Two Days In...

I'm a bit behind on blogging because I've been doing a lot of driving, so this post will be a long one. We're currently sitting in Omaha, NE at the end of two very long drive days with two more to go (final destination: Talladega, AL). How did we get here, you ask? Do not worry, because I will tell you.

We left Missoula at exactly 6:15am yesterday which was great considering we planned on leaving at 6:30. I know that I've seen a lot of Montana at this point, but let me just say that it is so pretty! I can't handle it and none of the other states I've seen in the past 48 hours really compare. I also get to add two new animals to my list of wildlife spottings: antelope and prairie dogs! Ok, so I saw plural antelope and a singular prairie dog but semantics (literally).

Our way station last night was Rapid City, South Dakota... sort of. That was where we had planned on stopping when we made our original itinerary but when I was making reservations, it was cheaper to stay in Keystone, SD, which was just a few miles away so we decided to stay there instead. Along with that, when I realized we would be driving through South Dakota, I went to look up where Mount Rushmore was to see if we would be going past and my GPS told me that it would be three hours out of the way, but the funny thing about GPSes is that they lie; Mount Rushmore is IN Keystone, SD, which I realized during my first shift in the passenger seat and we added that to our ever-growing list of detours.

Indian Memorial

Our first detour was to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, which is somewhere that has always interested me. When we got there, I bluntly told Melissa, "This would be an ok place to die," and I wasn't really exaggerating because it was be-u-ti-ful. We didn't really have time to walk the whole place or walk out to the Deep Ravine (which is where they killed Custer) but we did get to see the mass grave monument and the Indian Memorial.

Continuing on after that, we entered Wyoming where the speed limit is 80 miles an hour. I thought Montana was speedy with a typical highway speed of 75 mph but 80 blew my mind! Now, it wasn't all fun and games in Wyoming because the tire pressure sensor  light came on and we got to spend some time at the side of the highway, kicking our tires and calling the tour office to figure out what we should do. We drove to a local tire shop where they said that nothing was wrong and shut off the light, so that was a bit frightening and chewed up a lot of time. (The light has flashed on and off once or twice since then but no one is worried at the moment because sometimes these things can get funky with temperature and altitude and we have had a wide range of both in the past two days).

We made another detour in Sundance, Wyoming, where we checked out the little monument dedicated to the Sundance Kid, who spent 18 months in jail there and took his name from the town. Thank you to the Quirky Attractions filter on Roadtrippers for that one because it was a very goofy five minutes!

At that point, we were so close to South Dakota that we were about to lose our brains! We saw one more very exciting thing on the highway though and that was a sign for Aladdin, Wyoming! I managed to snap a pic too. We didn't get off because we couldn't figure out how far away it was and we'd already been on the road for 11 hours by then but if that isn't a good omen, I do not know what is.

A third detour was to the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, SD. Once again, the Quirky Attractions filter on Roadtrippers is really the best way to go when planning these things... I've seen an inordinate number of dinosaur statues at this point, but never anything like this, it was trippy.

After that, we drove to the famed Mount Rushmore. I read on the internet that it was one of the most overhyped tourist attractions out there but wow, the internet lies. It was stunning; we were driving up through the forest and then out of nowhere, there is was. It was something special. It's what makes me: proud to be an American (Drop Dead Gorgeous, anyone?).

Keystone is strangely touristy -- I guess you have to be when you literally exist to cater to a tourist attraction -- so we ordered the world's most expensive pizza after we checked into our hotel (just 14 hours after we left Missoula) and crashed for the evening.

Today, we hit the road even earlier (at 5:50am), despite having a shorter day ahead of us. Just eight hours, no biggie.

Our first detour of the day was Wall Drug in Wall, SD. This monstrous drug store is a bit of a legend. Melissa said that she had driven past it before but never stopped -- how that is possible, I do not know, because with the insane number of billboards they had leading up to it, if I hadn't already been planning on stopping, I definitely would have gotten off the highway due to sheer curiosity. This place started off giving away free ice water and now it has everything, including 5 cent coffee, not that that does me any good, but still.

I got a homemade donut for breakfast (today is National Donut Day, people) and it was wonderful. Melissa got some homemade fudge as well (not for breakfast, for later) and of course, I got a post card. They had tons of shops and weird things... like a jackalope statue that you could ride...

Our next detour came four-ish hours later in Mitchell, SD (South Dakota is big and flat, nothing to report from those four hours). Mitchell has the World's Only Corn Palace! It is a building dedicated to corn and corn art. Craziness, I know! The time to visit is in the fall because they spend the summer redoing the exterior with new and improved corn art but it was still very cool.

After that, it was on to Omaha, NE, sort of. We drove through Iowa to get there, which means I can say I've been to six states in the past two days and we tried to see the largest ball of stamps (in the world? I'm not quite sure) but didn't get there in time. We are now in Omaha at Melissa's friend's house, watching Silver Linings Playbook and getting ready for Day 3.

Getting silly after two days on the road.