Day 6: Cheyenne, WY

We left Custer State Park this morning about 10:30. We drove the scenic "Needles Highway" and then stopped by Mount Rushmore for a little bit. It was a chilly morning - in the mid 50's with misting rain! We then drove through the Black Hills, Wind Cave National Park, and through the Buffalo Gap National Grassland - we took lots of pictures today! I feel asleep while Brant was driving, and when I woke up we were about to cross into Wyoming. Brant said there hadn't been an exit for about 20 miles and we had about 1/4 tank of gas left. There was a rest area with a bunch of bikers, so we stopped to ask how far the next gas station was - 47 miles to the town of Lusk, WY! We did make it - but probably rolled in there on fumes! There was nothing - not a thing - between that rest area and the next town. The guy in the gas station told us that the best food in town was at the Silverdollar Bar. It was pretty much me, Brant, and the bikers at this place. I went to the bathroom and came back and one of them was asking Brant for directions somwhere - guess he blended in with the scenery with his cowboy boots and belt :) We got back on the road and headed to Cheyenne, WY with plenty of gas! We got there about 6:30 and went to the Old Downtown area. The highlight of my day wa

s that I got some cowboy boots!! I love them and I wore them out of the store and all around town!! We walked around the town and ate dinner at Albany's. We had quite a laugh at dinner as oneof the appetizer's on the menu was "bull nuts." We asked our waitress if that's what they really were - and yes, and she said southerners usually love them. We did NOT try them! We went to Walmart and bought some food for the

drive tomorrow - it'll be a long day to the Grand Teton National Park.

Day 5: Custer State Park, SD

We left Mitchell and drove to Custer State Park. The landscape was amazing! We stopped to drive the Badland's Scenic Loop - about 23 miles. We weren't really sure what the Badlands were - neither of us had ever been there - we were amazed!! We got around and did a little climbing, but drove most of the way. We saw signs for about 200 miles for the 'Wall Drug' in Rapid City, SD. So, after driving through the Badlands, we stopped to see what the fuss was! It was a really big old drug store that had a restaurant, souvenier store, and homemade ice cream and doughnut shoppe. We stopped to eat dinner there and then headed to the Park. We got to the park about 8PM and were rounding a corner and just about destroyed a pack of buffalo!!! Brant almost cussed - haha! They were unbelievable - they were right next to the car and blocking the road. We made it to the park, and spent the night in the State Game Lodge. We took a run this morning along one of the trails and are now headed for Mount Rushmore! We hope we get internet in the next few days! We're staying in Cheyenne, WY tonight :)

Day 4: Mitchell, SD

We're catching up on the blog because we haven't had internet for a few days! I picked up Brant at the airport on Saturday and we headed to Mitchell, SD. We stopped in Kansas City for lunch at the Smokehouse because Brant heard that Kansas City had great BBQ - and it was! We got to Mitchell about 8PM and were greeted by the whole Vermeulen gang! Seth's grandma, who we were staying with, had made a big dinner and they were all waiting on us to eat. We got to hang out with everyone Saturday night and then toured the town of Mitchell on Sunday before we left. It's a really small town with lots of farmers and not much else, but it's really cool. We did stop by to see the famous "corn palace" and Cabela's. Brant was a good boy at Cabela's and we were only there about 10 minutes and left empty handed! A couple of Seth's uncles are farmers, so we stopped by their houses to check out their land and animals. Brant enjoyed the land, and i enjoyed the animals :) I was really excited because one of his uncles told us to come by and see his baby pigs. So, in my mind, I was going to get to hold this cute little baby pink pig - not the case! He was taking us around the barn to the pigs, and I almost couldn't round the corner because it smelled so bad! And the baby's were not pink, and they weighed about 100lbs and they were covered in mud! We had a great time in Mitchell and left on Sunday to drive to Custer State Park, SD! It was a beautiful 5 hour drive through South Dakota!!