Welcome back to the blog, we are so excited you all have returned to check out our latest adventure. We are sorry to disappoint, but the Miata is not part of this trip. We decided to bring along our good friends Whitney and Jerrod this time and needless to say the Miata just could not hold us all. After a few months of preparing for this trip, we loaded up the Tahoe (this is a complete understatement), packed ourselves in like sardines and headed to South Dakota. If we only had more crap strapped to the top of the car, we might just be able to compete with a national lampoons vacation experience. 14 ridiculously long hours of overnight travel Friday night into Saturday, we made one stop in Ogallala, Nebraska for a quick breakfast at Hokes (I think Matt may have put a picture up of this place). At this point I think we have gone about 14 hours without brushing our teeth or showering, but hey, who said adventures were going to be glamorous. A day trip through the Black Hills, Crazy Horse, and Mount Rushmore landed us in Deadwood, America. I must say the intention behind Crazy Horse is great, but really people lets make some progress here. For $27.00 a carload to get in, it’s time to step up the efforts and start doing some damn sculpting. Point número dos, Mount Rushmore is much smaller than what you are led to believe. I was was really excited about this, so as we came around corner to catch a glimpse of George, Tom, Ted, and Abe anticipation was building. What a joke, this place was so tiny, wedged into a section of the rock. Postcards and pictures of this place are misleading. We managed to coast into Deadwood to experience its unique charm, while chasing our luck in the famous casinos. Dinner at one of Kevin Cosner’s restaurants and four large margaritas later I was ready to gamble. Penny machines of course. I’m too cheap to be an avid gambler, so I get the thrill of gambling while staying fiscally responsible. The best part of our Deadwood experience was getting the “old time photo.” For years now, Whitney and I have wanted to take one of these photos and so we did (I’ll add this later for your viewing pleasure). We spent a little time in the Mount Moriah cemetery, said Hello to Wild Bill and Calamity Jane before heading to Devils Tower. After some great picture taking at Devils Tower, we headed through Bighorn National Forest where we encountered something unusual for Oklahomans in June, snow! A beautiful wintery drive with lots of wildlife, we finally made it to our destination, Cody, Wyoming. Terry and Sondra, the lovely inn keepers of our Bed and Breakfast greeted us with open arms! If you have never stayed in a B & B you should try it, it’s just like staying at grandmas house, including some sassy grandmas. I can only hope this is what I am like when I get old. Matt and Jerrod have never stayed in one, so we hope their first experience was a good one. As we head out today, daily luxuries such as flush toilets and showers become a thing of the past as we enter into Yellowstone National Park for the next three days. This is real camping people. As in it gets in the 30’s at night, might just break out in snow, BEARS, and no cell phone reception kind of camping. If I make it through this, I feel like Matt might just keep planning more adventures that lead me astray from my beachy resorts and touristy vacations. Oh well, fun is in the adventure and you only live once so, we’ll see you on the other side, that is the other side of the east gate entrance into Yellowstone. Happy Travels!
Cars & Culture · June 11, 2012
