In Transit, Part II

The next day Mom and I took off. First we dropped off Mom's car at the airport since she will fly back from Washington. Then we hit I-80. It's flat and it's dull. We Hit some rain around Des Moines, but that was about it.

I-380 in Iowa

Iowa landscape

I-80 in Iowa. Iowa has its own Jesus Loves You advertisement

I-29 runs along the Missouri River. We went through Sioux City.

Missouri River bridge in Sioux City, Iowa

South Dakota: We crossed the Missouri River into South Dakota on HWY 50 and drove to Yankton to see a friend of mine. We drove across Lake Yankton, AKA the Missouri River. We ate dinner in Nebraska.

Driving towards damn on Missouri River. Facing Nebraska

The next morning we took HWY 81 north to I-90. We'll stay on I-90 until we get to Seattle.

Driving across South Dakota has been interesting. Eastern South Dakota is flat farmland. After crossing the Missouri River we went up into some smaller hills until we hit the Badlands. I think SD gets a bad rap--it was a pretty drive.

I-90 in South Dakota

Badlands from a "Scenic Overlook."

The Black Hills were also pretty nifty. We saw more Wall Drug signs than I could count. We saw ranchers herding cattle.

Wyoming: We crossed into Wyoming still in the Black Hills. From there I-90 went through the high plains area. Then we began going up into the foothills of the Rockies. And when we came around a curve and I saw the Rockies in the distance, I squealed, "Mountains! Mountains! Look, mountains!"

I-90 in Wyoming, the high plains

Mountains in the distance, Wyoming

When I crossed into Iowa I realized I had left Mississippi for good. When I saw the Rockies I realized I was heading to part of the country that would be different than any other place I have ever lived. And I got really excited.

Finally, finally, after all day on the road, we came to our destination for the night. Tomorrow we will cross into Montana.