Day 10 – Sandusky, OH to Loves Park, IL

The start of the return trip! The Xterra is lighter, sans boxes and we left our slightly decrepit and problematic hotel in Sandusky. There was also a creepy lamp post covered with vines near where we parked. These are the things that plant the seed for nightmares, just sayin’… so I was happy to leave it in Sandusky.

Koby decided to avoid the toll roads again, so we wandered – I managed to see yet another bald eagle, and failed to be able to capture a picture of it. Sigh.

I did see a nest of some sort of raptor or other large flying creature and managed to catch a picture of that.

There is also a plethora of white flowering trees that grow in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana (and probably other places), but they are prominent here. I have no clue to what they are – some day I’ll get motivated to research them. Not today.

The day got cloudier as we traveled west, and then started to rain, sort of. Koby kept scolding the weather – either rain, or don’t! The weather paid him no mind. My view was pretty much the following:

I did manage to see a little bit of Chicago skyline, but only had my phone out and things moved quickly – for a bit.

Then it rained more and we hit a major traffic jam as we got through the city and even NatGeo was getting weary.

Koby got off the highway and it took us a bit to navigate our way back to where we wanted to be. And we even checked into our hotel before dark for maybe the first time this trip – (but not before cold – 38 degrees – and windy!). But the hotel gave us a warm welcome!

Day 11 – Loves Park, IL to Rapid City, SD

We woke up to snow in Illinois. NatGeo seemed very confused of what that white stuff was on the car. And Koby says the hotel room key works quite well in getting it off the windshield. Good thing we packed layers!

I asked for a minor stop, feeling the urge to do something very touristy (and it was free) at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. It was cold and windy (but not snowing).

And Warren and Koby decided to be silly tourists for a minute..

We stopped at a rest stop somewhere down the road that overlooked the Missouri River. It was cold and even MORE windy. But there was the most amazing sculpture depicting a Native American woman titled “Dignity”.

From there we headed to Badlands. I didn’t know much about it, but it was amazing in many ways. But I need to backtrack in my tale. Virtually every store we went into on this trip, Warren looked for a Big Hunk candy bar. It became a quest, and looked like it might become a futile quest – clerks shook their heads, shrugged, and claimed they’d never heard of it. We walked into the Visitors Center at Badlands National Park – and on a shelf almost as soon as we entered, like a homing beacon drawing him to the prize, Warren’s quest concluded. He bought two (just in case they were the only ones available on the trip.)

I have a ton of pictures from Badlands, but still going through and I’ll post a few later, or link to my Flickr account (when I post them there), but for now I will share the fruits of my own quest – wildlife!!

We were exhausted (again) as we got to Rapid City and conked out for the night.

Day 12 – Rapid City, SD to Billings, MT

We woke up to yet another cold, windy day – but it wasn’t raining or snowing, thank goodness. I’m not sure this part of the world understands what “Spring” means – the trees don’t leaf, there is rain, snow, cold, wind. But we braved it all and our efforts were again rewarded.

And my patience through a land filled with red barns, silos, water towers emblazoned with town names or advertisements and general flatland-itude was rewarded with something I didn’t know how much I value – hills and trees (and some beautiful blue sky).

Koby had a hankering to see Mt. Rushmore, so our path led us there. It might have been the coldest, windiest place on the journey. I snapped a few pictures and dashed into the warm, wind-free, welcoming gift shop. It may have had the biggest collection of mugs and socks and long sleeved shirts I’ve ever seen. If they’d filled the mugs with coffee or hot-chocolate, I’m sure they could have sold a ton of them!

On the road again, we headed for Wyoming (not the part we’d already been to), because Koby had a notion to see Devil’s Tower.

And I got another shot at the wildlife!

Then with Koby humming the 5-note melody from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” – we were off again – this time to Montana.

Somewhere along the way I saw antelope (I have seen those elusive critters a number of time but haven’t been able to capture them). Koby gallantly made a U-Turn and gave me time to unearth my longest lens.

Then off we traversed to Billings – the temperature kept hovering between low and lower and to the south the clouds got more and more ominous.

It finally decided to blow up our way and we drove a little while with flakes descending on the windshield. Koby did not scold the weather this time. I think he was too tired to try and put up a fight.

We have settled in Billings for the night and are going to play tomorrow by ear as we all are pretty much fried, frayed and filleted.