Today was supposed to just be a driving day, but that changed quickly as we got closer to our target of western South Dakota. The first third of the state was boring - it reminded me a lot of rural southern Minnesota, which itself looks like most of Iowa, western Illinois, Indiana, Ohio.... You get the point. But then the scenery changed rapidly. We were transported to a new world where the farms gave way to rolling green hills and picturesque sights. What a change! We also saw our first New Jersey car in Sioux Falls when we stopped for a [View Full Entry]

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Aday of looking at stuff carved into the side of mountains. First up we went to Mt Rushmore. The place is huge and an amazing example of what you can do with a hell of a lot of dynamite. The detail on the faces is unbelievable and they do look as though the eyes follow you. A job well done. In contrast the crazy horse monument down the road is a bit of a shambles. It has been going for about 40 years and only the head is done. It is massive though, the whole sculpture will be about 2 to [View Full Entry]

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Left Mitchell this morning and continued on to the Bad Lands. Very impressive scenery (see pics). Saw Mountain Goats and Praire Dogs and lots of cattle and horses. Lunch at a (the) Happy Chef and on to Wall Drug in Wall. Very touristy. We are staying the night in Keystone (expensive tourist village). Tomorrow its on to Mount Rushmore, the State and National Parks and Sturgis. Happy Trails P and G [View Full Entry]

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So we're in day four of Beale family vacation, day two of Keystone, South Dakota, and day one of Caitlin's blogging extravaganza. Surprisingly enough nobody in our family has strangled anyone and Rebecca hasn't encountered any physical harm...yet. Yesterday we went to the Crazy Horse memorial thing and after spending about an hour in the huge museum none of us ever really figured out what exactly he was famous for. Anyway, a sculpture of him on his horse is being carved into a mountain, similar to Mt. Rushmore. They've been working on it for about 60 years and all that's completed [View Full Entry]

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Last night was a first for us, it was our very first night spent at a camp ground! I think we all went into mini comas when our heads hit the pillows because the next day nobody could remember falling asleep. We've been going non-stop since we left Stockbridge and it was nice to settle in somewhere and get some good sleep. We got up bright and early and headed for the "community showers". This was a new experience for us and I wasn't sure how it would go. We get to the building and the shower stalls are not divided [View Full Entry]

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It's day 3 of my Road Trip to NYC. So far I have hit Washington State, stayed over in Idaho, which was beautiful. Was unlucky to have my GPS take me on the scenic trip through Montana, then stayed in Wyoming, a state I didn't like, but could have been the terrible weather, I white knuckled it through the whole state yesterday and today. Today I had lunch in Sturgis South Dakota, the town that is famous for the annual biker gathering, then I was pulled over by the South Dakota Hwy Patrol, clocked at 130 mph, that's aprox. 180 Km [View Full Entry]

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Washington for birth, Jefferson for growth, Lincoln for preservation, and Roosevelt for development. [View Full Entry]

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Another day another state. Lunch in Cody Wyoming, dinner in Keystone South Dakota! Sunday we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Mount Rushmore. It is impressive but once you've gone to the main viewing area and taken your pictures (10 minutes) that's it. On our way out a random man directed us to nearby Custer State Park that you can drive through and at one of the tunnels actually get a picture of Mount Rushmore framed in the distance. At that point we decided to check out the park which also has a buffalo herd. Another great find. The buffalo here are [View Full Entry]

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Well, today was our first full day in Keystone and what a long day it was. It started off with Meghan waking the entire family up at 8:15 when she called from her sleepover with Aunt Nancy, Courtney, and Lauren. After that we all showered and got ready to embark on our first day here. Our hotel disappointed us this morning with not having the luxury of a continental breakfast. Seriously, what kind of hotel doesn't have one? So we had to venture out into the little town and find food for ourselves. We came across a bagel shop owned [View Full Entry]

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. Tonight we are writing our blog from the safely and comfort of our very own motel room - complete with Wi Fi. Carl’s comment for the day… “12 months ago I didn’t care about Wi Fi, now it is a major requirement for any hotel!” Statistics Starting Destination: Chadron State Park, Nebraska Ending Destination: Keystone, South Dakota Miles Driven: 126 Percentage of Miles driven in Fog: 60-70% The theme for today was definitely “The [View Full Entry]

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