We woke up this morning in Wyoming and headed to South Dakota. Our hotel fortunately had some to go breakfast items, so I picked up yogurt for the little one and had my usual protein shake for breakfast. It's convenient, satisfying, and I am a creature of habits with food. Starting each day with the reloading of the car, draining of the water in the cooler, and reloading of ice is getting old, but it's a small price to pay for the convenience of traveling with food restrictions and always knowing we have plenty to keep us going. We started the day with spotting two deer before we even left the gas station and a couple of buffalo just after we got into South Dakota. Loving the wildlife adventures, but can't believe my production assistant missed the photo with the buffalo because she was too busy telling me they looked like darker bison. :-(
Our South Dakota agenda originally included exploring the Badlands, but after reevaluating this morning, we realized it was like a blend of the Grand Canyon and a sampling of the wildlife at Yellowstone, so we decided to skip that part and enjoy some of Keystone after we went to Mount Rushmore. My daughter has been begging me to somehow reroute the trip since if we were in South Dakota two days later, she would have her first chance to see our president for Independence Day. We had to have a big talk about scheduling, geography, and feasibility. It was incredibly refreshing in the midst of the media created political unrest to see people with American pride, embracing the red white and blue and loving our country. Seeing Mount Rushmore definitely made my American heart grow a few sizes today.
We enjoyed lunch at the recommended Lintz Brothers Pizza. They offered the usual 10" gluten free crust, so we each ordered one, knowing leftovers would make dinner decisions later much easier. The service was friendly and quick. The pizza was good, nice and gooey cheese and we were asked if gluten free was an allergy or preference so they would take proper precautions.
We took the long way to Cheyenne, Wyoming for our overnight, via Nebraska. My daughter is loving scratching off the states on her map as she is quickly seeing just how different each state is. In Nebraska, we stopped to check out Carhenge, a super cute side of the road car version of Stonehenge, which was absolutely worth the detour. We also had to briefly check out Scottsbluff, as it has some family history for us.
The drive into Wyoming was less adventurous than yesterday, with the animal sitings being limited to farm life. My driving nerves were happy to take a break, although I stayed on constant alert, knowing that one could cross the road at any minute. Time to call it a night. Today's miles: 573.
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