Road Trip Pt. 8 - Mitchell, SD

June 6, 2007 - Wednesday                  

Summary of Yesterday and Today :)

...yesterday...

Left Bozeman, Montana and saw even more beautiful scenery--green mountains, lush valleys, and horses. It was amazing.

Soon we reached Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. We stopped several times for various smelling, colorful pools, and of course, Old Faithful. We did have to wait quite awile for Old Faithful to do its thing, but it was well worth the wait. We also saw several herds of bison, as well as a few elk, and a cute coyote that mom was convinced was very lonely. And of course, birds (another bright blue one).

We had a long ride out of the park, then into Cody for a Pizza Hut supper, and then eventually over one of the terrifying roads I've ever been on (except for Alaska possibly). We drove up this massive mountain with lots of curves and steep cliffs, and we just kept going up and up! Not to mention there were hardly any cars on the road (we counted I think five or so in about two hours), and it was getting quite dark. Soon there was patches of snow on the fields, and a few deer in the fields...I don't know why but it was a just kind of freaky. But we made it. Finally rolled into Sheridan, WY at 11 p.m.

...today...

Most of today was a lot of Wyoming and South Dakota, which is at least nicer this time of year because it's all green, but is basically not very exciting. We did meet some nice locals at breakfast in Sheridan. Otherwise, we just drove and drove. Finally we reached the Badlands, and took the scenic loop in there in the middle of a giant thunderstorm. I'd only seen clouds like that in books! It was so cool! And lots of lightning. In fact, we even saw a tornado in the distance for a little while. That did keep us in the car so we could just keep rolling, and soon we were on our way before the storm could get worse. From there we drove and drove some more until we finally arrived in Mitchell, SD where we are staying. But Mom insisted first that we check out the local tourist trap--"The Corn Palace." It was kind of neat I guess, since there's some history to it. But also kind of corny...harhar.

That's about it for now. Nothing too deep and insightful to share. Oh, our cd player broke in the car, so that's kind of a challenge, but we're getting to know the local radio stations quite well... :)