We left Lexington, KY at 4am on October first, and planned on driving to Sioux Falls and camping just inside South Dakota. Instead, we kept pushing on and ended up driving 23 hours straight!! We covered 1,223 miles in the first day, and only stopped for food, bathroom breaks, and pictures. We saw a LOT of fields, corn, fields, and corn.
By the time we stopped, we knew it wasn't worth setting up camp or getting a hotel, so we just pulled into a rest stop and tried to catch some shut eye for a couple hours before an early morning appointment with the Badlands. Below is a picture of where we spent the first night...we are in the first car, the silver CRV with the basket on top.
In the morning, we got up early to see the sunrise as we entered Badlands National Park. It was amazing, way cooler than I remembered it being when I went there as a child. I guess you could say I took a LOT of pictures.
After touring the park, we headed to the World Famous (more commonly referred to as sucky) Wall Drug, for some mediocre shopping and a bite to eat. Shortly after lunch we went back into the park, and saw our first buffalo and prairie dogs!
We took the scenic, 20 mile gravel road to the park exit and headed towards Rapid City. A few hours later and we were at Mt. Rushmore looking at one of the most amazing sculptures of all time, you have to see it in person to really understand how sick it is.
On the way down from Mt. Rushmore we saw a profile view of Washington that I didn't know existed, and then took a quick look at the Crazy Horse monument.
This monument is a work in progress, yet oddly enough it still looks identical to the one I saw ten years ago...lol. We were going to go in and spend a few hours there, but then when we found out it was $20 to see a 10% finished rock-with-a-head and we decided to just take a picture!
After all this, we raced to Wyoming to try to get to Devil's Tower by sunset. When we got into Wyoming, I think we literally saw 100+ antelope in the first hour of driving...they were everywhere. We made it to Devil's Tower just at sun down and set up tent as the stars began to light the sky. Oh, and then I realized I had no clue where my sleeping bag was, and pretty much froze to death all night :P At least the tower looked awesome...
That was it for day two, more on day 3 and our first day in Jackson soon to come! You can see more of the pictures from the road trip here.
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3 comments:
amazing pics bean!!!!!! I'm glad u made it safely. I want to see that stuff some day!!!
can't wait to visit!!!
You've already seen so much cool stuff! :)
What an amazing trip! You are pretty good at taking pictures and commenting. Keep up the good work! I miss you already. Remember each thing you do is a memory.
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