Bits and Pieces (print edition)

1. South Dakota is really, surprisingly pretty.

2. Wyoming is not. Until you are getting close to the end. Then there are mountains and they mock you because they are hours away.

3. I will never be able to sleep in the car. Yesterday I was taking everything in. Today, every time I closed my eyes Mom would “oh, wow, that’s beautiful. No, go ahead and sleep…” Yeah, that’s gonna happen

4. Taking silly pictures at Mt Rushmore is much harder with my fancy camera that insists on focusing on the closest subject.

5. That will not stop me from trying to get really, really silly pictures and inspiring strangers around me to do the same thing.

6. I have a new appreciation for the phrase “cattle on thousand hills.”

7. I really love prairie dogs. We did not go to prairie dog town.

8. I tried to take a picture of 1880 Town and ended up with a picture of a dinosaur. Not quite sure how that happened but I like it.

9. I also got the pictures of 1880 Town.

10. I saw where Dancing with Wolves was filmed. Mom is currently watching it at school so she was geeking out when we passed it.

11. Everyone and everything in the northern plains loves their stuffed animals.

12. I went to Wall Drug. I just didn’t go in.

13. I took over 700 pictures today. I am my mother’s daughter. There will be a slide presentation when I get back. Keep in mind this is day 2. J

14. The Badlands aren’t as really all that “bad.” You just don’t know their sweet side. I suggest buttering them with flowers and chocolates.

15. Our parking ticket into Mt Rushmore is good for the rest of the year!

16. Mom would like me to mention the friendliness of the manager at McDonalds. He was quite friendly. He chatted with everyone, made sure everyone had internet that wanted it, and gave us directions. Nice guy.

17. The ‘free WIFI’ at McDonalds didn’t work.

18. We pilfered internet from the restaurant next to McDonald’s. score.

19. Trains are the best part of Wyoming. However every train we’ve seen has had 3 engines. One backwards on the end and two on the front, one of those also backwards.

20. John is finally my text friend! Hooray.

21. I'm not sleeping in Yellowstone tonight. boo.

Mom is trying to move her ticket to stay another day. We are quite a bit behind.

Pray for our 13 hour drive tomorrow.

goodnight

-the nomad

Yelp to the rescue

So last night, we were supposed to go as far as we could in order to make Yellowstone today. The plan had been to get super close Mt Rushmore, see it at night, and then find somewhere to sleep.

As you all know, our first day car trouble halted a few of my wonderful plans. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about read the last few posts.)

Instead of making it to Keystone, we pulled over in Chamberlain, South Dakota.

As we exited the interstate, there was an Americinn Suites. It looked nice enough from the highway. However, as I drove closer, the AmericInn Suites looked more and more like an AmericInn Lodge. (You know where I’m going with this?) The building resembled Abe Lincoln’s cabin on steroids. Or worse, a live version of the hunting lodge that Gaston sings his song in during that dreadful scene in Beauty and The Beast. Needless to say, I pulled up feeling uneasy.

“Mom, uh, look in the windows and tell me if it’s safe.” (safe = nothing dead, stuffed, and hanging on the wall for all to admire, of course)

Before she could even glance, I saw him. You know, the deer. He was hanging right over the entry door. Nope. Not a chance I was going in there. For you are like me, you see one from your car and you can imagine at least 5 more inside. (Mom has just verified that there were at least 5 more inside including an elk.)

I immediately drove to the first parking space I saw, grabbed my Driod, and opened up my Yelp app. While Mom tried to figure out what Yelp was, I had realized that there weren’t really all that many choices in Chamberlain. And of the few that were listed, only one had even been rated. In fact, it had only one “$” for price, a 5 star rating, and been rated 7 times!

I called. No one answered. Boo.

I left a message. And they called back!

I asked all the important questions.:

“Do you have rooms available?” “yes”

“Where are you located?” “Just come down that road. Turn right at the Mcdonald’s and go 2 blocks.”

“Oh, and one more question, do you have any taxidermy?” “huh uh” “I’m sorry, what did you say?” “No, we don’t.” “Okay, see you soon!”

Little did we know that we were embarking one of our favorite adventures to date. We pulled up to a quaint little mom and pop inn. Mom immediately loved. I immediately made comparisons to the Bates Hotel in Psycho.

The innkeeper was charming. Her adorable granddaughters kept peeking at us from behind the counter. She gave me a $5 discount for finding the inn. She asked us if we wanted 2 queens or one for no price difference. Then she even offered us the room right on the river. Uh, yes please!

The room itself was simple: 2 beds (turned different directions), a basic tv, and a bathroom. But seriously what else could you ask for $50? There were a couple little cute features like atwisted hand towel in the bathroom and a rag (with a super cute poem) to wipe down your car’s windshieldin the morning. (just realized we neglected to use it. Bummer.)

When we woke up this morning, we were greeted to gorgeous views of the river. Mom was greeted up coffee. I took a shower without being slashed. It was a definite win for each of us.

After staying at A Bridge View Inn, wewere able to attack today’s drive with vigor. Of course, that vigor wore out by hour 5 but more on that later… J

The nomad