Go Jesus and Speeding Tickets...

Thank you all for taking the time to tune in! I am sure that you are curious about the title. Keep reading and you will get it...

When I left off last time, Katie and I had just had Mongolian BBQ and spent the afternoon with her cousin. We had a great night sleep in a hotel. Totally slept through the free breakfast... oops! We traveled from Sioux Falls, SD to Mitchell where we embraced the Corn Palace. The entire outside of the building is decorated in corn cobs. Very interesting. We thought that it would take us but a few minutes to go through, get some pics and be on our way. Turns out, it took us a couple hours. From, the Corn Palace we traveled the 2 miles up the road to see how the Indians lived. We threw spears and dug for fossils. Neither one of us would have been able to eat if that is how we had to get our food. We did not come anywhere near the targets. Oh well, that is why God invented restaurants.

We were attempting to make it to the Badlands, but were about 40 miles short when night began to fall and we had to have enough time to get our tents up and fire built before the darkness set in. We stopped in a little town called Belvidere. Here we witnessed our first SD sunset. Very beautiful. The campgroud that we stayed in was across the street from 1880Town where many westerns have been filmed. The following morning we attempted to go in, but the admission was too much for our budget to handle, so we passed.

We finally made it to the Badlands, where, if you have never been, I would highly recommend it. It is like nothing you have ever seen before. It is almost as you have landed on a different planet. We drove through taking picture after picture. Some are posted on my FB page, although they do not come close to what it actually looks like. Most of the pictures came from me standing up out of the sunroof. Spectacular views from up there. I would ride like that all the time if it was acceptable. You know me and breaking the law....

We spent the night in the park where the temperature dropped into the upper 30's. Man, what it COLD!!! In the morning Kate got up and went to the top of one of the nearby hills to watch the sunrise. As the sun was coming up, she noticed a buffalo making its way between her and the camp. She decided that she better get back to the campground. On her way back, the buffalo had other options in mind for her. He looked at her, she looked at him, he took off, her heart was racing. The sound that he made as he was stampeding toward her clearly drowned out the beating of her heart. This day was Kate's lucky day, he veered off in the other direction sparing Kate her life.

After her life altering experience, she came back to camp and decided that it would be a good idea if we hiked before packing up camp for the day. I was not all that thrilled about it, I kinda like my life and would like to be around a little longer. I have not accomplished what I was sent here for quite yet... Against my better judgement, the hiking shoes went on and up the hills we went. Some of the most fabulous views were seen from the tops of the hills. Once again, I highy recommend the SD Badlands!

After camp was packed up, we were on our way to Mount Rushmore. We took many pictures of dead presidents, hiked around the trails for all the different angles of the dead presidents. Off of one of the little trails there were three teepees set up with an Indian couple there. The male Indian played his drum and sang for us. It was very moving. What an amazing voice he has. It was the song that he sang to his wife of 30 years to ask her to marry him. I'll tell ya, if someone sang that to me, it would be all over. I would be putty in his hands.

When our trek through Mount Rushmore was over, we traveled route 16A the scenic byway to Custer State Park. Scenic is right. It was a breathtaking journey. There were bison all over the place. There was even a traffic jam for the herd crossing the street. After our beautiful drive through the scenic byway and we were both car sick, we finally found where we would rest our heads for the evening. We sacked out early and took it easy the next morning.

Off to Crazy Horse to see the blowing up... Well, we didn't quite make it for the blowing up. But very interesting nontheless. We opted for dinner out. After dinner we headed to the Cosmos. Where things are not always as they seem. It was an experience unlike any other. The land was level, but we were at a 45 degree angle. The gravity in this particular spot was pulling so strongly that water was flowing up hill, Kate was taller than me and we got to stand in the corner of a cabin on the wall and pretend to be superman, or women in our case.

On our final day in South Dakota we hike a six mile trail in the Black Hills. They call them hills, but I call them mountains. Thought for sure I was a goner on this day. But low and behold, I made it. And for my reward we traveled the 45 minutes to Hot Springs to soak and relax for a little while. Well, it turns out that there are not any hot springs in Hot Springs South Dakota. There are springs, but they are not hot. So the place that we went, takes the water from the springs and puts it into a hot tub and makes it hot. We soaked for a little while and I sprang for a 30 minute massage for the both of us. After our relaxing afternoon, we stopped for dinner. We had some of the tastiest pizza we have ever had. It was with spinach, tomato, basil and feta cheese.

After a good nights sleep, we packed up camp and headed for Yellowstone. Well, guess what... we didn't quite make it all in one day. So, we stopped in Cody, WY at the Buffalo Bill State park. We were right on the water. This campsite has been my favorite to date. Just absolutely breathtaking. A beautiful sunset, shooting stars, the milkyway.... what more could you ask for?

Yellowstone, here we come... Every place we go, we think that it is possibly prettier than the place before. Winding through the hills of Yellowstone, we get to an overlook and there is Yellowstone Lake. AMAZING! At the overlook we met a nice gentleman named Don who gave us many great tips of places to see on our trip. Thank you Don!

Having spent over an hour talking with Don, we were in a little bit of a hurry to get to Old Faithful. Going along with traffic, 62 in a 45, we get pulled over. The officer wanted to know why were in such a hurry. Kate replies, honestly, I wasn't even paying attention. "Well, ma'am we are cracking down on law enforcement here in the park. We need to protect our wildlife." and off he goes with license, registration and proof of insurance. It must have been out lucky day, Kate got off with a warning. (Thank Goodness!!! Cause a speeding ticket is not in the budget!!)

We twisted and turned and up and down all the way to Old Faithful. When we pulled in, we had just missed it so we had to wait the hour or so for the next rush. As we were sitting on the bench waiting, these two guys next to us started recording themselves talking and praising God that they were there. Jose was up on the bench recording while the other man was in front of the Geyser giving his speech. As the speech giver was done, Jose turned the camera to himself and started chanting "Go Jesus" ... At this point we had to get up and leave because we were about to burst into laugher and we did not want to be rude.

Old Faithful did its thing. We found camp. A lovely spot. Spacious, great picnic table, pine trees, stars, roaring fire. Awesome!

Today, we did Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Tower falls, Manmouth Hot Springs (which BTW are really hot up to 190 degrees). And into Montana where we are spending the night in Livingston.

We have seen tons of wildlife, but no bears yet. Here is a quick list (hope I get them all) of what we have seen...

elk, mountain goats, antelope, bison, deer, teradactyls, otters, geese, ducks, big horned something or other, prairie dogs, (prairie dogs have the plague or so the signs say)

And remember... Wildlife are dangerous, do not approach!

We are on our way up to Glacier National Park. After that Spokane Washington.

Happy Trails...(I am tired...)