The Dakotas

I was trying to figure out how to post about my Western road trip and I decided to post by state, since we spent a lot of time in certain states. For example I spent a lot of time driving through the Dakotas. We got to South Dakota after leaving Wisconsin on Tuesday evening. We wanted to leave by six, but it always seems to take exceptionally longer to pack than I think it will.

Driving around 3 am through South Dakota. There is seriously nothing out there. Shortly after this we hit a very large raccoon. My boyfriend claims it was "as large as a bear cub." Thankfully, upon closer inspection, we didn't get a flat, just a cracked bumper and torn interior fender. It would have been horrible since the doughnut tire was in the trunk under all our stuff and there were 50 mph cold winds coming across the prairie. We put the fender in the car so we wouldn't litter, but it was covered with raccoon "juice" so we had to toss it out. I couldn't sleep much after that.

Dawn over South Dakota

We hit the Badlands around 5 or 6 am and the light was perfect. I have never been there, so it was pretty impressive. It was like the prairie just suddenly dropped off and these rock formations took over.

The morning light woke me up from grogginess.

The Badlands

More Badlands

Wall Drug, South Dakota. We stopped for breakfast, it wasn't very good.

North Dakota prairie on the way back