For years now, my college roommate, several siblings, and myself have each been working on visiting all 50 states in the US. This has entailed some strange detours and roadtrips, e.g. driving from Missouri into Kansas for dinner, or crossing from Indiana into Michigan just for gas. Finally, this summer, I managed to finish off my 50 states by visiting South Dakota (#49) and North Dakota (#50).
The Itinerary: I drove out to the Dakotas, stopping along the way in Syracuse to drop off my cat at my parents' house, in Indiana to visit friends, and in Iowa to visit my sister and her family. About 4 days after I left by car, Kevin flew out west and we met up at Rapid City airport for the main statebagging extravaganza.
From Rapid City, we first headed west into Wyoming and camped the first night in the shadow of Devil's Tower. A familiar shape to those of us old enough to remember "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"....
The next morning, we headed north on dirt roads into Montana. At one point, the cattle asserted their ownership of the road:
On a dirt road between Carlyle, MT and Golva, ND (check yer maps!), we crossed into my 50th state and of course, took some pictures of the grand event. The road was too small to have a "Welcome to North Dakota" sign, but hopefully the flat prairielands and the picturesque barn are proof enough?
Just after crossing into North Dakota, we passed by some of the yellowest fields of flowers, being grown as a crop. Safflower maybe? Kevin is the less-yellow speck on the left:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, ND was especially nice. The Little Missouri river cuts through the park, and herds of bison and wild horses are pretty common to see. (We saw both!)
Heading south again, we stopped to climb White Butte, near Amidon, ND. This is the highest point in North Dakota, at around 3500'. Not too tough of a hike, but the view was pretty great!
Heading southeast from there, we came to Badlands National Park, which was an awesome mix of badlands and prairie scenery. Kevin is hard to capture in a photo, because he is invariably off somewhere taking pictures himself! Nonetheless, the lower photo is a semi-discernible shot of him hiking along the grassy trail.
To close the loop, we headed back towards Rapid City area, camping for two nights at Custer State Park. While there, we climbed Harney Peak, the tallest point in South Dakota.
Bison-watching is also popular in Custer State Park. This photo below, with the herd of bison as brown specks a few hundred yards out, reminds me of the old joke about the hiker who tells his partner, "I don't have to outrun the bear; I just have to outrun you!" I always tried to make sure that between me and the bison were some people I hoped to outrun! (Yes, that's Kevin up front and on the left with the camera. :-)
Kevin flew home from Rapid City, and I drove back in the trusty Subaru, stopping again in Syracuse to pick up my cat. While my car sat in my parents' driveway overnight, a light rain dislodged some of the copious caked-on dirt and left muddy runoff trails on their pristinely clean driveway...The mark of a great trip!?!
