Here's The Play At The Plate

Safe at home!!  We pulled down the driveway just a bit before 7:00pm.  Whew. 

So, to recap - we drove Al's car from Lyndhurst to Valley City SD.  That was about 1100 miles.  

Then we picked up the rental tank (see below) in Fargo and drove to Rapid City SD, and then drove from Rapid City to Lyndhurst.  That was 1876 miles worth of driving for a worthy road warrior total of: 2976 miles.  Thanks to the co-pilot for her navigation and snack delivery!!!

This is the Enterprise Rental Ford Explorer that got us through the Black Hills and home.  I will not be sorry to return it to Enterprise tomorrow!!!!

The Home Stretch

Crossed over the Ohio boarder at 3:35 EST. One more fill-up should do it! Estimated time to arrive home is 6:45 p.m. 

Re-route!!!

We took interstate 80 south of Chicago. It will be our route from now on traveling west! 

11:55 CST  The crossroads of America. 

The Mighty Mississippi

Crossed the Mississippi River at 9:20 CST. 

The land of Lincoln. 

The Wind At Our Back; The Sun In Our Eyes

We will be continuing our blast to the east in just a few minutes.  It's sunny and it's windy.  Even here in Iowa they tell us the smoke from the fires in the western states is making it a little hazy.  Wow...

No more photos please!!!

Iowa

Passed over the state line at 3:35 CST. Good-bye South Dakota. Destination today Coralville, IA. Five more hours to go. 

Iowa's the place to live. 

Off the route home still in SD.

We were told we had to take time to drive through the Badlands. We are so glad we did! Thank you, Patrick! 

Stopped at the Minuteman Missile National Monument. We got our National Parks passport stamped. 

We just had to get off the freeway and check it out. Did not go in. Just took a picture. Mitchell, SD 

Time for lunch! 

Heading East

Warp factor 80

It was a 13 hour day!

Started our day at Ft. Hays with an all you can eat Cowboy Breakfast. 

After breakfast, our chariot awaited us. 

It was off to Mount Rushmore. No matter how many pictures you have seen, it does not compare to being there. 

Back in the bus. We drove the Iron Mountain Rd. It had hair pin turns and tunnels that framed Mount Rushmore when you looked through them. We were also on the lookout for wild life. 

Next stop, Custer State Park. It's the location of Calvin Coolidge's summer White House. It has now been turned into a lodge. We had lunch in the lodge. Kurt had the buffalo stew. 

It is also the location of Sylvan Lake. 

We had to wait to leave the lodge due to the number of buffalo crossing the road. It was awesome to see. 

Continued our trip on Needles Highway. More wild life. 

We traveled through a very tight tunnel. 

Needles Highway lead us to the Crazy Horse Monument. 

Last Stop of our tour was a Cowboy dinner and show. 

WE ARE TIRED! WHAT A DAY!!!!

What to do after checking in at the hotel?

Find a brewery! 

Rapid City SD - Big Sky

After our stop in Sturgis we drove another 25 miles or so to Rapid City where we had reservations at The Big Sky Lodge.  It's a real throwback so we weren't quite sure what to expect.  Turns out it was a great choice.  

The view of Rapid City is great and last night was a good one for just enjoying the view. 

Beer and Tattoos

The Road Goes On Forever But The Party Never Ends

Notice the haze?! North Dakota and some of South Dakota are experiencing the smoke from the fires in the west. 

South Dakota

Enter SD at 1:55 p.m. mountain time. 

Saw many oil fields in ND. Just into SD, the first one still under construction. 

Gladstone, ND

Largest metal sculpture. Top of Enchanted Hill which is on the Enchated Highway exit 74. The sculpture was surrounded by lots of small metal geese in flight. 

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Breakfast with Al before heading to Rapid City, South Dakota. 

Big City of Fargo

Fargo was a lot of fun! Good places to eat and beer to be sampled. 

Lunch at Wurst Bier Hall. The brats and German beer were gut. 

After lunch, we headed to Moorhead, MN to check out a brewery. All we had to do was cross the narrow Red River from Fargo to be in MN! It was a fun place. 

(Check out the two gentlemen on the left.) 

Back to Fargo! 

Ended our day in Fargo with dinner. We all had water to drink!!