South Dakota is Longggg

Some times I have to pull over and navigate...

when my navigator is busy. :)

On the highway, I find I can draft the double-tankers at 85MPH. At one point, I was behind a tanker that was drafting a double gravel truck. I put the van into neutral and coasted at 85MPH. When we're in the open, 75 is a comfy speed for the engine and tranny. (That's transmission, Keith - not what you're thinking...) The trip average so far is 18.5MPG.

Devils Tower was sweet. We watched two climbers work their way up a chimney on the West (the climber had both feet braced against opposite sides of a 5' wide gap). Would have needed a 300+mm lens to capture that shot, so we just enjoyed the show via binoculars. See if you can find the climber (and his partner) in the picture. :)


Mt Rushmore underwhelmed most of us; it seems bigger in pictures than it does in real life. Since I'm philosophically opposed to posting a picture of something I'm sure all of my friends have already seen, here's a picture of us instead. I should mention to my dad that they've really redone the place since we were there. Badlands National Park, on the other hand, really surprised us. We would definitely go back there again with our bikes and try some back country camping as well. Our evening was almost spoiled by a fancy motorhome that rolled in late with its generator running, but the owner wisely decided to respect the wishes of the 40 or so other campers enjoying the quiet South Dakota sunset. On the way out, we visited a Minuteman Missile Silo that we happened upon. That's something I always wanted to see, but our kids have trouble understanding the idea that we used to live in fear of big bombs.

Just rolled into Minnesota! We'll be spending time with family for the next couple days.

Mike