Part1: Modern Day Nomads

So where have we been? After a while you just get into the groove as modern day nomads and while yes we are doing things everyday, not everything is magnificent or on the opposite end of the spectrum disastrous such that they make really interesting blog posts. However after a while, like now, when we think back to the travels over the last month or so, we realize, Wow! we have done a lot.

After Yellowstone we spent a couple days in the Black Hills of South Dakota and worked our way across to Elkhart, Indiana where Rhonda's parents live. After staying a week or two, we took the Jeep by itself and did a quick tour of New England, through New York, Boston, and up to Acadia in Maine. Then we returned to Indiana for a few more day trips from Elkhart and to pick up our trailer. From there the snow chased us south to Kentucky and onto the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week. Continuing our East Coastal tour we stopped in Myrtle Beach and Charleston for a few days and are now in St. Augustine for a week. Mostly I want to be able to look back and remember where we had that good beer or where was that awesome campground or hole in the wall eatery that we stumbled across, so what follows is more of a bulletpoint list of some of the highlights over the last few months so I can remember them. If interested to learn more about any of these places don't hesitate to ask. The next five blog posts catch us up to our current location in St. Augustine, FL.

Where we left off last was the Black Hills of South Dakota.

• Mt. Rushmore was interesting, pretty much what you would expect as every American has seen thousands of pictures from every possible angle, but still worth a visit, since it was a reasonable $11 a car to get in.

Close-up of Lincoln's Eye - Drilling grooves are clear at this resolution

Rushmore welcome committee - a friendly mountain goat just outside Rushmore

• More impressive was the Needles Highway, a twisty highway that cuts right through some jagged rock outcrops, including one strange formation with a hole in it that give the highway its namesake.

• Custer State Park takes you back to a time when herds of buffalo and pronghorns used to roam everywhere (scratch that ... the pronghorns still do!). From the safety of our car we were able to get up close and personal... maybe a little to close with the herd of wild donkeys in the area. 

Herd of Buffalo roaming free



Young Pronghorns

Friendly wildlife in Custer State Park

Prairie Dog on the lookout in Custer State Park

• Two thumbs up for the Crooked Creek Campground in Hill City, SD. Nice park-like setting, quiet and well-maintained facilities.
• The Badlands were well worth a visit for $15. Unlike other national parks there really is no "lead-up" with the scenery change. You are driving across a grassy prairie, you come up to the edge of the valley and all of the sudden its there! 

• When you have been driving for hours it can't hurt to take a break and see Wall Drug in Wall, SD of course, and the converted high school basketball gym called the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

Wall Drug - Tourist trap and Americana Museum

Mitchell Corn Palace