POSTCARD: First Week on the Road
However, this is 2020 right, so basically I expect a hurdle to jump every 10 miles, and day one did not disappoint.
Day 1-2 | Michigan to Indiana
Day 3 | Indiana to Iowa
Wednesday kind of felt like the real first day of our trip. It was the first day that we wanted to crush some miles and see how far west we could get. No concrete plan, we just hit the 80 and chased the sunset.
We stopped at the Iowa 80, which if you are not in the know, is the largest truck stop in the world. I thought I saw a Panda Express logo on one of the billions of signs leading up to the place, and I think Ryan got a tear in his eyes when we got closer and realized it was an Einstein Bagels instead. Ha! Anyway, Duke was into the place. It has a full food court, a zillion tchotchkes, and a real semi parked inside.
We stopped for the night in Eldora, IA where we landed a camping spot with water AND electric for $16. Such a smokin’ deal.
Day 4 | Iowa to South Dakota
Day 4 brought us to my favorite camping spot so far. We hauled into South Dakota, which I’ll be honest, I had low expectations of. I came here once when I was a kid and it was winter, and all I remember is a haze of white. But man, is this place beautiful. We jogged north a little to avoid a storm, and came through Sioux Falls, stopping for the night on the Missouri River. There were a few other campers there, but it’s not an actual campground (I can’t remember if it’s BLM or national forest, etc). We left the awning up on our camper and woke up around 5am to some intense wind. Ryan and I shot out of bed and lucky too, because we woke up to the prettiest sunrise.
Day 5 | The Badlands and The Black Hills, South Dakota
This was a travel day, so we just drove and drove and drove. Driving through the Badlands is nuts -- you go from flat green and cornfields to endless weird rocks.
We hit a good rain/wind storm complete with hail, so we waited that out in a Cabelas parking lot while Duke and I napped for a while. We also stopped by Dinosaur Park for Duke, who proceeded to sleep through the whole thing. We camped in a national forest that was surprisingly populated, but we got there so late, we just conked out.
Day 6 | Big Horn Mountains, South Dakota
Lemme tell you about day 6: the day I almost had a heart attack. We drove all day, wound up in the Big Horn Mountains and found a really nice campsite on RoamFree - an app that shows you free/BLM camping sites with reviews. Very handy. Anyway, we enter in on the back end - the top of a canyon - and it’s a pretty steep decline. Basically right away we’re committed because we don’t have 4-wheel drive and we’re not 100% sure we could get back out the same way we came in. So whatever. Keep going, I guess. We end up finding this great spot to stop, with a waterfall and a river, and I immediately make myself a beverage. Ryan wanders around to make friends and one really nice guy tells us we can get out just fine if we follow the canyon down and come out on the opposite side. Coolcoolcool.
The next morning, we pack up and head out and probably three people stop us to tell us that the road is really narrow and there are rocks over the road, and we probably can’t fit. I hyperventilate. Ryan hops on the Honda 90 strapped to our camper to check things out.
Okay, so it was kind of tight, but we did get out and the only thing I’m mad about is when I had to jump out to spot for Ryan, I didn’t bring my camera, because I was in the bottom of a canyon and it was truly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in real life. Anyway, as we cruised out, there was a sign that said “No RVs, Trailers, or Semi Trucks” which would have been helpful on the entrance we came in on. I certainly agree and now I have paranoia about any hills or gravel.
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