Had a great time traveling across the United States, and I have now crossed over into Canada. After leaving Memphis on Monday, I traveled through Arkansas then up to Springfield, Missouri, to meet a former co-worker for lunch at the original and world's largest Bass Pro Shop. Continuing on I stopped in Kansas City, Missouri, for some more barbecue. After crossing the Missouri River into Kansas City, Kansas, (just to say I did), I continued north, eventually spending the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa, across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska.
Tuesday morning, yep, I crossed the Missouri River again, into Nebraska, and then came back into Iowa, to head further north, before turning west in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to begin my trek across the state. About this time it began to rain. The temperature dropped, soon turning into freezing rain.
Of course, this was the night I had decided to camp in Badlands National Park. The wind added an additional challenge as I setup the tent, but I eventually got the stakes in the ground and camp setup. Before the sun set I drove over to the famous Wall Drug Store for my free cup of water. There are signs for Wall Drug hundreds of miles out. I began seeing these just hours after I saw my last billboard for Morgan and Morgan (big attorney firm in the Southeast). For those wondering, that madness ends in West Memphis, Arkansas.
As the freezing rain continued to assault my tent throughout the night, it sounded like salt crystals being poured onto a brown paper bag. Fortunately, my sleeping bag kept me warm and although the weather did not allow me to take any of my planned nighttime photos, I was able to get a lot of rest. Checking the weather I noticed that it was 28 degrees in South Dakota and 36 degrees in Alaska that night.. I’m so ready for Alaska!
Wednesday morning, my check engine light came on. A quick trip to the mechanic revealed, that it was not serious. The light intermittently has gone on and off for the last two days. Let’s hope we don’t hear about this again
Okay, I’m getting wordy, I’ll summarize:
I visited the Minuteman Missile Complex and Museum, Mount Rushmore.At both Mount Rushmore, I was greeted by mountain goats being less than 10 feet from me.I love our national parks/sites/memorials!
Mount Rushmore was fogged over when I arrived, but it eventually cleared
Today was mainly a driving day, the rain continues to fall off and on. although it's up to 50 degrees
Some Pictures:
North by Northwest (1959) - Stars: Cary Grant and Eva Saint Marie. Plot: Alford Hitchick directed this tale of a hapless New York advertising executive mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive. The climatic scene takes place at Mount Rushmore.