Goodbye South Dakota! We had a beautiful picnic lunch in Rapid City with Dave and Joanne, made a stop at the famous Wall Drug which is CRAZY wonderful, and then drove through the plains of South Dakota until late last night. We had an amazing conversation about the things we’ve learned on this trip, how we’ve changed for the better, what we want to do differently when we get home. More to come…

#OurEpicFamilyRoadTrip

#iloveroadtrips

#walldrugsouthdakota

#beautifultimewithbeloveds

#drivingandtalkingisthebest

The Most Beautiful Sunset

and a few other “surprises” on our last day in South Dakota.

Ernie awakened to a very wet pillow this morning after it rained all night. It seems our beloved old camper now has a leak…(Surprise! ) Ernie patched up the leaky place with sealant, and we set off to visit his high school guidance counselor and dear friend who first encouraged him to go into the theater. So much love there. We then drove to see the Black Hills Playhouse where Ernie spent 2 summers acting almost 40 years ago. Their season had ended and there was nobody there, but he told us wonderful stories about his adventures at the playhouse while our dogs ran and played, and Skylar rolled in a new doggie perfume left by the bison who roam the area, when nobody was looking. (Surprise! ) After rinsing her in the creek, we went to see the Crazy Horse monument still in progress and drove the wildlife loop seeing deer, prairie dogs, wild turkeys, wild burros, and a huge bison herd. As the day came to an end we were completely awestruck with the most beautiful sunset we have ever seen. It spanned the entire sky. (SURPRISE! )

And yes, Skylar got a full bath in our camper’s tiny shower tonight (thank you Tatiana).

#OurEpicFamilyRoadTrip

#atripdownmemorylane

#eaudebuffalo

#doggieperfume

#asunsetgiftforusall

Power and Patriotism…

Today we saw 2 beautiful national monuments. Early in the day we walked around Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. We marveled at the unusual rock tower that rose to the sky, smelled vanilla in the bark of the trees, and held our breath as we watched a few brave climbers scale the rock wall toward the top. This evening we went to a truly beautiful ceremony at Mount Rushmore that talked about the hardships suffered and personal sacrifices made by each of those 4 presidents to promote the ideals of freedom, equality, beauty, and a government run by its people. They then played a beautiful short film, ending in the lighting of Mount Rushmore at night and asked that all the veterans in the audience come down onto the stage to help lower and fold the flag for the night. Everyone cheered for and acknowledged those on the stage. I find I am sometimes cautious watching these events, given the volatile nature of our country’s politics these days and my fear of anyone feeling excluded or attacked. Tonight there was a sense of awe, beauty, connectedness, and true appreciation for those values that bring us together in the name of good and something bigger.

#OurEpicFamilyRoadTrip

#mountrushmoreatnight

#rememberingthegood

#lifelibertyandthepusuitofhappiness

#artinstone

#thereisstillhope

A Beautiful Blur

The last 3 days have been a beautiful blur. With no wifi or cell reception, I had to wait to share our extraordinary experience in Yellowstone. We camped in the national forest just outside Yellowstone’s northeast gate with no electric, water, sewer, or connection to the outside world. Each rustic campsite had a bear box that we had to lock all our food and even sweet smelling cosmetics in for the night. We got up at 5:30 AM and drove to the Lamar Valley to watch the sunrise, and were blessed to connect with incredibly generous animal lovers with telescopes who let us see up close the grizzly bears, a wolf pack, mountain goats, and more in the early morning light. I cried at the beauty of it all. We then drove to Cody, Wyoming where we saw the Cody rodeo, visited the Old Trail Town (that I posted yesterday on Facebook), and ate at Cassie’s Dinner Club circa 1922 that started as a brothel in the old west until prostitution became illegal in Wyoming and Cassie cleverly changed it to a saloon and dinner club. Today we drove to just outside Devil’s Tower national monument, and tomorrow we’ll see the monument and head on to Ernie’s old stomping grounds in the Black Hills. Even this day of driving straight through was beautiful as we went through the Big Horn mountains and Elijah opened my eyes to something he has been trying to get us to understand for the longest time. Taking the time to see, breathe, discover, talk, share, love, and laugh together is changing us all for the better.

#OurEpicFamilyRoadTrip

#earlymorningyellowstone

#roadtrips&timetotalk

#peoplearekind

#lifeontheroad

#loveloveandmorelove