September 12, 2005
I had a good night - slept like a rock, which was nice. If I'd known it'd be the last bed I was to sleep in for over a month, I probably would have slept in a little bit. But I didn't, so I didn't. Alas.
Even though I woke up early, I still didn't do so well at the getting-an-early-start thing. Casey's daughter was too cute. But I made it out of Minneapolis at around 10 or so (I think - well, it was 10 or so somewhere in the world), and headed on to the great state of South Dakota. My goal was to make it to the Badlands in time for sunset.
I stopped a couple of times on the way. One stop for the legendary Corn Palace...
Stunning, eh?
...and another when my eyes decided that it'd be a good idea to suddenly reject my contacts while I was driving. I think they did it out of spite. After an hour at a rest stop chastising my corneas, I was off again. My dad said there were storms on their way, but I decided to press on anyway. Sunset was worth it, right?
Right. I made it to Badlands National Park just as the sun was starting to set - it was pretty cloudy, but there wasn't even a sign of rain.
I drove around for a couple hours as the sun set, and am pretty sure this was the set they used for the moon landings back in '69.
¶ 12:00 AM 
I had a good night - slept like a rock, which was nice. If I'd known it'd be the last bed I was to sleep in for over a month, I probably would have slept in a little bit. But I didn't, so I didn't. Alas.
Even though I woke up early, I still didn't do so well at the getting-an-early-start thing. Casey's daughter was too cute. But I made it out of Minneapolis at around 10 or so (I think - well, it was 10 or so somewhere in the world), and headed on to the great state of South Dakota. My goal was to make it to the Badlands in time for sunset.
I stopped a couple of times on the way. One stop for the legendary Corn Palace...
Stunning, eh?
Right. I made it to Badlands National Park just as the sun was starting to set - it was pretty cloudy, but there wasn't even a sign of rain.I drove around for a couple hours as the sun set, and am pretty sure this was the set they used for the moon landings back in '69.
I even made a friend. Awww.
It was pretty late by the time I felt my first raindrops. These were no storms, though - it felt more like the clouds were spitting at me. Spit. spit spit. Spit. You know, that kind of thing. I heard the rumblings of thunder, and thought it might be a good idea to get into my car, being surrounded by nothing but scarily-unconductive mountains. I turned the corner to get back in my car, and lo and behold, the storms were not coming at me, but rather blowing through just south of me...
I left the Badlands, and pulled into a rest area for sleeping-in-car night #1.
It was pretty late by the time I felt my first raindrops. These were no storms, though - it felt more like the clouds were spitting at me. Spit. spit spit. Spit. You know, that kind of thing. I heard the rumblings of thunder, and thought it might be a good idea to get into my car, being surrounded by nothing but scarily-unconductive mountains. I turned the corner to get back in my car, and lo and behold, the storms were not coming at me, but rather blowing through just south of me...
I left the Badlands, and pulled into a rest area for sleeping-in-car night #1.
