YAY! I've got pictures from the Road Trip! We really loaded down the car. We took out part of the back seat. It was completely full except for a little valley through the middle (so we could see out the rearview.)
Early in the morning: We're full with pancakes, thanks to Skeeter's mom, and we're ready to hit the road. The first day was a long one. We drove all the way to Indiana, about 11 hours. We took minor roads through the mountains in Virginia until we hit 64 West. It was beautiful. We had a picnic lunch by the road.
We stayed with the parents of one of Skeeter's track teammates in Indiana. We were thankful that we could sleep under a roof that first night, because Indiana was getting pounded by rain and thunderstorms. There was a tornado near Indianapolis that night. Iowa was clear and sunny. We camped out at Lake Ahquabi:
Driving through South Dakota was great. I've never been out west, so I was really fascinated by the landscape. I've never seen such huge corn fields, no houses in sight. As you drive further west on route 90, you hit rolling hills. There's no forest, so you can see for miles on a clear day. Then the lanscape changes really suddenly. You're in the Badlands:
I didn't have a chance to really research the geology of this place. It's really unique. The wind and rain have been eroding this place for thousands of years, creating these unusual land forms. Inside the "wall" of rock, there is prairie.
We camped out in the prairie, in a primitive campground (no running water.) There were prairie dogs and buffalo in the area. As the sun was going down, the wind picked up and we could see and hear a thunderstorm in the distance. The thunderstorm missed us, but the wind was brutal. I was worried that our little tent wouldn't make it. There was nothing to block the wind. The next morning, there were fresh buffalo hoof-prints outside the tent. Ghhlllllll!
The next morning was still stormy and windy. But the views were incredible. We could see the storms moving in.
As we were driving back from the camping spot, our car got a little muddy.
The weather was pretty bad. Our next stop, Black Hills, SD, was only a few hours away, so we took our time driving there. We stopped at Wall Drug, a tacky tourist destination. It's like South of the Border. We saw signs for Wall Drug all along route 90 for about 500 miles. We HAD to stop.
In the Black Hills, we ran in a small 5k. There were only 50 people in it. Skeeter won, of course. Although he claims that his time was terrible. We were at 6,000 ft above sea level. It was a hard run. I have to brag here: I was first place in my age group. (And NO, I was not the only one in my age group.) But it's really not that impressive. I had to stop and walk a couple times. That elevation thing is no joke.
South Dakota:
We had fun driving through Montana. It's a huge state, but it's all rural. We may be country kids, but we did not fit in. We stopped in one town for gas and a picnic lunch. Everyone just stared at us. We were the only ones not wearing Stetson hats and cowboy boots. There were only a few other cars on the road. They were all big pick-up trucks, and they were all driving REALLY fast. One guy passed us and as he came to a left curve in the road, he drove into the left lane. I guess he didn't want to slow down.
We crossed into Canada and made a quick stop in Calgary. We were camping out, but everything was going wrong: Skeeter could not find a place to buy beer and we ran out of camp fuel for our stove. We went out to eat.
The next day was gorgeous. We drove through the Canadian Rockies to our next destination: Jasper National Park. A Glacier: It's a little hard to see because it's covered in snow, but you can see just a little blue ice peaking through:
There's a lake to the left, but it's frozen and covered with several feet of snow:
We spent 2 nights in Jasper. They were COLD, but with my expert fire-starter skills (acquired in Ireland), we were able to stay warm. (Skeeter was impressed that I could start a fire without lighter fluid. And I thought he was a country boy.)
We went on a long hike in Jasper. From the top of a hill:
We were hiking up a steep hill and I almost peed my pants when I saw these Bighorn Sheep. I was so excited to see new wildlife.
The trails were beautiful, but I was a little nervous about bears. We saw bear poop, but no bear.
Here is our camping spot on the ferry. We spent two nights here:
And then we arrived in Sitka!
The weather has been really sunny for the past few days, a big change from when we first got here. I hope it's a sign that we're in for a sunny summer!
More tomorrow...
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