Westward
Two more states checked off the list!
I just got back from a really incredible weekend trip to South Dakota with a brief stop in Wyoming. I was very excited to go given that I never thought that I'd actually ever see either state, but both were well worth the trip.
I don't know where to begin in describing South Dakota - I've never seen anything like it. In varying points of the state, there are impossibly green prairies as far as the eye can see, beautiful forests, and dramatic rocky crags. The Badlands were breathtaking and unexpected; they appear out of nowhere and were truly surreal. The rocky part of the area is also surrounded by prairie, including a prairie dog town that was acres and acres of prairie dog holes and thousands and thousands of prairie dogs, including scores of prairie dog pups - they were jumping around and playing and snuggling, and I'm convinced that I've never seen anything so cute in my entire life. The Black Hills reminded me a lot of the East Coast in the hills and trees and were pristine and eerie in their peacefulness. We went to Mt. Rushmore (much smaller than you'd think) and to Deadwood (not nearly as historical as you'd think) in addition to stopping at some of the ridiculous tourist traps, including Wall Drug (which must be seen to be believed) and the Corn Palace in Mitchell (a building with the outer exterior made entirely of corn); there was also this bizarre sculpture garden right off of I-90 of what appeared to be folk art, and even though it was closed, Janelle and I managed to creep close enough to get pictures anyway. We went into Wyoming just long enough to get pictures by the welcome sign; I wish that we'd had more time to explore it more. I'd go back in a second.
I actually took pictures (which I never do and should reflect the magnitude of this particular adventure), but given that I have not joined the modern age and do not own a digital camera, it will undoubtedly take months to get said pictures developed. In the meantime, stolen from the internet:
The Badlands
Black Hills
The new love of my life
This trip has really motivated me to see other parts of the country that I'd previously dismissed as places that I will never actually visit. I met people that were cross-country road-tripping (who else goes to South Dakota?) and was so inspired by them; I've always wanted to drive back and forth across the entire country, and while that's not a plausible thing to do this summer, it's nevertheless inspired me to get out and see more of the country. The following map demonstrates a few glaring omissions in places that I've traveled...
...so I'm thinking that If I can cover SD and WY in a weekend, North Dakota and Montana may be fair game for Memorial Day weekend, or maybe Nebraska. I'm hoping to go through Michigan on the way back to DC. Everything will depend on how quickly I can pack up my apartment and get things together for my impending move, but I'd love to see it work out.
On the topic of the impending move, I found my apartment in Baltimore - it's an old factory (historical landmark, actually) that's been converted to apartments. It's about 3 blocks away from Camden Yards and approximately a 10 minute walk to the inner harbor; it's in a safe-appearing but vibrant neighborhood. It's pretty small, but given how little furniture I have (and especially how little furniture I will have following my impending move), that should work in my favor as far as decorating is concerned.
3 weeks of Minneapolis to go.
I just got back from a really incredible weekend trip to South Dakota with a brief stop in Wyoming. I was very excited to go given that I never thought that I'd actually ever see either state, but both were well worth the trip.
I don't know where to begin in describing South Dakota - I've never seen anything like it. In varying points of the state, there are impossibly green prairies as far as the eye can see, beautiful forests, and dramatic rocky crags. The Badlands were breathtaking and unexpected; they appear out of nowhere and were truly surreal. The rocky part of the area is also surrounded by prairie, including a prairie dog town that was acres and acres of prairie dog holes and thousands and thousands of prairie dogs, including scores of prairie dog pups - they were jumping around and playing and snuggling, and I'm convinced that I've never seen anything so cute in my entire life. The Black Hills reminded me a lot of the East Coast in the hills and trees and were pristine and eerie in their peacefulness. We went to Mt. Rushmore (much smaller than you'd think) and to Deadwood (not nearly as historical as you'd think) in addition to stopping at some of the ridiculous tourist traps, including Wall Drug (which must be seen to be believed) and the Corn Palace in Mitchell (a building with the outer exterior made entirely of corn); there was also this bizarre sculpture garden right off of I-90 of what appeared to be folk art, and even though it was closed, Janelle and I managed to creep close enough to get pictures anyway. We went into Wyoming just long enough to get pictures by the welcome sign; I wish that we'd had more time to explore it more. I'd go back in a second.
I actually took pictures (which I never do and should reflect the magnitude of this particular adventure), but given that I have not joined the modern age and do not own a digital camera, it will undoubtedly take months to get said pictures developed. In the meantime, stolen from the internet:
The Badlands
Black Hills
The new love of my life
This trip has really motivated me to see other parts of the country that I'd previously dismissed as places that I will never actually visit. I met people that were cross-country road-tripping (who else goes to South Dakota?) and was so inspired by them; I've always wanted to drive back and forth across the entire country, and while that's not a plausible thing to do this summer, it's nevertheless inspired me to get out and see more of the country. The following map demonstrates a few glaring omissions in places that I've traveled...
...so I'm thinking that If I can cover SD and WY in a weekend, North Dakota and Montana may be fair game for Memorial Day weekend, or maybe Nebraska. I'm hoping to go through Michigan on the way back to DC. Everything will depend on how quickly I can pack up my apartment and get things together for my impending move, but I'd love to see it work out.
On the topic of the impending move, I found my apartment in Baltimore - it's an old factory (historical landmark, actually) that's been converted to apartments. It's about 3 blocks away from Camden Yards and approximately a 10 minute walk to the inner harbor; it's in a safe-appearing but vibrant neighborhood. It's pretty small, but given how little furniture I have (and especially how little furniture I will have following my impending move), that should work in my favor as far as decorating is concerned.
3 weeks of Minneapolis to go.