Yep, That’s a dinosaur!
As Jesse mentioned in the previous post, we left the glorious city of Buffalo NY and headed west on a three day, seven state adventure. We have never been more west than Indiana (I have been to Hawaii but not any further west than IN in the 48 states) and we were really excited to see a new part of the country. This USA of ours is so big and there is so much to see and do it just boggles my mind.
Our first stop was Joliet Illinois which is just south of Chicago. Jesse could not have planned the hotels better. Each one accepted both the dog and the cat and they were within walking distance of a restaurant so we didn’t have to get back in the car. The first day went by fast since we ticked off NY, PA, Ohio and Indiana pretty quickly. We didn’t hit any problems and we were able to find nice big service plazas to fill up the cars with gas so that Jesse didn’t have to worry about maneuvering the trailer too much. It was an easy drive too since we took I-90 pretty much the whole way, we changed it up a bit and took I-80 a little bit later in the trip. In Joliet we ate at Heroes West Sports Grill. It was pretty good and we had some cheese curds which were fun. One of the guys behind the bar was a local elected official of some sort and he was there to raise funds for some charity. It made getting a beer interesting but it brought in a big crowd on a Monday.
Tuesday was our travel day across the rest of Illinois and all of Iowa to our destination of Sioux City. Since we were in central time we felt like we got to sleep in even though we were up by 0700. The drive was wonderful. Iowa is quite beautiful with rolling hills and farms, it was lovely. And I got to drive over the Mississippi River. It was a low bridge so you could see the river and all the large homes along the banks. I loved it! We also stopped at the World’s Largest Truckstop on I-80. It was huge and pretty cool to see. Jesse picked another great pet friendly hotel right off the highway. Getting the dog and cat in and out of a hotel each day was not as easy as we had thought. The hotels were great since they put us on the ground floor and near a door so taking the dog out was not too difficult. But getting her in the room with her crate, blankets, treats, food, and bowls was a pain and Jesse had to deal with the cat and all of his stuff, more bowls, cat litter, cat food, and of course a screaming Nick trapped in his crate. We had to get them all settled in the room before we headed out to get some dinner. This time we ended up eating at Outback since we received a coupon for a free blooming onion from the front desk at the hotel. After dinner we would go back to the room and watch TV…well, I usually feel asleep and Jesse watched TV. Driving can be so tiring!
Wednesday was our last travel day. We were going to drive across South Dakota and finally settle in Rapid City. When we left the hotel and hit the road we saw a sign that said highway closed when flashing. I got on the CB and asked Jesse what would we have done if the road was closed! I made a mental note to google that. We were in South Dakota before we knew it and made sure to stop at a rest stop to really say we set foot in SD. The eastern part of the state is pretty flat and there was not much out there. The miles ticked away. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and the road just seemed to go on forever. We started seeing signs for Wall Drug almost as soon as we were in SD. I found out that Wall is a town and it is a must see. It is also very close to the Badlands and 50ish miles from Rapid City. We also saw signs for the World’s Only Corn Palace. Of course we had to stop at both places. Who knew when would have the chance again? We came to the Corn Palace first in Mitchell SD. Unfortunately it was under construction so we only saw the outside. We didn’t want to leave the pets for too long so we took some pictures and continued on. The next stop was Wall Drug. I took the dog for a walk around. It is like a small old west town with stores and restaurants. Jesse checked out some of the stores while the dog and I wandered around. We vowed to come back when we came to check out the Badlands.
The scenery changed so much as we drove over the Missouri river and went further into Western SD. It was like being on another planet. It was like nothing Jesse and I had ever seen before. I tried to take some pictures as we were driving along. Both of us were happy to get to Rapid City. We were done being in the car, so was the dog and cat. We pulled up to the hotel and got the pets settled before heading to get some dinner at the hotel restaurant/water park. One of the first sights we saw while eating was a large horse trailer with 2 horses in it and three dogs tied to it pull up to the hotel. A young man got out and had on cowboy boots, lots of denim and a very big cowboy hat. Now I felt like I was in SD.
We explored a little bit and went to Americas Mailbox, the wonderful company that takes care of our mail. The two ladies at the desk were very helpful and told us the way to get our driver’s license. Off we went to the DMV which was one of the most pleasant experiences ever. It was fast, cheap and easy. Within 30 minutes we both left with smiles and our new driver’s license in hand. We went back to Americas Mailbox to set up our voter registration. Since it was almost noon and we were hungry we decided to check out downtown Rapid City. It is adorable! They have a wonderful area called the Market Square that has concerts and events all summer. There is a brewery here as well called Firehouse Brewing Company. It is a brewery in a 100 year old firehouse. We went there for a wonderful lunch.
I think we are really going to enjoy Rapid City. There are so many parks and trails, events and festivals. The Black Hills and the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and so many amazing National Parks so close by is just a thrill. There is even a great run club here that holds races and events and has a real hard core track workout on Wednesdays. They are called the Black Hills Runner’s Club and so far we have enjoyed their company and advice a few times. We will be doing a lot of blogging and picture taking here in South Dakota. Hope you are ready for it!
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