Today was such a cool day. Rapid City is only about 20 miles from Mt. Rushmore, so we took our first rest stop there. Mt. Rushmore is interesting enough, but we happened to be there when this happened: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090708/ts_alt_afp/environmentwarmingusprotest. So that was pretty cool. It was more unexpected than anything else, but very interesting to see how other people handled the situation. According to the park rangers noone has done anything like this to Mt. Rushmore since the 80’s.

    Most of the rest of the day was spent escaping the Black Hills, and getting into Wyoming. The Black Hills are gorgeous. Lots of switchbacks through large pine forests dotted by rocky outcroppings. Somewhere around mile 50 road changed from upward or flat, to downward or flat. This lead to a lot of  “cruising” at speeds between 25 - 45 mph while taking in the beautiful scenery. Right along the border of South Dakota and Wyoming on US-16 is incredibly beautiful. If you find yourself in the area, make sure to stop by. Especially if you have a nice panoramic camera.

    Overall it was a pretty cool day. Definitely pretty. Definitely interesting. Definitely, OH WAIT I FORGOT WE ALMOST GOT EATEN BY A TORNADO! Only one mile out from New Castle and our stayover Connor looked up and said, “Oh look the clouds are swirling.” If only it hadn’t been about 100 feet away from us. Luckily there were some houses across the street and Jesse, Connor, and I were able to find shelter.  It all cleared up after about 10 minutes, but we got a really good scare at the beginning. Thank you very much to Mr. and Mrs. Lee from New Castle, WY for harboring three sweaty refugees from mother nature.