The Road Back Home: Thursday, July 28, 2011

Today I got up and said good-bye to Tracy.  I loaded up the car and started the drive home.  I had originally planned to visit friends and family further South on the East coast but I wanted to make it back to Dayton by Friday evening for the first day (out of two) of my 10 year high school reunion. 

So what's my big concern today?  Oh, that's right.  Not having a back window for a 9 and a half hour drive back to Ohio.  The weather forecast showed the Northern 80% of Pennsylvania was going to get rain.  Great.  I figured that if it started to rain I had three real options.
1. Drive faster and hope the rain would just shoot off the car.
2. Find a gas station with an awning and wait it out.
3. Use the GPS to find a Lowes or Home Depot and buy some plexiglass to cover the hole.

At a gas station in Jersey a guy came up and complimented the car.  He noticed the back window and I explained what happened.  I told him I was just going to wing the next 9 hours in the car.  His first comment was how fast do you think you need to drive to have the rain stream off the car.  That's a vote for option 1 above!

To save anymore suspense... I lucked out.  At one point I almost had to put on my windshield wipers.  And then that was it.  For once I didn't want it to look overcast when I was driving.  I wanted it to get sunny.  I got what I wanted for the last half of the drive.  With the sun, though, came the heat.  I had the air on full blast but it was still warm due to the huge hole at the back of my car. 

So I am back in Dayton.  The traveling part of this epic time off has come to an end.  I will attend my class reunion and make some notes on the number of states visited, a list of family and friends I have seen, total miles, etc. soon. 

Mileage: Starting 81,508 & Ending 82,092= 584
States Visited: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio

Getting Jerzed Once Again: Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Today started as every other day has started here in Jersey.  Many of the doors don't latch tight in the house.  Including the one in my bedroom.  Opal has figured this out.  Every morning when my alarm goes off I grab my phone, hit snooze, and turn it from loud to vibrate.  As I drift back to sleep, Opal pushes the door wide open and the zoo enters the room. 

Today is one of Tracy's days off.  She gets Wednesday and Saturday.  She therefore considers her Wednesday to be her Saturday.  I made my way downstairs and realized Tracy had just gotten up also.  We let the dogs out and sat on the back patio for some time talking and enjoying the nice weather.  Considering the heat wave, it was downright pleasant outside.

We finally decided it was time to get some food.  Apparently Jersey is known for their diners.  This was news to me.  We stopped at one a few blocks away that looked like an old-school diner: the outside consisted of shiny metal.  The food was great.  When we left the diner I asked Tracy if I could drive her Subaru WRX.  It's a fun car. 

We then went shopping at Trader Joe's, DSW, and PetSmart.  It was fun just dinking around.  Tracy was all excited to have a shopping buddy.  When we got back to their house she started to marinate some chicken for dinner.  Tommy arrived home shortly thereafter.  This was the first time he had seen her since 11 AM on Sunday.  It was after 6 PM on Wednesday.  Craziness!!

Before we started to cook dinner I told Tracy she needed to drive the Cobra.  The two of us set out and I drove first.  Earlier in the day the mini-mirror conversation came up and I told her I would get her a set.  We drove for maybe 10 minutes looking for an auto parts store and, after no luck, I pulled into a parking lot to turn around.  I was going to let her drive and, since the top had been up so far, I thought it would enhance the experience to put it down.  (The main reason I wanted her to drive the car is because Tommy started looking up convertible Cobra Mustangs after I let him drive it Sunday.  If she likes it that will certainly help his odds.)  It didn't even cross my mind to check to make sure there was nothing hanging over the back seat.

The curse of Jersey strikes again.  I have had 3 convertible Mustangs and have never had a problem with the top before.  I have never carried a pull-up bar in my car, either.  As the top was going down I didn't hear anything unusual.  No creaks or anything.  Then there was an explosion.  It sounded like a shot gun going off.

I immediately knew what it was.  For a second I hoped the cause of the accident was my camcorder.  It wasn't.  I had left the pull-up bar (which I brought to use on the trip... and only used once) slightly over the back seat and as the top came down, the window caught the bar and the window smashed out.  The carnage is below.  Tracy couldn't believe how calm I was.  At that point, why get upset?  I immediately called a Ford dealer but the service people had left for the day.  We drove back (top down) and Tracy loved it.  I hope to see Tommy in a convertible Mustang soon.... :) 

By the time we got back, Tommy had dinner ready.  He couldn't believe it.  Neither could I.  We looked up prices and we found a cheap window for around $200 (part only).  After dinner we had to clear out his garage to make room for the Cobra overnight.  We scooped up the glass wearing leather garden gloves and then used a shop-vac for the rest.  Tommy cut his elbow.  When we were done we watched some TV and it was time for bed.  I said my goodnights to Tommy at this point.  I figured I would see Tracy in the morning. 

Mileage: Minimal but Expensive!
Stayed at Tommy & Tracy's

Picture of the window:

Picture of Tracy and the window.  I sent this to Tommy as we drove back:

The Dangers of a Late Night: Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I got up on the later side and, just like yesterday, talked with Tracy before she left for work.  I got a funny email from Tommy and asked him how it went getting three hours of sleep.  He wrote back that he overslept.  Instead of getting up at 6:00 he got up at 8:30!  He just didn't hear his alarm go off.  When he got to work, he wasn't feeling too hot, either.  Poor guy! 

When Tracy was leaving for work she mentioned that I should let my three newest friends out back if I leave (these friends being the dogs: Mr. Marbles, Lola, and Opal).  I let them out and when I brought them back in, Opal walked over by the couch and yacked.  It was horrible.  She eats stuff out in the yard...  Anyway, when I was walking to the kitchen to get paper towels and the garbage can I found another puddle of yack from one of the cats.  Come on now!  This is ridiculous.  I got it all cleaned up and then the dogs went into their cages for a little while.

Tommy arrived in time for dinner and we went to a nearby sub shop.  The food was good and then we just hung out.  Tommy was ready for a slower night after the previous one.  Later on in the evening one of Tommy's friends came over and we watched a few hours of "Deadliest Catch".  Tommy went to bed and Tracy got home on the early side (around 2) and we were lights out shortly thereafter.

Mileage: None
Stayed at Tommy & Tracys

Meeting the Jersey Crew: Monday, July 25, 2011

Today started pretty slow.  Tommy was gone when I got up.  I talked to Tracy before she left for work.  Then I just kind of hung out.  When Tommy got back from work he said that some of his buddies go out on Monday night to a local bar.  Sounded good to me. 

We got to the bar around 9:15.  His friends were a good time and reminded me of the Dayton crew.  Tommy knew I could drive him back so he had several beers.  Then JT, one of his friends (who played college football and is maybe 6'5'' and 325 lb), thought it would be good to take it to the next level with vodka and Redbull.  We left the bar pretty late.  In fact, we only beat Tracy home by 15 minutes.  I talked to Tracy while she worked on finishing some charts.  Then it was off to bed.

Mileage: Minimal
Stayed with Tommy & Tracy

Here is a picture of Opal.  She's scary yet nice:

Getting Jerzed & New York City: Sunday, July 24, 2011

All of us got up around 10 and Tommy started on breakfast.  Tracy left for work and Tommy and I got cleaned up to head to New York City.  I told Tommy that we should take the Cobra so he could drive it.  The only other time he had driven it was when it was wet outside so he couldn't really drop the hammer.

I walked outside first and Tommy followed right behind.  I walked to the passenger side of the car and, as best I can remember, I set my camera on the top of the car and started to clear stuff out of the passenger side.  After I could sit down we started down the road.  As Tommy turned onto the next street, he gave the car some gas and we were off.  Less than 60 seconds later I started to look for my camera.  I couldn't find it on the ground or in the back seat.  Then it hit me... I might have left it on the roof!  I stuck half my body out the car window and didn't see it on the roof.  We immediately tuned around and went back to look for it.  We were back within 3 minutes or so and the camera was gone!  After tearing the car apart, searching the road, and searching his house, we declared the camera gone.  In the past we have always talked about Jersey being hardcore so I said my camera had been 'Jerzed'.  Someone must have seen it and picked it up.  It was amazing how fast it all went down.  Unbelievable.  The pictures of Aunt Nancy, Cousin Linda, Tommy and Tracy (from last night, etc.) hadn't been copied to the computer yet so I lost them!

Somewhat defeated...we caught a train to New York City.  It took less than an hour to get there.  We arrived at Madison Square Garden.  It was stupid hot in the city.  We walked by Times Square and the 2011 New Years ball.  We walked to Central Park and then took the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge and ground zero.  It felt like we had walked 30 miles.  We were done and made our way back to the subway and then the NJTransit train.

After some food Tommy went off to bed because he had to get up for work tomorrow.  I stayed up and watched some TV.  After some time, Tracy got home.  Actually it was about 2:30 AM when she walked in.  We talked about some of her crazy veterinarian stuff (she works Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday as a vet in an animal emergency clinic) and caught up some more and called it a night.

Mileage: Starting 81,473 & Ending 81,493= 20 miles
Stayed at Tommy & Tracy's
States Visited: New Jersey, New York

Times Square:

Rockefeller Center:

Brooklyn Bridge:

Time for Tommy and Tracy: Saturday, July 23, 2011

Today started off with some toast.  And then some more toast.  Four slices in all.  I got showered up and it was probably a waste of time because I started sweating immediately.  I said my goodbyes and Nancy warned me that if I put any pictures of her on the blog that she would post a picture of me as a child... running around her pool naked.  First of all, why did people allow me to run around naked and second of all, who thought to grab the camera?  I would have taken a chance and posted some pics but I can't.  More on that tomorrow...

Next I made my way to Jersey.  I arrived in time for dinner and had a blast with Tommy and Tracy.  We went out to a small Italian restaurant and then got some ice cream.  We stayed up for a while and caught up.  Then Tracy had to go to bed because she works on Sunday. 

Mileage: Starting 81,163 & Ending 81,473= 310 miles
Stayed at Tommy & Tracy's (North Plainfield, New Jersey)
States Visited: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey

Family I Haven't Seen in a Decade: Friday, July 22, 2011

I got up this morning and I noticed the house was down to a comfortable 83 degrees.  While that may sound sarcastic, it really felt much better than last night.  By the time I had the car packed up, though, it was starting to feel uncomfortably warm again.

I made it to Aunt Nancy's house before 2 PM.  We spent some time catching up and then Ed got back from doing some work.  It has been a decade since I have seen Ed.  Nancy knew that I have an interest in family history so we took a trip to some local cemeteries to gather notes.  Shortly after we got back from our field trip my Cousin Linda arrived at Nancy's.  It has also been a decade since I have seen her.  Nancy and I went for a quick swim to cool off (since she doesn't have A/C either) and then we had pizza for dinner.   Around 9:30 Ed called it a night because he had an early get-up on Saturday.  Nancy, Linda, and I stayed up late talking.  It was great to see everyone!

Mileage: Starting 81,072 & Ending 81,163=91 (estimate, will explain Sunday)
Stayed at Aunt Nancys (Adams, New York)
States Visited: New York

Cousin Barb in Sodas Point: Thursday, July 21, 2011

My original plan when leaving Beth's in Ann Arbor was to cut through Canada to get to my Cousin Barb's place in Sodas Point, New York.  I had grabbed my passport when I first left Dayton and had only taken it out of my pad-folio to bring it to The Price is Right. (The Price is Right wanted everyone to have proof of their social security number in hand.  I thought my passport had my social on it.  It didn't.)  Apparently, when I packed up my stuff in San Diego I didn't put my passport back where it belonged and I wound up leaving it at my parent's house.  I drove through the states to get to New York.

The drive went well and I made it to Barb's for dinner.  I got to meet Bill, Barb's boyfriend.  We all went out to dinner to try to beat the heat because Barb doesn't have A/C.  The restaurant was struggling to keep cool.  I was able to see Anna, Barb's daughter, for a little while.  This was nice as Thursday isn't a day that Barb has Anna.

When we got back to Barbs place the temp inside was 88.  I set up my air mattress on the floor of her family room and had 3 fans blowing on me.  It actually went better than I thought it would.

Mileage: Starting 80,602 & Ending 81,072= 470 miles
Stayed at Barbs (Sodas Point, New York)
States Visited: Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York

On to Ann Arbor: Wednesday, July 20, 2011

This morning I got up and had some breakfast.  Then I took a walk around the Lyons' house because it has been more than a year since I have been up here.  Their yard looks amazing!  They have spent countless hours on landscaping and it has really paid off.  I left early afternoon to head to my cousin Beth’s in Ann Arbor.  

The drive was uneventful.  I got to meet Maggie.  She is really nice.  We went out to a nice restaurant for dinner and, wouldn’t you know, the A/C wasn’t working that well.  The food was good but all of us had to keep wiping away the sweat.  From there we went back to Beth’s place and hung out.  Beth and I exchanged stories about how crazy 2010 was for each of us.  Her main issue was an injury that she received while doing a 60 mile charity walk.  Without major surgery, she would have lost her left leg!  From there, it was off to bed.

Mileage: Starting 80,363 & Ending 80,602=239

Stayed at Beth’s apartment (Plymouth, Michigan)

States Visited: Michigan

Beth and Maggie:

Back on the Road: Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Today I loaded up the car and set out for the second part of this crazy cross-country trip.  I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going to end up tonight so I got a late start.  I was planning on going to my Uncle Steve’s but they are just too busy right.  I had tried to call Sarah's parents last night but found out they were out of town.  I was able to reach them today and they are back home. 

The drive was good.  This is not the first time I have made this trip so I was on auto-pilot for most of the drive.  I got in around 11 PM and Mrs. Lyons made me some food.  (I call Sarah’s father Ted because the very first time I met him I called him Mr. Lyons and he jokingly said that only the cops call him Mr. Lyons.  I said what should I call you?  He said Ted.  I still call Sarah’s mom Mrs. Lyons.)  We spent some time catching up and then called it a night. 

Mileage: Starting 79,964 & Ending 80,363=399

(I drove 100 miles during my stay in Dayton)

Stayed at Ted & Mrs. Lyon’s (Oscoda, Michigan)

States Visited: Ohio, Michigan

Ted and Mrs. Lyons:

Washing the Car Part 2 & a Haircut: Monday, July 18, 2011

Today I woke up and finished washing the car.  It is really hot here in Dayton!  I put about 4 hours into the car between yesterday and today and it looks great.  I also made an appointment to take the car in today and get the oil changed and tires rotated.  After all, it has been 7,500 miles! 

I finally got my haircut.  I think it was actually longer than Mikey's hair.

Mileage: Minimal

Mikey and I comparing hair length:

A Movie and Part 1 of Car Washing: Sunday, July 17, 2011

I slept in quite a bit today because it was late night out with Mikey and Brittany.  Craigster invited me out with him, Erika, and the Lovewells to see the new Transformers movie.  Sounds like a good offer to me! 

Yesterday we decided to have family dinner night tonight which was great.  I was able to start washing the car but I ran out of daylight pretty quick.  I will be able to finish it tomorrow because I am sticking around to get my hair cut Monday.  Then I should be on the road Tuesday!

Mileage: Minimal

The car before being washed:

Back to Dayton: Saturday, July 16, 2011

I got up today and grabbed some brunch with Uncle Denny.  Then it was off to Dayton.  I used to think that the three hour drive from Fort Wayne was kind of long.  It went by in a flash.

It is good to be back in Dayton.  I got the Cobra completely unloaded and then I went out and met some friends at El Rancho Grande for dinner.  After that I celebrated Brittany's birthday with her and Mikey and crew.  (I actually missed her birthday by several weeks but this was the first time I have seen her since I left.)

Some interesting numbers for this leg of the trip... I left Sunday, June 19 and got back Saturday, July 16.  That is four weeks (28 days)!  My beginning mileage was 72,228 and I am at 79,864 now.  That is 7,636 miles!  Cool!

Mileage: Starting 79,685 & Ending 79,864= 179
States Visited: Indiana, Ohio

Lazy & Productive in Indiana: Friday, July 15, 2011

Today was, as the title suggests, a lazy yet productive day.  My uncle was busy for most of the day and I took the time to pay some bills and return some calls.  I did go out for a short drive at one point.  We had a nice, relaxing evening and some good food for dinner.

Mileage: Starting 79,610 & Ending 79,685= 75
Stayed at Uncle Denny's (Fort Wayne, IN)
States Visited: Indiana

Indiana & Uncle Denny:Thursday, July 14, 2011

I got up today and made my eggs in the micro.  I got the car packed up and hit the road.  My destination is Fort Wayne, IN to visit my Uncle Denny.

On the way to Chicago I came across a brand new BMW 550.  I don't know a lot about this car but it was quick!  Chicago wasn't too bad.  Anna had mentioned that they went through Chicago at 2 PM on a Sunday and they hit traffic.  It was about the same time of day for me and I hit some as well.  The rest of the drive was great.  I made it in time for dinner and then we called it a night. 

Mileage: Starting 79,334 & Ending 79,610= 276
Stayed at Uncle Denny's (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
States Visited: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana

The BMW 550:

Weight Lifting in Wisconsin: Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Today was a fun day with Cody and Anna.  For breakfast, Cody taught me a new way to make eggs in the micro.  He scrambles them in a ceramic bowl and then puts the whole thing in the micro.  They cook up and then the clean-up is much easier than scrubbing a pan.  It also only takes about 2 minutes to cook.  The odds of me eating eggs has increased 10 fold. 

By looking at a picture of Cody (or by reading the title to this blog entry), you can guess what we did for fun when Cody was done working.  We went to the gym!  I grabbed my 30 lb weights for some exercise and he grabbed 70 lbs.  I felt like I was working out with Mike Mossop again.  Anna is a huge gym person as well.  She did some weight training and then hit up the aerobic machines.  After the gym, we cleaned up and headed out for dinner.

Dinner was in downtown Milwaukee.  It is only about 15 minutes from their place.  The first place we tried to go was the Safe House.  It has a cool theme.  It is set up like you are a spy (think James Bond).  The front door is off of an alley.  You walk in and they ask you if you know the secret password.  If you don't, they make you do something stupid.  We had to do the chicken dance.  The door to get to the actual restaurant is behind a moving bookcase.  You walk down a flight of stairs and eventually a sliding door opens and you enter the bar.  At the bar are several TV screens showing everyone sitting down at the bar what the people above are doing (from a stupid trick standpoint) to gain entry.  When you are up above, you don't know you are on a live feed below.  The problem with the Safe House is they stop serving food from 9-10.  We got there at 9:10.  We found out later they stop because they need to clear any minors out of the restaurant. 

We left there and found another nice restaurant that was still serving food.  We ate and hung out and then went back to their place because Cody had another early start on Thursday. 

Mileage: Starting 79,287 & Ending 79,334= 47
Stayed at Cody's
States Visited: Wisconsin

Cody working from home.  They were actually supposed to be back in Dayton visiting family but, as you can see, Cody broke his leg in three places.  He jumped off a dock chasing a football and didn't know how deep the water was and it was only 3 feet deep.  Bummer!

The City of Milwaukee at night:

The place we ate dinner:

Cody showing off the 'guns':

Cody and Anna:

Me showing Cody what 'guns' really look like:

The Corn Palace and a Fellow GE Intern: Tuesday, July 12, 2011

This morning I visited the world's only corn palace.  This has put Mitchell, SD on the map.  It was actually pretty neat.  Each year this building (or palace) is covered in different murals of corn.  They grow 12 different colors in separate fields so the colors don't mix.  They have been doing this since 1892.  It is pretty incredible what they can do with some corn.

After leaving the corn palace, it was on to the open road.  I drove through all of Minnesota and just about all of Wisconsin.  The driving conditions were good.  The skies were overcast in Minnesota (with no rain) so that was great.  I arrived at Cody and Anna's place around 10 PM.  Cody was a fellow intern at GE back in Dayton.  In fact, he was originally picked for my position but another department needed someone immediately so Steve let him go.  A few weeks later I was hired.  He recently graduated and has now accepted a full time position with GE Healthcare in Wisconsin.  Anyway, the three of us stayed up later than we should have talking and catching up considering the fact that Cody had a 7 AM meeting to attend.  Luckily he could dial in remotely from his place. 

Mileage: Starting 78,730 & Ending 79,287= 557 miles
Stayed at Cody's (Waukesha, Wisconsin)
States Visited: South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin

THE corn palace.  A few interesting things to note: There are several murals here. There is a scale and eagle on the left, the three images in the center of the picture, and another one to the right.  The words 'American Pride' are spelled in corn.  There are also workers removing some decorations and they have the garbage truck there simply for the old decorations.

The eagle and scale closer up:

The center murals:

Another mural:

The same mural up close:

A star:

The inside is also decorated:

Some interesting facts:

A lot of trash:

Everyday I'm hustlin':

Minnesota (taken at highway speeds...pretty impressive, showing off the camera skills):

Wisconsin (also taken at highway speeds, almost didn't make it):

Mt. Rushmore During the Day: Monday, July 11, 2011

I woke up this morning feeling good.  There were some animals making noise again around 5:45 or 6 but I fell back asleep.  My alarm went off at 8.  I re-set it for 8:30.  And then 9.  When it went off at 9 I remember feeling like the tent was getting warm and comfortable.  By like 9:10 I thought I might die from the heat.  I realized the sun was beaming on the side of the tent.  I got up.

 

Mt. Rushmore was different in the day.  I was really glad I went at night because the atmosphere was different.  And it was much cooler at night.  I am continually amazed at the number of foreigners at each of these monuments and parks.  You can’t just ask anyone to take your picture… Anyway, I found some people that wanted me to take their picture and then I asked them to take mine.  Once I reviewed my pictures I realized I hadn’t looked in a mirror yet!  It’s not like I had a mirror in my tent.  So my hair was a little crazy (I included the good and bad pics below).  

They have a good museum set up at the monument.  I poked around and also watched a short video on the construction of the project.  When you are standing there below the monument the faces don’t look like they are 60 feet tall but then you see a picture of a worker rappelling off of a nose and you get an appreciation for their size!

From there I went to a fun road that had been recommended by the people camping next to me the previous night.  It is called Needles Highway.  There were a lot of switch-backs and several tunnels that were very (and I mean very) narrow.  It was a good ride.

From there I set out for the far east side of South Dakota.  I was on two-lane roads for most of the day.  At one point I turn on this road and there is a big sign about construction down the way.  It says that there is a 15 mile stretch of road that is rocks and dirt.  I was hoping I would turn off the road before I hit the mess.  I didn’t.  For the last 9 miles that I am driving on this road I am going about 10 mph.  They were wetting down the road to keep dust low so I am driving on muddy gravel.  The back of the Cobra is sliding around and I bottomed out several times.  A few miles after I got off this road I stopped at a gas station.  I realized in the parking lot that I might be a minority here.  Once inside the gas station it was confirmed that I was the only white person in the building (out of maybe 50 people).  All the rest were Native Americans. 

After that, it was a lot of driving.  I ended up stopping in Mitchell, North Dakota.  It is famous for it’s corn palace.  I plan to visit today so look for pictures soon…

Mileage: Starting 78,282 & Ending 78,730= 448 miles

Stayed in Mitchell, North Dakota

States Visited: North Dakota

Mt. Rushmore.  One neat fact: they had to blast through a lot of rock to get to granite good enough to carve.  The face of Roosevelt is actually 75 feet in from the original mountainside:

Driving through a tunnel on Needles Highway:

Mt. Rushmore (with crazy hair):

Mt. Rushmore:

Me with slightly less crazy hair:

That is one big nose:

Another shot of the monument:

Crazy dirt road:

Cobra getting dirtier and dirtier:

Mt. Rushmore at Night: Sunday, July 10, 2011

The drive today was good.  I was warned the night before that one of the roads heading east had recently been closed down due to a rock slide.  I wound up taking a more scenic (and longer) route because of that info.  I crossed some more mountains and the views were great!  Wyoming is a cool state.

 

On my way to Mt. Rushmore, I stopped to visit Crazy Horse.  I hadn’t heard of this until this trip.  This takes Mt. Rushmore to a new level.  The idea is to carve a monument out of an entire mountain.  Honestly, I wasn’t very impressed.  They still have a long way to go and they have been working on it for decades.  When it is done it will be something else, though!

Mt. Rushmore is only about 10 miles away from Crazy Horse.  I figured I would check out the monument and then look for a place to stay that night.  On my way to the monument, I found a campground.  It was like 2 miles away from Rushmore.  So I stopped there and set up my tent and air mattress and paid my $23 fee.  Then I went to Mt. Rushmore for the evening show.  The guys the night before (with the Audi and Porsche) told me that they had a night show and it was worth attending.  I got there right as the show was starting.  It was a neat show!  They discuss each of the presidents and the builder of Mt. Rushmore.  They also have a ceremony every night to retire the US flag for the evening.  They asked all current and retired members of the armed forces to come down to the stage.  Then they had a Boy Scout troop come and actually lower the flag.  

After the show I went to the town of Keystone, had dinner, and charged my cell and camcorder at the restaurant.  By the time I got back to the camp it was lights out.

 

Mileage: Starting 77,854 & Ending 78,282= 428 miles

Stayed at the campground near Mt. Rushmore (Keystone, South Dakota)

States Visited: Wyoming, South Dakota

The little cabin from the night before:

Snow covered mountain in the Bighorn National Forest.  This was at roughly 9,000 feet and, when first looking around, I thought I was looking at sand.  It was actually snow.  I was tricked because the Cobra was getting warm again.  It was maybe 65 degrees outside:

I went through Dayton, Wyoming:

A campsite probably run by a man.  I didn't stay there:

A few shots of Crazy Horse:

The end goal:

Sometimes I wonder if the GPS is just messing with me.  You know when it is guessing where it is when it gives you a road name like this:

An evening shot of the campground where I stayed at Rushmore:

The faces were slowly illuminated during the evening show:

All the veterans and current members of the armed forces in attendance:

At Mt. Rushmore they have all state flags displayed: