Super quick update since the battery is going fast. We spent last night in Custer City, South Dakota, just south of Mt Rushmore at a great little motor lodge called the Rocket Inn (buffalo!). They definitely deserve a write-up later--it was a really great place! (pronghorn!)
We had a comparatively early start and made it to Mt Rushmore (mountain goats!) in time for lots of silly pictures, then continued on towards I-90 for the Badlands. Along the way I got a low-pressure warning light and stopped to check, but all the tires were at 35 psi. Need to find out how to reset it. Also got the 'maintenance req'd' light a couple hundred miles later. I stopped and checked and added oil, but now at the hotel Google has revealed that it is not a 'smart' light--it just comes on automatically every 4,500 miles. This trip we are already over 2,000!
The Badlands was amazing. We did the loop road ($15) that comes down from I-90 and stopped a few times for the photo spots, though we didn't do any of the hikes. (prairie dogs!) I'd love to visit again sometime. We had a decent and very reasonably priced meal on the way out of the park. Back on the road and we were off. Ami experimented with American gas station food. The verdict: far too sweet, far too salty. Weather was good in SD early in the day but began to deteriorate. Gas mileage fell by almost two miles per gallon to 18.5. Another hint that the oil change should happen tomorrow, it seems. We were also going about 80 mph into a head wind....bad scene.
A sad tale. As we passed Sioux Falls, SD into Minnesota rain brought frogs into the road. Real life Frogger. I tried not to be the game-ender, but the roles were reversed and I am afraid I may have ushered a toad or two into the after-lilly. Ami hoped to see one and her wish was granted. But then....after we had listened to the DNC convention speeches on NPR and had got into a discussion about penalties for crime by minors, a mad raccoon dashed out into the highway! I, perhaps unadvisedly, swerved slightly to the left to avoid the rather large animal as it headed for the right shoulder. Seeing that, the thing darted back to the left. Damn.
And thud. As the right front wheel took it out. We were shocked and saddened and then on an adrenaline high which we put to good use by thinking of scenarios in which we had taken out a bad raccoon, or by which we'd have to explain our selves to the raccoon society or, on and on. Sad, to be sure, but it was nice that Ami was there to the talk it out with me. We drove on.
Then the rain came. Hard, real rain and the semi trucks were imposing walls spray in front of us. There weren't many, but when we were alongside them the visibility got even worse. Then the rain kicked up another notch. Cartoon film noir style. We pulled off to get a hotel. I was toying with the idea of pressing on to La Crosse, Wisconsin. Another two hours. It was midnight already but I was high on a Red Bull, large coffee, and raccoon-slayer adrenaline. A heady combination that kept my eyes open and my mind alert, though I could feel the fatigue in my body built up after the last 15 or so hours of driving.
But this place was too expensive! Rain be damned, I'm not paying $129. Press on. Back to the freeway. Head south toward Omaha? Something like that. We ended up approaching Albert Lea from another angle and found a Comfort Inn. Also a bit pricey, but not in triple digits. The clerk is nice and discounts the room further. And the rain is still coming in angry sheets.
I take a shower, Ami is next with a bath. I check my email and find Allison's correct cell number. Type up this entry, and now we sleep. Morning comes early, and I need to find a JiffyLube.
Tomorrow!!
Is Thurs.......and we press on! Is there anything interesting on this side of the US? There's gotta be, right? We were planning on Madison, but I think we'll forgo that and head for PA. Hopefully crash somewhere beyond Pittsburgh, but who knows. If I get the fire in my sole, I'll keep the gas pedal down 'till Amish country.....otherwise, that is the plan for Friday day-time. Night time we hope to make it to Yale anthro partner-in-criminality-made-good Allio A. Maybe dinner, maybe crash. Then to the Big Apple!
Wish us luck!
