Where in the US?!

So, we're driving...and driving...AND DRIVING. We alternate between being silent and talking...then sleeping while someone is talking AT YOU. Or being silent while someone wakes up and critiques your driving (my least favorite one). So anyway, there's a lot of driving involved in the across the country thing.

We left Chicago and drove until we were tired. We made it passed the Mississippi (I still have to say the letters when I type it) River. It was dark. I was disappointed, but not for myself. I just felt like AWL should have seen this thing. It was huge! (and at this point we've been talking to only each other for soooo many hours he's in my head saying "Thank you!") I mean I've seen the Mississippi (had to say the letters again) before and I know the scope. There are so many parts of this trip that I wish AWL had seen that were completely blanketed in darkness. But, in all honesty, I was too psyched to get to the Rockies to put too too much thought into the disappointment.

The other problem with being on your own time, is you take it for granted if you're not careful. I mean, we're desperately trying to pack the United States of America into three weeks. But the great ole USofA has so many tiny little intriguing things you want to pull over and see too! We're aiming for South Dakota and Mount Rushmore. We weighed and weighed and discussed and weighed and argued a little bit about the options and interest in stopping at the corn palace in bumble bee tuna nowhere. We wondered if it was made of corn (that'd be cool) or had corn IN IT. Do they sell it? How many different kinds of corn are there? Did you know that corn has been domesticated for so long it's near impossible to find it in the wild?

"Jax, GOOGLE it. Ask that SIRI thing."

Turns out this thing is a random building that showcases bands and entertainment. The judges are still out on whether or not corn is involved. We were baffled by the website on my tiny smart phone. I think the excitement of actually figuring out what on Earth this thing was and the questions that ensued took all of the excitement out of it. We finally decided to pass on the corn palace...but isn't Sioux Falls kind of a cool place?! Can't we stop there too! Truly, it only makes it worse that I have a smart phone. I can search and search so many "101 things to see in the US before you die" blogs and books and articles and apps. It is mind boggling.


But I mean, we have to stop to stretch our legs eventually...aren't you hungry? Why stop at a rest stop when we could GO somewhere!?

To Sioux FALLS! VAMOS!


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Honestly, right off the road, not far from the town, this gorgeous river gurgles, rushes, bubbles, churns, and crashes in a wide and multilayered curtained oasis. I wonder how people initially felt traversing across our great nation and coming upon this. It must have seemed a glory to them, as it was a wonderful reprieve even to us. Us in a car, out traveling for one day, in the air conditioning. A wagon? A horse? PAHAHAHAHAHA. Crazy.

 

 Of course AWL and I can hardly go places without trying to climb something. Thus we are off to get a CLOSER look. We're always trying to get CLOSER looks. These are the types of personality traits that absolutely make my mother cringe. It's all about the perspective. It always has to be a different one from normal and if it isn't normal it is NOT okay with Momma (I think she's starting to come around though...). So we climb down into the nooks and crannies of the falls, trying to manage the perhaps slightly slick rock just this side of a little whirlpool of questionably yellowish water.

OH MY GOD....It's like 100 billion degrees outside. We're still too close to the East coast. HUMIDITY STOP IT! BACK TO THE AIR CONDITIONING!