Author: Wanda and John

We were up at 4:00 am this morning to drive the 30 minutes to Mt. Rushmore so that we could be there at sunrise for the best light to photograph.  So even though I grumbled a little bit (ok – a lot) about getting up that early, it was worth it.  With the exception of one or two other photographers, we were the only people there that early and it was so quiet and calm.  With the morning light spilling over the mountain it was absolutely magical.  The whole approach and view really invokes such a sense of pride in our leaders and this nation, reminding us how lucky we are to be Americans.

We did run into this guy who was also taking advantage of the quiet morning.

Here’s what Big Guy thought about us getting up before dawn 🙂

John in his happy place – camera in his hand and something spectacular to shoot.

And here’s a few of the photos that John captured.

Today we drove about an hour north to Deadwood South Dakota.  Nestled in a beautiful valley in the Black Hills, Deadwood is famous for outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers and is the place where Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down while holding a poker hand of aces and eights – forever after known as the Dead Man’s Hand.

We walked around the Main Street, had some lunch at Mustang Sallys and then saw a gun fight in the street!  Great way to spend the afternoon.

Photo by John Blancato – 2018

We rode through the Bad Lands today and it is so strangely beautiful.  It’s about an hour east of where we are in Rapid City.

This is the spot where John wanted to try dry camping, on the rim of the canyon.  Dry camping means we’re not hooked up to any water or electricity, so if it’s too hot – no air conditioning.

We discovered a few other things that will make it challenging to dry camp here.  The road to the edge isn’t easy to navigate.  We ran into these lovely creatures who let us know they were in no hurry to go anywhere.

In addition to the live road block, the recent rain left a lot of mud and getting the RV through that is just too risky.  If conditions change we may still give it a try.  In the meantime we were still able to take a nice ride around the Bad Lands National Park and John got to do what he loves best :-).  We just made reservations to stay next week in an RV park in the Bad Lands area after we leave here on Sunday.  We’ll have a whole week of photography there – sunrises (many of which I will probably sleep through) and sunsets.

Here are some of John’s shots from a town called Wall that we visited just north of the Bad Lands:

And another of the Bad Lands:

We wanted cooler weather, well we got it.  Yesterday – hot and sunny 95 degrees.  Today – rainy and 55.  We didn’t really travel much further north, almost directly west to Rapid City SD, but the rain brought a cold front so……40 degree difference. That’s ok though because there are lots of things to do inside when it rains like the many casinos nearby 🙂

We’re staying at the Rapid City Elks lodge.  It’s a really nice lodge with a golf course and nice bar and restaurant.

We plan on staying here a week or so and exploring all of the local cool sites.  I know you’re all waiting for some amazing pictures and videos and I promise they are coming, but we just have to wait for the rain to stop here and then we’re on it.  We’ll do Mount Rushmore, the Bad Lands, The Black Hills and some cowboy old west stuff I’m sure!

And

Happy Father’s Day to my dad Bill, John and all the great dad’s out there!!!

Today we traveled from Peculiar Missouri, passed Omaha Nebraska, through Iowa and into the south east corner of South Dakota to Sioux Falls.  We made it to South Dakota!!!!! We’re tucked into a very small RV park just outside of the the town and will be leaving for Rapid City tomorrow morning.

Here’s a little video of what our view looked like from John’s dash cam today:

Here’s what I’ve learned from driving through these states the past few days:

1. The skies really are spacious and beautiful.
2. There really are corn fields for as far as the eye can see.  Miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of corn fields 🙂
3. It can be hotter in Omaha than it is in Florida.
4. John and I can spend many many hours alone together and still not want to kill each other.
5. It’s a good idea to bring an old dog on a long car ride.  They just sleep most of the time.
6. This country is truly remarkable I can’t wait to see the Purple Mountains Majesties. (can you tell I’m feeling a little patriotic?)
7. And last but certainly not least –

We left Hardy Arkansas this morning and drove up into Missouri to just south of Kansas City to a town called Peculiar.  It’s HOT here so we’re just staying the night and then heading north again to Sioux Falls South Dakota.  We are planning on going to Rapid City SD next but if this heat keeps up we’re just going to keep heading north until it cools off!

We’re happy but Big Guy is so over Missouri already 🙂

Today we drove from Decatur Alabama, into Mississippi for a while, then cut the south west corner of Tennessee (around Memphis) and up into northern Arkansas into a town called Hardy.

We’re at a nice little RV park by a river and plan to spend a few days here.  People are so friendly around these parts 🙂

This is how Big Guy is enjoying the traveling.  He’s not very interested in the sights as you can see.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We are leaving Alabama in the morning and John is studying the map so we can decide where we’ll go tomorrow.  I’m starting to feel like the pioneers of the old west heading out on the Oregon trail (how many of you played that early computer game?) Our covered wagon – the RV, our horses – the Ram truck and our supply outposts are the gas stations and the Walmarts along the way  🙂  Just like the pioneers, theres a feeling of complete freedom and a little uncertainty, but this whole beautiful county feels like our playground to discover.

We left Tallahassee FL this morning and drove most of the day through Alabama.

We passed through Montgomery and Birmingham and stopped for the day just south of the Tennessee border at a nice RV park in Decatur Alabama on Wheeler Lake.

We will probably stay here tonight and tomorrow night and then get back on the road on Wednesday morning.  It’s beautiful here and Big Guy is very excited but I had to hold on to him tight because he can’t really see and would go right off into the water if I let him!

We finally left Brandon in our RV this morning.  We had a few delays – the power inverter went out just as we were preparing to leave on Wednesday and it took John a few days to get it right, but he fixed it just like he’s fixed everything so far.  Way to go John!  We traveled about 5 hours today and ended up at an Elks lodge in Tallahassee FL.

Tomorrow we head north through Alabama and into Tennessee.  Not sure how far we’ll get but I’ll be trying to blog each day so everyone can keep track of where we are.  Our furthest destination on this trip will be South Dakota.  Then we’ll head south and east from there on the way back.  That’s the plan but we’re rolling with whatever happens between now and then 🙂