so this is the first opportunity i've had to turn on my computer since we stayed in iowa, and the first night in i think 4 nights to not be sleeping in our wonderful tent. we are spending the night at a random motel in riverton, wyoming, probably the biggest town we've passed through the state today. it's on the outskirts of wind river indian reservation, about 3 hours away from grand teton national park. we didn't have this park in our plans originally, and were going straight to yellowstone. however, we decided it's definitely worth spending a couple days at, especially because we may be cutting short our stay in glacier because of weather and some campgrounds being closed already for the summer season. things aren't set in stone yet, so stay tuned! :) it's been hard to get internet access - and my phone hasn't been able to access the internet either. but, that's what i want for this trip - to be unplugged and able to enjoy the moment and what is around me. i really dislike being tied to the computer and my phone, and this trip has already opened my eyes (well, since studying abroad) to the freedom of being disconnected from electronic devices. we've also been doing almost all of the trip without a GPS - we are using directions we had made for us from AAA (the travel store) and have maps of every state including a large US map. it's been wonderful. we don't really worry about the time or the date - and have been fully enjoying all of the views, drives, night skies, sunsets, open prairies, mountains, hikes, campgrounds - everything. below i've pasted and put some captions to a random assortment of photos so far from our drive through iowa, nebraska, and south dakota, our trip to the badlands and wind cave national park, and then our drive through wyoming today. they start with then newest first. i'll probably post more photos to my facebook tonight or the next time i'm online :) hope you enjoy! it's incredible out here, there's just so much land and every time we leave somewhere, it's only with the realization that we will be going somewhere even more amazing next.
sunset this evening in wyoming on our way to a motel. this is the sun setting over boysen reservoir.
the reservoir.
canyons of wyoming. amazing.
driving in wyoming. incredibly windy roads that seem to go on forever. 
our new national park service friends, joe and dan, who requested by yelling kevin's name out of their pick-up truck, to play them a song. it was quite interesting! people out here are friendly.
some cave formations in wind cave, we took a guided tour since it was the only way to go down into the caves and actually walk through some of the 134-mile long cave system underground! we learned wind cave is the first cave to be a national park solely to protect the caves. pretty awesome.
me hanging out in my hammock (finally using my costa rican purchase!) at our campsite at wind cave. my new home is set up in the left corner :) 
"caution: buffalo are dangerous do not approach" - just passing by a bison/buffalo on our drive in to wind cave. insane! it was the 3rd we saw on just the drive, and then we had to circle one while on a hike in the park the next day. 
my corrolla has been holding up so far- it's covered with bugs in the front if you can't tell :)
kevin and i getting our posing photo at mt. rushmore. it was cool to see this up close- the faces of our past presidents are really detailed! it was definitely worth the trip and $ to see it.
getting my zen on out in the badlands on a hike where you see "danger: rattlesnakes" signs on every trail. the formations out here are insane - most of them crumble when you try to climb or even just touch them! they are constantly being eroded from natural elements. 
cookin' veggies and potatoes for a hearty breakfast at our campground in the badlands. somehow we managed to cook with insane winds. 
sun setting as we approached out campsite at the badlands national park in south dakota. stunning landscapes - it was desolate out there but absolutely beautiful in its own way. i've never seen anything like it before!
the open road of somewhere, in middle america.
a random town in middle america- somewhere in nebraska, since we drove through almost all of the middle of the state. it was like a ghost town out of a movie! 
it's so windy in iowa that my hair got caught in the door when it slammed shut from the wind! this is me trying to make a sad face while cracking up. i know, typical. 
more wind farms!
No comments:
Post a Comment