Before we knew it we were driving down the Pacific Highway 1. This is that road in all the movies, right on the cliff alongside the ocean. We did the 17 mile drive along Pebble Beach and saw the famous golf course. We then walked around the little boutiques in Carmel. Carmel is classy, full of artist galleries and expensive boutiques. The pace of life there is relaxed, not a bad way to live. We stayed in Monterey that night.
The next morning we continued on the PCH but because it was so foggy outside we couldn't see the ocean at all. It made for some slow driving on my part. We drove all day and made it to LA that night and stayed with our friends Jon and Robin. They actually set up our bed in their living room that we haven't seen for two years! It was such a nice welcoming night. We are finally here!
Whilst we thought it'd feel much stranger, it feels like we are still on the road. The road trip was a unique experience and it is the best way to familiarize yourself with your country. This country is so vast and full of different lifestyles, people, places, and cultures. Each state had its own quirks and worth visiting.
We are excited to be here and now working on settling in.....
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The land of the killer hills!
We awoke in Merced and raced off to San Francisco. I didn't realize how much my huge fear of hills would be challenged. Steve drove us to the Coventry Inn, a step up from our recent motel stays. Our room was huge and very clean so we quickly spread out for our 2 night stay. At this point we adapted to our nomadic lifesyle.
Where do you even start in San Fran? We studied the map and chose to walk down to Fisherman's Wharf. One of the piers had docks full of wild sea lions laying down and also playing. They were adorable! An hour later we were at the top of Coit Tower, the highest viewpoint of the city. We saw the pacific, Alcatraz, downtown and all the steep hills across the city.
We then walked down and back up the hills to Lombard Street, known to be the crookedest street in the world. On our way, I photographed the Real World house which was gorgeous. A few more steps up and we made it to the famous part of Lombard. Because this particular hill is so steep, they carved a zigzag in the road so it wouldn't be so harsh. On the edge of the road, there were rows of flowers, making the street very classy. I loved it! It must have been quite a challenge for the architects to build this city. The parking signs on the hills read 'park at a 90 degree angle' and the houses are leveled out on an angle. It's mind blowing!
That evening we freshened up and decided to eat at a Greek restaurant we found online. We started walking and realized we had more hills to climb. They really make you work for it in this city! By the time we made it, we weren't even that hungry anymore. It was tough finishing our grub.
The next day we rented bikes to go explore. We followed a bike path past the ocean, up more hills and arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. There were many pedestrians and bikers with our same agenda. The bridge is really spectacular up close, especially because it's so clean. It is constantly painted red to keep its appearance up. We biked on through for 15 minutes and then to twisty downhill roads and arrived at Sausalito. What an adorable seaside town! We walked around, but after a 3 hour bike ride, we chose to take the ferry back into the city. We had so much fun exploring this way.
We quickly freshened up at the hotel and went back out. This time we went to Chinatown. We had loads more hills to climb. I don't know where we found the energy because we were so hungry! Chinatown was what you would expect but actually bigger than many other ones I've seen. We walked through into little Italy and ate at the most delicious Italian food.
At 8pm we were sitting at Cobs Comedy Club to see the show we booked. We started chatting to a local couple in their 50's who moved to San Fran years ago for, as he put it, drugs and rock and roll. The 1st comedian was hysterical, the second was ok and then Jeneen Garofalo came on. She was really good and certainly had us howling. It was a great night!
The next morning, I had to see postcard row, so Steve drove us up those very scary hills and down those very scary hills. On our way down I felt sick to my stomache at how steep they were. I was panicked that our breaks wouldn't work but luckily we made it to Alamo Square. This area is popular because of its Victorian houses and the street is always photographed. Specifically it's the starting shot of TV show Full House. And that was the end of our visit to the city. To the Pacific Ocean we went!
Where do you even start in San Fran? We studied the map and chose to walk down to Fisherman's Wharf. One of the piers had docks full of wild sea lions laying down and also playing. They were adorable! An hour later we were at the top of Coit Tower, the highest viewpoint of the city. We saw the pacific, Alcatraz, downtown and all the steep hills across the city.
We then walked down and back up the hills to Lombard Street, known to be the crookedest street in the world. On our way, I photographed the Real World house which was gorgeous. A few more steps up and we made it to the famous part of Lombard. Because this particular hill is so steep, they carved a zigzag in the road so it wouldn't be so harsh. On the edge of the road, there were rows of flowers, making the street very classy. I loved it! It must have been quite a challenge for the architects to build this city. The parking signs on the hills read 'park at a 90 degree angle' and the houses are leveled out on an angle. It's mind blowing!
That evening we freshened up and decided to eat at a Greek restaurant we found online. We started walking and realized we had more hills to climb. They really make you work for it in this city! By the time we made it, we weren't even that hungry anymore. It was tough finishing our grub.
The next day we rented bikes to go explore. We followed a bike path past the ocean, up more hills and arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. There were many pedestrians and bikers with our same agenda. The bridge is really spectacular up close, especially because it's so clean. It is constantly painted red to keep its appearance up. We biked on through for 15 minutes and then to twisty downhill roads and arrived at Sausalito. What an adorable seaside town! We walked around, but after a 3 hour bike ride, we chose to take the ferry back into the city. We had so much fun exploring this way.
We quickly freshened up at the hotel and went back out. This time we went to Chinatown. We had loads more hills to climb. I don't know where we found the energy because we were so hungry! Chinatown was what you would expect but actually bigger than many other ones I've seen. We walked through into little Italy and ate at the most delicious Italian food.
At 8pm we were sitting at Cobs Comedy Club to see the show we booked. We started chatting to a local couple in their 50's who moved to San Fran years ago for, as he put it, drugs and rock and roll. The 1st comedian was hysterical, the second was ok and then Jeneen Garofalo came on. She was really good and certainly had us howling. It was a great night!
The next morning, I had to see postcard row, so Steve drove us up those very scary hills and down those very scary hills. On our way down I felt sick to my stomache at how steep they were. I was panicked that our breaks wouldn't work but luckily we made it to Alamo Square. This area is popular because of its Victorian houses and the street is always photographed. Specifically it's the starting shot of TV show Full House. And that was the end of our visit to the city. To the Pacific Ocean we went!
Friday, October 24, 2008
From forest to desert
Our first a.m. Stop in Moab was Arches National Park. The park is famous for its infinite arches created by millions of years of erosion. The park is difficult to describe so I will leave it to our photos (these will be posted soon).
After we spent a few hours at Arches, we drove right through Utah and stayed in Ely, Nevada. Ely, similar to old Vegas with retro motels and casinos flashing at you to visit. For dinner we walked into a bar lounge which seemed promising. The bar tender and owner excitedly welcomed us and we knew we had made the right decision. The barbeque pizza we devoured was delicious. We chatted to the bar tender, a California native who wanted to move to the most remote place he could find, hence Ely. We also spoke to an older man seated next to us, who comes to Ely every so often to volunteer on the steem train. It was an interesting night!
The next morning we drove through more desert. Once I saw the border on the GPS, I slowed down. As we inched closer, Steve took a snap of the welcome to California sign. It was so exciting to finally be here!
The road became twisty and windy like we were used to, but with bumps added. It was as if we were driving on a camel's back, up and down and up and down for quite a while. We both felt pretty queesy.
We arrived at our first stop of the day, Yosemite. This was one of our favorite national parks, not only because it was hot and sunny, but because it is truely amazing. You see miles of granite rock and redwood trees. We hiked to a waterfall and stopped in awe at El Capitan, a 3,000 foot high flat granite rock. We could see some brave people climbing it! Because we didn't have the proper hiking gear, we opted not to do any of the strenuous hikes, which we have to save for the future. This park certainly deserves mutiple visits.
That night we stayed in Merced, which had a familiar California feel to it. We couldn't waitfor the next day in San Fran!
After we spent a few hours at Arches, we drove right through Utah and stayed in Ely, Nevada. Ely, similar to old Vegas with retro motels and casinos flashing at you to visit. For dinner we walked into a bar lounge which seemed promising. The bar tender and owner excitedly welcomed us and we knew we had made the right decision. The barbeque pizza we devoured was delicious. We chatted to the bar tender, a California native who wanted to move to the most remote place he could find, hence Ely. We also spoke to an older man seated next to us, who comes to Ely every so often to volunteer on the steem train. It was an interesting night!
The next morning we drove through more desert. Once I saw the border on the GPS, I slowed down. As we inched closer, Steve took a snap of the welcome to California sign. It was so exciting to finally be here!
The road became twisty and windy like we were used to, but with bumps added. It was as if we were driving on a camel's back, up and down and up and down for quite a while. We both felt pretty queesy.
We arrived at our first stop of the day, Yosemite. This was one of our favorite national parks, not only because it was hot and sunny, but because it is truely amazing. You see miles of granite rock and redwood trees. We hiked to a waterfall and stopped in awe at El Capitan, a 3,000 foot high flat granite rock. We could see some brave people climbing it! Because we didn't have the proper hiking gear, we opted not to do any of the strenuous hikes, which we have to save for the future. This park certainly deserves mutiple visits.
That night we stayed in Merced, which had a familiar California feel to it. We couldn't waitfor the next day in San Fran!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Colorful Colorado Part 2: A day of heaven
After leaving Denver we headed to Pagosa Springs. The scenery of Colorado was unbelievable. Mountain after mountain, rows of trees with red, orange and yellow leaves. This route was very enjoyable.
We arrived in Pagosa and dropped our stuff off at our motel quickly. Pagosa Springs resort is where we headed. We put on our bathing suits and wrapped ourselves in robes. As we walked to the back of the resort, we saw a beautiful brook overlooking mountains and 20 soaking pools, actual hot springs. Each pool has a name, my favorite being the Lobster Pot, 112 degrees. We did not attempt that one sadly. The rest of the pools ranged from 92 to 112 and they all had their own fun qualities about them. It was a hot and sunny day so it was a little difficult to stay in the hotter pools for too long. We spent all day dipping in each pool. I wanted to be brave and dip into the brook which was freezing but I only made it to my ankles. We enjoyed the sunset and then went to fill our bellies.
Later that evening we stumbled upon a cafe called La Tazza, that served dinner. Sounds strange but the place was packed full of locals who all had a hippie,stylish and unique look about them. Men who sported ponytails wearing suits with purple shirts and funky ties. There was a live band playing while we dined and a small little area which customers used as a dancefloor. The food was spectacular and very reasonably priced. It certainly was a gem as there were so many other American food eateries. We loved Pagosa Springs and wouldn't mind having a house there when we are older.
The next morning we headed to Mesa Verde. This is a National Park where Pueblo people settled back in 1300. As we waited for our tour guide, we randomly bumped into an old colleague of mine from Santa Monica, Teague. It was really nice catching up with him. We preceeded to take the tour down the hill and had to climb a bunch of ladders to arrive at Brown Palace. This is where the Pueblo people created a site to live in and take shelter from any weather conditions. There were many round formations which were used as living rooms, and in the back there were storage areas. Once we finished up the tour we ate lunch with Teague and chatted. Then we headed off to our next stop Moab, Utah.
On the way to Moab, the sun started to set quite quickly. This was the worst time to drive because we were in a vast area which wasn't lit up. We had to stop twice for deer crossings but I was so paranoid about hitting one. Luckily we made it to a motel all in one piece.
(To all our followers don't be shy subscribe to our blog. It's fun knowing who is on the journey with us:)
We arrived in Pagosa and dropped our stuff off at our motel quickly. Pagosa Springs resort is where we headed. We put on our bathing suits and wrapped ourselves in robes. As we walked to the back of the resort, we saw a beautiful brook overlooking mountains and 20 soaking pools, actual hot springs. Each pool has a name, my favorite being the Lobster Pot, 112 degrees. We did not attempt that one sadly. The rest of the pools ranged from 92 to 112 and they all had their own fun qualities about them. It was a hot and sunny day so it was a little difficult to stay in the hotter pools for too long. We spent all day dipping in each pool. I wanted to be brave and dip into the brook which was freezing but I only made it to my ankles. We enjoyed the sunset and then went to fill our bellies.
Later that evening we stumbled upon a cafe called La Tazza, that served dinner. Sounds strange but the place was packed full of locals who all had a hippie,stylish and unique look about them. Men who sported ponytails wearing suits with purple shirts and funky ties. There was a live band playing while we dined and a small little area which customers used as a dancefloor. The food was spectacular and very reasonably priced. It certainly was a gem as there were so many other American food eateries. We loved Pagosa Springs and wouldn't mind having a house there when we are older.
The next morning we headed to Mesa Verde. This is a National Park where Pueblo people settled back in 1300. As we waited for our tour guide, we randomly bumped into an old colleague of mine from Santa Monica, Teague. It was really nice catching up with him. We preceeded to take the tour down the hill and had to climb a bunch of ladders to arrive at Brown Palace. This is where the Pueblo people created a site to live in and take shelter from any weather conditions. There were many round formations which were used as living rooms, and in the back there were storage areas. Once we finished up the tour we ate lunch with Teague and chatted. Then we headed off to our next stop Moab, Utah.
On the way to Moab, the sun started to set quite quickly. This was the worst time to drive because we were in a vast area which wasn't lit up. We had to stop twice for deer crossings but I was so paranoid about hitting one. Luckily we made it to a motel all in one piece.
(To all our followers don't be shy subscribe to our blog. It's fun knowing who is on the journey with us:)
Colorful Colorado Part 1
Arriving in Colorado was freeing. The scenery changed pretty quickly and instead of vastness we saw colorful trees all around us.
It took a little under 2 hours to get to Denver. When we arrived in Denver at 2:00, we chose to stay at the Comfort Inn. Little did we know how cool this place would be. It used to be the West Wing of the Brown Palace Hotel ( a 100 year old hotel). The elevators had very old fashioned push buttons and the hallways had that eerie feel of an old hotel. When we opened the door to our room, we realized we lucked out! It had panoramic windows and an amazing view of the city. The bed was also plush, a nice change from the other motels we stayed in. I didn't not want to leave it the next day it was that comfortable.
We then explored Denver and started with the 16th street mall which is a huge strip of quaint stores, cafe's and restaurants. We met up with Mitch. Mitch was an old friend of mine from high school who I haven't seen since a random encounter after college. He took us to this rooftop bar which was right next to the Real World Denver pad. We had a view of the Coors baseball field (where the Red Sox won the world series) which was surrounded by beautiful brick. We later stopped by his condo which overlooks the city and this is where we met his fiance Kerry. Kerry and Steve had an instant bond because her mother,a British hippie as she calls her, moved here when she was 18. Kerry got to be raised with some good old/new fashioned britishisms.
For dinner we went to the Sushi Den. There's another one of these restaurants in Japan and everyday the other Japanese owner fedexes fresh fish to this restaurant all the way from Japan! The food was heavenly and we devoured each flavor. Kerry and Mitch are an adorable couple and we had so much fun spending time with them.
Steve loved Denver and was ready to move there after our lovely day. It's a quaint city with earthy people and amazing mountain scenery in the distance. It does have its downsides of coldness in the winter, but the locals are proud of having 300 days of sun a year, how can you beat that?
It took a little under 2 hours to get to Denver. When we arrived in Denver at 2:00, we chose to stay at the Comfort Inn. Little did we know how cool this place would be. It used to be the West Wing of the Brown Palace Hotel ( a 100 year old hotel). The elevators had very old fashioned push buttons and the hallways had that eerie feel of an old hotel. When we opened the door to our room, we realized we lucked out! It had panoramic windows and an amazing view of the city. The bed was also plush, a nice change from the other motels we stayed in. I didn't not want to leave it the next day it was that comfortable.
We then explored Denver and started with the 16th street mall which is a huge strip of quaint stores, cafe's and restaurants. We met up with Mitch. Mitch was an old friend of mine from high school who I haven't seen since a random encounter after college. He took us to this rooftop bar which was right next to the Real World Denver pad. We had a view of the Coors baseball field (where the Red Sox won the world series) which was surrounded by beautiful brick. We later stopped by his condo which overlooks the city and this is where we met his fiance Kerry. Kerry and Steve had an instant bond because her mother,a British hippie as she calls her, moved here when she was 18. Kerry got to be raised with some good old/new fashioned britishisms.
For dinner we went to the Sushi Den. There's another one of these restaurants in Japan and everyday the other Japanese owner fedexes fresh fish to this restaurant all the way from Japan! The food was heavenly and we devoured each flavor. Kerry and Mitch are an adorable couple and we had so much fun spending time with them.
Steve loved Denver and was ready to move there after our lovely day. It's a quaint city with earthy people and amazing mountain scenery in the distance. It does have its downsides of coldness in the winter, but the locals are proud of having 300 days of sun a year, how can you beat that?
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Where are we?
Within seconds of arriving in Wyoming, the mountains were covered in blankets of snow. Luckily we filled our tank right away.
We drove for miles and miles, hour after hour up through windy roads and high into the mountains above cloud level. There was a point where we started to feel vulnerable because it felt as if we would never get back down. Every 15 minutes we would pass a hunter in a truck, and it was just us in our little hyundai.
After 4 hours in the mountains we finally made it to Cody. We walked into this little motel and were greeted by a man wearing suspenders with a flanel shirt. He had a big curly white beard which covered his face and small spectacles. I was laughing inside, who else could this be but none other than Santa Claus! I desperately wanted to say something and I looked to Steve to see if he was thinking the same thing. In his very friendly Midwestern accent he welcomed us. When we left I asked Steve who he reminded him of and of course........
That night Santa suggested we go to Irma for dinner. Irma is a hotel and restaurant built by Buffalo Bill, world famous for creating his Wild West show in the late 1800's. We walked in and I had a flashback to that saloon from South Dakota. I got my wish, a real live saloon. The cash register had big rusty gold buttons, there were cowboys everywhere, and the hostess was wearing a floral vest. There were animals heads hanging from the walls, and the carpet reminded me of a casino carpet, lots of random patterns that you would never actually buy for your own house. The waitress came up to us after 10 minutes apologized and said something along these lines,
I'm so sorry, I was just in a conversation about what you call a castrated bull
So I asked what the answer was, why steer of course and we all just laughed. The food was really good and fresh, hard to find on a roadtrip. The Irma, a great authentic place.
The next morning we woke up early to bitterly cold weather. We headed west to Yellowstone. On the way it started snowing. As we got closer and closer to the park, the snow came down faster and thicker. The ranger told us we should be ok and to drive slowly. We were handed a panflet and inside a there was a big yellow leaflet that read "warning many visitors have been gored by buffalo". That instantly made me uneasy. There was even a picture of elk attacking cars. We certainly got the gist, stay far away from the animals!
Steve drove the whole way through. The road was very icy and some of the cliffs had no barriers so we we kept at 10 miles per hour at most. 1 hour into the park, it luckily stopped snowing. 2 hours into the drive we were eagerly waiting for old faithful to erupt. Though they give an approximate time, we stood and stared at it for a while. I didn't want to even turn away for a second in case I'd miss it. There is constant steam rising from the geyser and we saw the water boiling ready to burst. The minutes moved so slow, especially when it's so cold to be standing there.
Finally at 1230 it happened, the hot water shot up and everybody stood there in awe for under 2 minutes. Then everybody raced back to their cars to continue through the park. Sadly we didn't see any bears but we did see bison on the side of the park.
It took another 1.5 hours to leave the park, we certainly knew we wanted to be near civilization by nightfall. We drove into Jackson which was the prettiest part of Wyoming that we saw. Huge ski area and lots of people and nice lodges. We stopped at the visitor center and spoke to a local. He was telling us about his horses and how there was a family of foxes that lived at his house but who knew not to bother his animals and his family. He was also saying that the school in his area, town whatever you could call it, had 4 students. We drove through his town and there was barely any life there. This was how most of Wyoming was, a whole lotta nothing. I wondered where people buy groceries, or go to the doctor.
We drove as south as we could go towards Colorado. There's only so long you are comfortable being in the middle of nowhere wondering what you would do if your car broke down or you ran out of gas, Wyoming, the most different state I have ever been in, if only we were lucky enough to see a rodeo.
We drove for miles and miles, hour after hour up through windy roads and high into the mountains above cloud level. There was a point where we started to feel vulnerable because it felt as if we would never get back down. Every 15 minutes we would pass a hunter in a truck, and it was just us in our little hyundai.
After 4 hours in the mountains we finally made it to Cody. We walked into this little motel and were greeted by a man wearing suspenders with a flanel shirt. He had a big curly white beard which covered his face and small spectacles. I was laughing inside, who else could this be but none other than Santa Claus! I desperately wanted to say something and I looked to Steve to see if he was thinking the same thing. In his very friendly Midwestern accent he welcomed us. When we left I asked Steve who he reminded him of and of course........
That night Santa suggested we go to Irma for dinner. Irma is a hotel and restaurant built by Buffalo Bill, world famous for creating his Wild West show in the late 1800's. We walked in and I had a flashback to that saloon from South Dakota. I got my wish, a real live saloon. The cash register had big rusty gold buttons, there were cowboys everywhere, and the hostess was wearing a floral vest. There were animals heads hanging from the walls, and the carpet reminded me of a casino carpet, lots of random patterns that you would never actually buy for your own house. The waitress came up to us after 10 minutes apologized and said something along these lines,
I'm so sorry, I was just in a conversation about what you call a castrated bull
So I asked what the answer was, why steer of course and we all just laughed. The food was really good and fresh, hard to find on a roadtrip. The Irma, a great authentic place.
The next morning we woke up early to bitterly cold weather. We headed west to Yellowstone. On the way it started snowing. As we got closer and closer to the park, the snow came down faster and thicker. The ranger told us we should be ok and to drive slowly. We were handed a panflet and inside a there was a big yellow leaflet that read "warning many visitors have been gored by buffalo". That instantly made me uneasy. There was even a picture of elk attacking cars. We certainly got the gist, stay far away from the animals!
Steve drove the whole way through. The road was very icy and some of the cliffs had no barriers so we we kept at 10 miles per hour at most. 1 hour into the park, it luckily stopped snowing. 2 hours into the drive we were eagerly waiting for old faithful to erupt. Though they give an approximate time, we stood and stared at it for a while. I didn't want to even turn away for a second in case I'd miss it. There is constant steam rising from the geyser and we saw the water boiling ready to burst. The minutes moved so slow, especially when it's so cold to be standing there.
Finally at 1230 it happened, the hot water shot up and everybody stood there in awe for under 2 minutes. Then everybody raced back to their cars to continue through the park. Sadly we didn't see any bears but we did see bison on the side of the park.
It took another 1.5 hours to leave the park, we certainly knew we wanted to be near civilization by nightfall. We drove into Jackson which was the prettiest part of Wyoming that we saw. Huge ski area and lots of people and nice lodges. We stopped at the visitor center and spoke to a local. He was telling us about his horses and how there was a family of foxes that lived at his house but who knew not to bother his animals and his family. He was also saying that the school in his area, town whatever you could call it, had 4 students. We drove through his town and there was barely any life there. This was how most of Wyoming was, a whole lotta nothing. I wondered where people buy groceries, or go to the doctor.
We drove as south as we could go towards Colorado. There's only so long you are comfortable being in the middle of nowhere wondering what you would do if your car broke down or you ran out of gas, Wyoming, the most different state I have ever been in, if only we were lucky enough to see a rodeo.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
South Dakota, A Hidden Gem
We left Sioux Falls pretty early and it was bitterly cold. We heard good things about the Corn Palace and were excited to see our first attraction of the day. What we expected is not what we got! We expected to drive through the middle of nowhere to a field where this attraction would be. Instead we headed through a regular little town with everyday people.
The Corn Palace, a brick building literally decorated by stacks and stacks of corn and redecorated yearly. There were tons of different designs made with the corn which is like nothing I've ever seen. While we enjoyed photographs of previous years, I craved popcorn. What can I say that corn smell was strong!
We drove onward, and there were tons of billboards pointing us to the 1880 Old Town Museum. Rewind to the 19th century, and we were literally walking around old Western Times. If you really used your imagination, you could see this place alive with cowboys. My favorite part was the saloon. Old fashioned red wallpaper covered the inside, along with a bar, a piano table, and small round tables. If only we could have flicked a switch to see how people really lived at the time. The place is so authentic that the movie Dances with wolves borrowed many props from the museum.
A few hours later brought us to The Badlands National Park. This drive was the most peaceful and scenic so far. It took about 45 minutes to drive through and see all sizes of mud formations in the badlands and you really get a sense of how vast the area is.
We also saw little prairie dogs that are the cutest little creatures as they bury themselves in the sand.
Driving through South Dakota has been the most fun so far because it's flat and has higher speed limits. The billboards keep you entertained and hypnotized. Steve was particularly drawn to the Firehouse Grill billboards because each one had a real old fire truck underneath, so that's where we ate dinner.
We checked into the next motel which was situated in Keystone, and again designed similar to an old western movie.
The next morning we drove up the steep hills and parked at Mount Rushmore. The monument is breathtaking. I still can't fathom that these faces were carved in rocks. It is truly amazing, no matter how many times you have seen the images, it's not the same as standing right in front of it. We spent at least an hour reading all the interesting facts that surround it. All in all South Dakota really impressed us and was quite the adventure. Our next stop would be somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming.
The Corn Palace, a brick building literally decorated by stacks and stacks of corn and redecorated yearly. There were tons of different designs made with the corn which is like nothing I've ever seen. While we enjoyed photographs of previous years, I craved popcorn. What can I say that corn smell was strong!
We drove onward, and there were tons of billboards pointing us to the 1880 Old Town Museum. Rewind to the 19th century, and we were literally walking around old Western Times. If you really used your imagination, you could see this place alive with cowboys. My favorite part was the saloon. Old fashioned red wallpaper covered the inside, along with a bar, a piano table, and small round tables. If only we could have flicked a switch to see how people really lived at the time. The place is so authentic that the movie Dances with wolves borrowed many props from the museum.
A few hours later brought us to The Badlands National Park. This drive was the most peaceful and scenic so far. It took about 45 minutes to drive through and see all sizes of mud formations in the badlands and you really get a sense of how vast the area is.
We also saw little prairie dogs that are the cutest little creatures as they bury themselves in the sand.
Driving through South Dakota has been the most fun so far because it's flat and has higher speed limits. The billboards keep you entertained and hypnotized. Steve was particularly drawn to the Firehouse Grill billboards because each one had a real old fire truck underneath, so that's where we ate dinner.
We checked into the next motel which was situated in Keystone, and again designed similar to an old western movie.
The next morning we drove up the steep hills and parked at Mount Rushmore. The monument is breathtaking. I still can't fathom that these faces were carved in rocks. It is truly amazing, no matter how many times you have seen the images, it's not the same as standing right in front of it. We spent at least an hour reading all the interesting facts that surround it. All in all South Dakota really impressed us and was quite the adventure. Our next stop would be somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming.
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