Cruisin' USA: Moving out West!

We got to Sioux Falls, SD late last night after a long day of driving to Minnesota so I couldn't really see much of the city but when I woke up I was pleasantly surprised! I caught the sun rising over the bus as I was getting on board this morning, such a beautiful shot. I think what I am loving most about these Midwestern cities is all the open land and fresh air, it's nice to get out of DC once and awhile and have a change of scenery.

Today was a really great day, I loved South Dakota! I was busy on the road blogging, tweeting and facebooking for US Travel but I did make time at each of our stops to check out the local goodies and snap some pictures. We stopped in one little town this morning called Wall, SD. It is famous for it's Drug Store which has everything you need from food and drinks to cowboy boots and donuts! The boys on the bus bought a dozen donuts so you know I had to try one, they were amazing! Luckily I had downtime this afternoon and took a run/hike around my hotel to stay active. While we were in Wall I couldn't help but think about that old computer game The Oregon Trail, I felt like I was riding into this old Western town picking up goods for the road ahead. It was pretty fun talking to the locals who were shocked our giant bus could fit down their main street (I think we were too!)

Our next stop for the day was Mt. Rushmore, I kept yelling up to Roy asking if we could see it yet, pretty sure he was getting a little annoyed but I was so excited! We knew we were close to the mountain when we started climbing much higher elevations and my ears starting popping. Oh and also the fact that we passed signs that said "Bear Country USA."

In 3rd grade we had to pick states for our Social Studies project. I got South Dakota and was a little disappointed because it was a state that I knew nothing about and figured I would probably never get to visit. I dressed up as a Native American and remember sitting at my booth in front of a giant poster board of Mt. Rushmore with Stephanie at the booth next to me. Being at Mt. Rushmore today was really a cool experience and something that I can definitely check off the bucket list. It's a beautiful National Park, wicked clean and the food is so good! I had a Bison burger for lunch, how could I not?

After Mt. Rushmore we drove by Crazy Horse Mountain to check out the progress of the man on the horse and then we called it a day. We made such good time today (there's not much traffic on I-90 in Mid-America) that we got to our hotel early this afternoon and I had time to hike up some mountains near the hotel and check out the little downtown. And of course I've had some time to catch up on my blogs and post pictures here and to my Facebook. Ok enough blabbing - pictures below of my travels in South Dakota, enjoy! Miss you all =)

-Court