South Dakota is the place to go if you're looking for endless stretches of clouds.
Clear, wide open spaces to watch the shadows of the clouds dance on the fields, explore neat sites (like Sioux Falls!), and discover parks!
This park in particular fascinated us because surrounding it's sidewalk is a flag pole for every state with a plaque that tells interesting facts about them!
"Because my alarm clock goes off."
"I get up to serve our Lord!"
"I wake up every day for God."
In between those miles of endless road, it's nice to pull off and take a break every once in a while.
"I get up in the morning because it's God's will!"
After you start seeing signs for it, even states away, you come to realize that Wall Drug is the place to go if you need anything from shoes, to fudge, to 5 cent coffee...
...or travelers' long time favorite and what they're famous for: free ice water!
The Lakota peoples were the first to name this land.
They called it 'Mako Sica', meaning bad land, for it's treacherous and dangerous terrain.
A semi arid region, sparse vegetation, and a tendency for extreme erosion has caused nature to sculpt out this breathtaking landscape that, until around 65 million years ago (give or take a million years), was entirely submerged in water, until the land was forced up and the water drained away.
We admired the beautiful, outstretched geological formations so much that we may have started following a sign that said Scenic...
...and kept following it until we realized that the sign wasn't for a 'scenic overlook' or a 'scenic drive' (though it was pretty!), but instead, for the town of Scenic, which you can see for yourself above, in all of it's entirety.
Nevertheless, despite our struggle with the GPS & the atlas, we found our way back on the main road, and on our way to see the sun set down over Mount Rushmore.
As the light glided down over the trees, we found ourselves anxious to park, and see this monument of our nation for ourselves for the first time.
Former presidents: Jefferson, Washington, Roosevelt, and Lincoln greeted us regally as we strolled to the base of the stone carving.
We understand, yes it is March. And yes, we are in South Dakota. And we may have been spoiled a bit with all this bizarrely warm weather we've been so lucky to have on our trip, but we just couldn't get over how frigidly cold it suddenly got at Mount Rushmore.
Guess it might be time to bring out the winter jackets now...
No matter how cold it may get outside though, we are always amazed and grateful for how kind and warm the hearts are of the people we meet!
"I get up in the morning because I want to find new pictures to make. God has made so many beautiful things and I don't want to miss them all by sleeping through life."
A great thank you to our Northern South Dakota family for all of your kindness!
To getting lost,
To finding our way,
And to lots of warm sweaters,
Love,
The Crew
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