In 2012 I moved from Wisconsin to California for my new job. I decided it would be fun to do another road trip and see some more of this wonderful country. My dad and my trusty dog Laika accompanied me on the journey, just like the last long road trip when I moved from Arizona to Wisconsin. This time, we decided to take a more northernly route on our way west and headed through Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and then finally California.
[We missed the Utah sign.]
Laika was a great traveler and took lots of naps in the car when she wasn’t looking out the window at all of the corn fields and mountains. She took it upon herself to stay up each night in the motels and keep watch over us.
On the way, we stopped at the World’s Only Corn Palace, Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, and Devil’s Tower. We also saw lots and lots and lots of corn and soybean fields. I mean, a LOT.
The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD is quite unique. It’s basically a big building that has mosaics made entirely of corn. We didn’t go inside because Laika was with us (and it was basically a big tourist trap).
The Badlands were definitely my favorite part, but they didn’t photograph too well. Trust me, they are very very beautiful and totally worth the short detour if you are driving through South Dakota.
Mount Rushmore was much much smaller than I had imagined it. But it was really cool to see it nonetheless.
Devil’s Tower was really cool. You could see it from really far away. Also, there were a bunch of prairie dogs just outside of it and they were fun to watch for a bit.
The great Salt Lake. It was very white and salty.
Lake Tahoe. And, finally, we made it to California! It felt really good to come back to my home state.
There are more pictures in the flickr album.
Cynthia D'Angelo 