Home, home on the range...

It is 930 my time, 830 Joe's time, 730 most of your time, Monday night, April 12.  I am sitting in a motel in Keystone, South Dakota- a tiny town buried in the black hills at the foot of Mount Rushmore.  I arrived in the evening so I have yet to see anything other than very very dark hills.  Before I get into too much detail, Ill start back at Illinois, friday morning.
I awoke on friday anticipating that I would work the day with joe, pack during the evening, and leave bright and early saturday morning.  That didnt happen- I got some sort of stomach bug that prevented me from doing anything all day long and into the night.  As a result, nothing was packed as of saturday at noon when I woke up, but I was determined to stick to my schedule, and since my stomach was feeling better I began packing.  By 430pm I was ready to go and had to say a very sad farewell to the currans, my first family on the road.
I spent a total of two months with them, and by the end of that time I truthfully felt as if I was part of the family- which really made it even harder to leave.  I was used to my bedroom, my routine, and the feeling of being part of a family so the idea of hitting the road alone was a bit hard to swallow, but I knew I had to do it, so after a few hugs and waves, i was gone.
I didnt arrive in Minneapolis until about 10:30pm but the Scalo's were up and ready for me, with yet another beautiful guest room all set up and cold beer at the ready.  So I settled in, had some beers, and Matt and I spent some time catching up on old times.  On sunday I was awoken to the smell of breakfast being cooked and fresh coffee... again, not a bad way to wake up.  After breakfast we went for a walk with their two great dogs and then around the lakes in Minneapolis.  I have to say- the city was far nicer than what I had expected, though I suppose I didnt really know what to expect, but with near perfect 70 degree weather, we had a great day in the sun followed by a fun afternoon at REI (my favorite store.)

Sunday night we laid low, had some homemade cheesesteaks (that Im happy to report were damn close to authentic!) and got to bed.
Today I got up with the Scalo's and hit the road when they left for work- 715am.  Those who know me best know that I am NOT a morning person, but I knew today would be a long one and considering I was in the car through a time zone and for a total of 14 hours, I am glad I left when I did.
My day today went as follows:
at 715 I left minneapolis.  By 10 I stopped at a rest stop to shut my eyes for a bit and get those few extra minutes of sleep i missed from the morning.  By 2 I was at a place called "al's oasis" which was not quite as entertaining as it was cracked up to be, but I did get see a huge buffalo (see above).  After that I drove with only a few stops for pictures to badlands national park (see picture below)

(i think this billboard is what I went to school for... it has been so long I cant remember)

and to stretch my legs straight through to badlands national park- which was completely empty- apparently mondays in april arent popular times to see the badlands.  After badlands I drove to the Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota... merely to say I had gone (because there really isnt much to see there) but you get a free bumper sticker and a free glass of ice water, so it was worth it.  By that time it was 7pm and I had to decide whether to drive the 1.5 hours more to rushmore tonight or stay in wall... WELL, considering when I stopped in at Subway to get something to eat, well let me just write out the dialogue of the event...

I walk into subway and order a sandwich... While it is being made I notice a little boy looking at my car and pointing out my license plate to his "daddy"... Well, his daddy decided to stand up and shout across the subway "You really from washington --D--C (he said it with one of those western drawls) to which I replied "why yes I am, why?"  his response was "well, no reason other than you prob-ly want one of these here t-shirts thaannn"  Then I looked at his tshirt, which i might ad was Highly read-able considering the size of his gut... It was a picture of obama with devil horns with some absurd caption written below it...  I had to decide in less than a second how I was going to react to it, so, as any sane guy who is on foreign terrain would do, I said, "wow, that's a good one" and then I walked myself out slowly and looked him in the eye and said "You'all have a good night now" and he replied with the same....    FEwwwwww, close call... you know a part of me was tempted to speak my political perspectives to him, but I saved my breath... and probably my life.
And back on the road I went in hopes for friendlier people in Keystone, 1.5 hours away from where i was-and it was getting dark.

at 930 this evening I arrived, after a 18 mile ride up the mountains, DEEP into the black hills of south dakota which are by far the spookiest mountains I have even been in, in the dark anyway, and I was one of the only cars on the road.  Thank god after the long trek up I finally saw some light and found a nice, clean, affordable motel right at the base of rushmore, where I am now... enjoy a few bud lights (which always remind me of my friend Matt Dosberg) and relaxing and getting ready for another day on the road tomorrow.

I plan to leave here around 9-10am, check out rushmore, then hit the road for Boulder where I will stay for a few days to catch back up.  All this driving is wiping me out.

Also- I have been posting pictures on facebook from my phone as I go- so check me out there for my frequent updates if you care to see what is going on, and im going to try my best to get some other pictures up soon but since they are the most time consuming part, it might take me a few days to do... for now Ill just post a couple and ill most likely create some road trip albums on flickr with the rest.


Thanks for following.  Wish me luck.
its 11pm.  time for bed.