Star Date 05/30/22

South Dakota, cattle ranching, Indian Reservations, tumbleweed; big sky dome with 360-degree views uninterrupted.  Strange land contours, fragile top soil that erodes very easily, every small town has a large grain elevator, mostly wheat.  SD and Montana are not gluten free states.  We took the diversion loop through the Badland National Park, still a stunning sight, cloudy so the layers of minerals do not show through quite as brilliant, but they are there; as the land erodes fossils are uncovered; we see a small Buffalo herd free ranging with antelope herding around them.  Didn’t see any calves, maybe hidden in the grass.  Stopped at Prairie Dog Town (a kind of ground squirrel).  Took pictures in front of giant prairie dog statue, have Grandma’s Simons and Jarvis with Brenna and baby Seth picture in same location 1984.  The dogs were healthy but had to watch not to fall in their holes/tunnels.  They grabbed shell peanuts out of our hands; the babies are so cute and fuzzy and squeaky.  They have tiny bark, slap their tales and jump in the air to communicate alerts.  Stopped at famous Wall Drug with a quick walk through, no masks as you can guess and very crowded.  We followed the roadside Wall Drug advertising signs for 300 miles, old style small wooden signs.  The rest of the day is hard to describe.  Gale force winds that demanded hands tight to the wheel and periods of downpour that were violent and blinding.  Passing vehicles blew spray that blinded and the road did not drain, adjusting for hydroplaning.  They had drought in the SD and Montana, Mt had no snow this winter so they are glad for it.  We say, better to have hours of gentle soaking rain and not floods.  Good stuff: cooler weather and no hail or tornadoes.  After 606 miles (Badlands etc. added 2 hours) we arrive at Fairfield Inn in Billings, MT.  We walk over to Outback Steak House because we don’t have to get back in the car.  Montana is prairie and plains in the eastern part where we are; wheat and cattle.  The mountains are in the west of this huge state.  We have our extra paper work to cross the Border filed and sent online for a timed entry tomorrow.  We will begin to see the big mountains as we move north and west into Canada.  Very tired and grateful for safe travel thanks to Chuck’s driving skills.  Time for bed.  Nighty, night.  

Total Miles Driven Today   606
Total Miles Travel so far   1726

 Animals Seen Today

Prairie Dog Farm

Badlands

Other views today

Star Date 05/29/22

Woke to sunshine at 5:30AM.  Packed, breakfast at hotel, stroll around the grounds and on the road.  Immediately moving west Iowa has perfectly manicured and planted fields on rolling hills.  The good news, they have adopted land conservancy planting and land management.  The bad news, they cleared off the vast majority of their state’s trees to do it.  We pass the Bridges of Madison County heritage area (famous movie) and the prairie winds are extremely strong and the hundreds of giant wind turbines are turning with it.  There is a terrible accident involving two large travel trailers, we don’t know if the wind played a part.  All of a sudden, the car in front of let loose one of the hubcaps and it came rolling full speed toward our wind shield, but veered off to one side thanks to wind.  Lewis and Clark Expedition is celebrated all along the areas that border the Missouri River.  When we cross into South Dakota it is the triangle meeting of Neb, Iowa and South Dakota.  We follow the Mo River at a distance driving through the Mo River Valley, 100’s of miles of flat lands that seem to sit below sea level, lots of crop farming.  In Des Moines, IA we are caught in a huge rain storm, so dense it was hard to see and water built up on the road without time to run off.  Later, out of the storm, we found out we had missed a hail storm right ahead of us.  Entering South Dakota, the triangle there is IA, SD and Minnesota.  South Dakota is a yawn scenery wise, so flat you can see for miles and the road is straight and never varies.  The soil is not quite as lush as IA and their land management is not as tight controlled; it’s less about crops and more about grazing beef cattle, lots of newborn calves running around.  We saw only one patch of wind turbines.  We pass by a sign citing Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home.  We stopped more times today to stretch but still covered 547 miles.  Overnighting in Oacoma, SD on the banks of Lake Charles, caused by damming the MO River, very beautiful area.  Go to Al’s Oasis down the street and served a great dinner, local beer and homemade pie.  Big day tomorrow will pass through Wyoming and into Montana.  Our last day in the US.  Grateful for a safe day of driving.  Time for sleep.  Nighty Night.

Total Miles Driven today:    547

Total Miles Driven:             1120

 Animals Seen today

Missouri River and Lake Charles

Other Sights Today

Star Date 05/28/22

Equinox is packed and house is closed up.  Roof rack is tied down with extra straps and the back is packed tight.  7:45AM, Turnpike going west becoming more and more flat farm crop land, no doubt this is mega agriculture farming across the states we pass through today.  Full sun no rain in sight.  Today, we are passing through three I states, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa with their rich black soil for crops.  Nearing the Indiana border, Ohio’s Maumee River is broad and deep, much larger than Cuyahoga River.  South of Chicago high border walls have been erected along the highway and we can no longer see the Calumet River in Gary, Indiana, as it empties into Lake Michigan. It is now a protected conservation area and very impressive with wetlands overflow and birdlife.  In the back ground is the large steel mill.  This is our route chosen to avoid Chicago traffic, instead that is exactly what happens and we sit still for an hour.  As we move along in the far distance is the blurry skyline of downtown Chicago, the Sears Tower is still the tallest.  Southern Illinois is flat farmland with large planted fields. There are miles and miles of wind turbines throughout and the prairie wind is turning them constantly. The air blasts push on us and makes driving tricky with roof rack.  We have also seen large solar panel farms in Indiana and Illinois.  We pass by Springfield, Ill, a sign designates Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, where he was born.  And we pass Peoria, Ill, where Ronald Reagan was born.  As we pass over the Iowa border we cross the Mississippi River, it is even wider and deeper than the Ohio River, even this far north.  All of Iowa’s large rivers will drain into the Gulf of Mexico.  Finally, we make it to Coralville, IA, 4:30PM their time.  It is a university and research center town.  We are staying near a big shopping area with Tuesday Morning and Marshalls etc., alas so little time and no room in the car.  We gained an hour along the way and now we are only 3 hours time difference from AK.  Staying at Fairfield Inn, a Marriott hotel.  We walk over to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner.  Our waitress is local and recent uni grad on her way to Chicago for a job; we imagine a lot of local youth go to Chicago for first jobs. We have driven just under 600 miles and play Hey Mavis CD’s to while away the hours; we only stop 3 times, one to eat our packed lunch.  Gas is around $5.00/gallon on the turnpike but looks to be the average everywhere.  We are getting 29 miles to gallon.  It’s time for sleep.  Temperature has stayed around 76 degrees but low 80’s in Coralville, sunny weather and prairie winds are blowing.  We are grateful for a day of safe travel.  Another big day of driving tomorrow and the landscape will start to change.  Nighty Night.  

Total miles driven today 582
Total trip miles                582

Preparing the car

Various animal sightings today

Coralville, Iowa