Looking at the next stretch of road from an overlook on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.

Every now and then, you have a day that stands head and shoulders above others. A day when everything goes right, things look and smell better than usual, and all is right with the world. Today is one of those days.

We?re in the Sheridan Lake Campground in the Black Hills National Forest. I make my coffee on my single cup burner and look at maps while my 13-year-old daughter Shayla sleeps in. The next few days of our two-week summer trip to Yellowstone promise to be the most memorable.

Shayla at the roomy Sheridan Lake Campground site, in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The trip has been great so far. The shoulder that I had injured a few weeks earlier has hardly bothered me. My new-to-me 2010 Gold Wing is keeping us comfortable and running as smoothly and as well as expected. My quest to maintain close ties with my now-teenage daughter seems to be working, since we are getting along very well, enjoying each other?s company and creating new shared memories.
We take U.S Route 16A south through Custer State Park, enjoying the curves in the early morning. I wish we could spend more time in this area because the roads are so great, and are currently almost free of traffic. The refreshing, crisp morning air, the curves ? including a few of the hairpin variety ? make this the best road of the trip so far. We then take Route 16 west toward Wyoming. Route 16 becomes Interstate 90 ...