Adam and Sierra's Roadtrip

Where to begin?  Yesterday was one big adventure, honestly one of my favorite days so far.  We woke up at Sage Creek, to a beautiful sunrise in the Badlands…needless to say it was breath-taking.  The beauty of this Nation is unfathomable.  So often we hear of traveling to Europe, or some island on the coast, and maybe for some that is perfect, but waking up someplace new everyday is a real adventure.  Not only did the sunrise give us an exciting start, but as we brewed coffee, and made some oatmeal, we observed some bison and prairie dogs not far off.  The wildlife didn't end there either…

We decided to backtrack through where we had come Wednesday so we could take more pictures, and explore a bit more.  On our way out of camp, we had to stop not once, but three times to allow bison and cows to cross the road, directly in front of us…it was insane!  They were SO massive!!!  Driving along, stopping at different viewpoints and little trails, we saw bunnies, goats, and, of course, the gorgeous Badlands.  As we drove through the gates, we found ourselves quiet in the bittersweet moments of leaving a piece of the beauty in the world.  Of course, we know this is just the beginning, but we also realize that this trip is an adventure…maybe a 'once in a lifetime' adventure, and leaving, though we are excited for what's ahead, still puts a wave of sadness through the van because, we'd much rather continue to look at the beautiful adventure through the windshield, than watch it get smaller in the rearview…

We hopped onto 90, stopping to look and learn about the Minuteman Missiles, it was incredible to learn about how many people drove by, and probably still continue to drive by, missile launch sites containing warheads that could travel to Russia in 30 minutes.

Our next stop we were extremely excited for, as we had been seeing signs for it since way before the Badlands…A place called Wall at the end of the 240 Badlands loop, and their famous 'Wall Drug'….it is like a town inside, with tons of old west shops and such, it was SO fun!  They had everything you can imagine…a chapel, bookstore, giant animals to climb on, food, and of course their famous 5cent coffee, homemade doughnuts, and fudge.  We spent quite a bit of time there, and found ourselves leaving, (after a yummy lunch), with renewed and happy spirits.  : )  We continuously were saying; "Wall Drug is a happy, wondrous place.."  And we were just giggling!   : p

From Wall Drug we drove down to Hot Springs and decided to come North to the Crazy Horse Memorial...We had to pay 20 dollars at the gate, and we figured we might be able to hike to it, but no...we got the same view inside as we did from    the road...it was a rough time.  From there, we drove towards Mt. Rushmore, hoping to find camping along the way with no such luck.  So, eventually, we found ourselves standing at the base of a huge mountain, with American legends carved into it...It was incredible.  To think that people actually made that happen, is...amazing.  After taking many pictures, we, and many other tourists, found ourselves caught in a massive thunderstorm.  After it passed, we watched the sun stretch back over the Mountain, and then headed to the van.  We decided to look for a place to stay, and ended heading towards Custer State Park, and getting lost for about an hour and a half on cork screw turns weaving up, down, and all around the Mountain...It was frustrating, but eventually we got enough of a signal to turn on the GPS, and get directions to a Travel Plaza.  At the plaza we showered and ate dinner and finally were tucked in at about midnight.  It was a long day, but it was so much fun!  There is so much to see, who knows what today will bring?!

-Sierra



More pictures on Adam's Facebook.