So last night when we got in I was too tired to write the blog of the day, so here it is! On Friday we covered three states...
South Dakota -
One of the highlights of South Dakota was the mystery behind the "Wall Drug" signs we kept seeing. Literally for hundreds of miles we kept seeing signs that said "Homemade Ice Cream at Wall Drug" or "Get Your Leather at Wall Drug" or "Dinosaurs at Wall Drug." As you can imagine, we were intrigued. When we finally got there what we saw was not what we'd expected. It was like coming up on an old western town - the saloon, a place to water and tie up your horse, a leather store, an ice cream parlor, and lost of bars, restaurants, and little shops. It was really cool - definitely a good stop! We got some ice cream and wandered around the shops and I ended up buying some little turquoise earrings from a Native American jewelry shop. It was definitely worth the stop.
It turns out "Wall Drug" was the last stop before the badlands back in old western days. It had everything the people needed to get through the badlands or everything they needed after coming out the other side. There was even a little chapel there that was so beautiful - the picture doesn't even capture it. All in all, very neat place to visit.
Another highlight of South Dakota was... MOUNT RUSHMORE. It turns out it's $10 to park and take pictures from up close, so my pictures are from the "Free Parking" area. It was really amazing to finally see it in person. It was smaller than I thought it'd be, but that may have been from where I was standing. I hope all of you who read this blog will get to see it one day - it's really worth seeing.
Lastly for South Dakota, we saw the Badlands and the Black Hills. Both very appropriately named.
Wyoming -
Well I was asleep when we first entered Wyoming, but my dad said there was a shift in the color of the dirt. All of a sudden the bluffs were red. Pretty interesting. Other than that, what I remember most was this little town where we ate dinner - Sheridan. We ate at a little bar & grill type thing on Main Street, which appeared to be their only real street. I ordered a salad which was super tiny, so I ordered the edemame (soy bean) appetizer. The few times I've had soybeans they were delicious, however this restaurant served them steamed IN the pods. Well eating the pods is like eating spiders, so I popped the soybeans out of the pods. Apparently in Virginia, we don't eat the pods... in Wyoming, you do. The waitresses all walked past laughing at us popping the soybeans out and discarding the pods. I like to think Virginia's way is better.
We also saw parts of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons as we drove through. Both were amazing. The mountains looked so high we thought they were clouds from a distance. I can't believe there are people who have never seen this stuff! I hope all of you get a chance to see it one day!
Montana -
We were only in Montana for about 100 miles today before the hotel. My two biggest memories of Montana so far - the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen, and a narrowly avoided father-daughter bonding experience. As I was driving after dinner, I saw the sun setting behind the mountains. It was the most striking sunset I've ever seen - the colors were gorgeous and the silhouette of the mountains made it that much more impacting. I wish pictures could have captured it, but you'll have to see it for yourselves one day.
And lastly, the bonding experience. When we were about 50 miles from the hotel I realized that my estimated "miles till empty" was not keeping the same pace as my "miles till destination." About 30 miles out I decided to stop for gas, however in Montana that became near impossible. We pulled over to what used to be a Shell station, but is clearly gone now, when I was at about 7 miles till empty. Finally the counter struck 0 and I prayed hard. Seriously - I prayed that God would multiply the gas in my tank like he multiplied the fish and bread to feed the 5,000. Well he heard my prayers because after about 10 miles on empty we made it to a gas station. When we filled up, I only needed 16 gallons, meaning I had about a gallon and a half still in the tank - about 30 or so miles worth of gas. We got gas, made it to the hotel, and I slept 8 blissful hours in the most comfortable bed I've ever been in.
Now for today we're headed to Spokane, WA. Only one state to drive through today really - about 500 miles in Montana. More updates tonight! Thank you all for your prayers and emails. I love you all and will update you later!
