that Gillette Visitor Center offers Coal Mine Tours, and we decided to avail ourselves to this opportunity.

Loaded into the bus, off we went to the Eagle Butte Coal Mine. The bus driver explained that the Powder River Basin is full of coal and that Wyoming provides 40% of the coal usage in the United States. By the way, the Powder River is so muddy that it is too thin to plow and too thick to drink. After the mine is excavated, the company fills it in with dirt to recreate the prairie.