Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A Little About the Drive

  The hardest part of the drive so far has been PA.  Between the learning curve of pulling a 24' trailer, the hills with truckers, and a 20 mph wind it was a little nerve racking.  Driving across the pancake called Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois helped to clear all this up and I now feel as though I have it pretty down pat.
  The toll system around Chicago is the worst possible scenario.  The urban planner who designed the system must have thought that killing motorists was easier than getting people to use mass transit.   It is the most dangerous traffic situation ever invented by man.  Every 10 miles or so you must pull off the highway into toll booth lanes.  These 2 lanes usually coincide with 2 lanes of traffic trying to enter the highway.  Imagine 2 lanes exiting, 2 lanes entering all within a 1/2 mile section.  After paying the toll, we all have to merge back onto the highway again.  As soon as you get back on the road you must exit again to pay another toll.  It also felt like a money grab.  There is literally one last toll 2 miles before you enter Wisconsin. 
  Once in Wisconsin, the driving stress and volume of traffic eased and should be pretty low key from here on out.  Wisconsin is beautiful and seems like a really nice place.  Enter Minnesota!
  The least favorite part of our drive so far, sorry Amy Banks and Kyle O'rielly, was southern Minnesota.  We were very close to the Iowa line so maybe up north it's a little nicer.  Nothing but flat terrain with dark black flooded dirt fields for as far as you can see.  The one great thing to see was literally thousands of windmills all over the fields working overtime!  At least they are making good use of the barren land.
  Then we entered South Dakota.  I must admit that I had the bar set low for SD but was completely wrong about this state.  SD is absolutely awesome!  From the minute we entered the state the scenery was spectacular.  The rolling grass covered hills are constantly changing in the light and wind.  Tons of pheasants all over the road for our bird hunting friends.  Once you cross the Missouri River it really starts to get interesting.  The Badlands appear on the horizon and the grasslands give way to dry gravel rock formations.  We pulled off and drove the loop thru Badlands National Park and took a short hike with Joey.  It was truly awesome and unlike any other place I have visited before. As we left Badlands and headed toward the Black Hills National Park the drive just got better.  The mountains here remind me of smaller versions of what you see in Oregon.  Low grasslands giving way to tree line peaks and ridges.  It's good to see some trees and mountains.  We stopped in Sturgis, SD for a layover day and did some hiking in Spearfish Gorge in the Northern Black Hills NF.   Joey loves the mountains!  Most hotels have typical prints on the walls.  Sturgis hotels have airbrushed pictures of wolves and Harleys just like you see on every  biker guys t-shirt.  Visited Deadwood a famous old gold and gambling town.  Stood in the spot where Wild Bill Hickock got shot.  The Black Hills are totally overlooked by everyone I know but are something everyone should see.  We both can't say enough great things about SD.  Or new favorite town is Spearfish which is just perfect sitting at the eastern edge of the National Forest.
Today we move to Montana to visit Jack and Wendy.  There is light snow on the ground and a very strong wind but we should be fine.

Until next post,



Hughes