I decided to take the scenic route to Wind Cave, located 2 hours away in the Black Hills of SD. The scenic route is a pretty desolate way to go. A whole lot of open space, and not many people. I'm beginning to enjoy being quiet. I think I've talked to 2 people so far on this trip.

Day 4 - drizzles, high of 40 degrees, overcast, basically a fantastic day to be out and about. I quickly learn that my choice of campground is not as centrally located as I originally thought. Mount Rushmore, Wind and Jewel caves, and Crazy Horse are all 2 hours away from me. But hey, I like my car :)

Mitchell, SD - the Corn Palace. Basically a big stadium, its claim to fame being that each year they redecorate the outside of the building with a different theme, make entirely out of corn.

Solitude in motion

Something you don't see too much of on the east coast...

SPAM!

Day 3 - stopped by the SPAM museum today, and wouldn't you know it, Monday is the only day of the week that they're not open. 'DOH! But the gift shop was open, so I squished a penny and moved on. Took a side trip to Pipstone National Monument to see where Native Americans have been quarrying stone for sacred pipes and other items for centuries. Drove nearly the entire width of South Dakota today, arriving at my campsite just south of the Badlands after dark. Driving in through the Badlands and being the only car on the road with no street lights, the full Milky Way overhead, and my headlights illuminating ghostly towers of sculpted sand and rock was an other worldly experience. 561 miles, 11.5 hours on the road. Total distance from Arlington, VA to Interior, SD, 1,804 miles!

Day 2 - a particularly lush campsite. This is just outside of the SPAM factory - we'll be there tomorrow - and at a rest stop before arriving here, there was what I thought was a cattle truck. That was until I heard all the screaming pigs inside. Pleasant. This is the first night that I saw the Milky Way in the last 15 years. Also ran across a series of side of the road billboards for "gunssavelives.com". I'm going from memory here, but one of the ads was "Terrorists love gun control". Lovely. I finished listening to "Catch Me If You Can" on audio CD - much better than the movie for the areas where the two overlap, but the movie includes areas of the author's life after the book ends, such as working with the FBI. 635 miles today and 11 hours on the road. I'm getting good at setting up my tent in the dark.

But I should start from the beginning. Day 1 - stopped in at the Antietam battlefield on the way out, and then drove for a long time. 608 miles, 11.5 hours on the road. This was the first campsite. I'm very glad to be on the road at this point. 10 days is long enough that you don't have to be worried about transitioning back to work right away - you can enjoy the ride, as it were.

Time to share the goodness. Day two on the grand South Dakota adventure, in Hayward, MN

Get your obligatory post here!

Ok, it's been brought to my attention that I took this really great trip all last week, and haven't posted anything about it since. Honestly, I've been having a hard time focusing this week - this last Tuesday would have been anniversary number 2. Today I have the closing on the first of two refinances to put the house in my name. This refi also gives K. the buyout from the house, which puts me in an awkward financial position as I was just breaking even before that. Not really sure what the final impact of that will be, but it keeps me awake at night with anxiety. And then my annual (8 months late) review is finally getting started, and the first thing I hear is that our President as well as the "Chairman of the Board" are having a hard time justifying my existence. Which really pisses me off. Work had been my "safe" place, relatively speaking, but now it's starting to feel suspiciously like my other relationships, where I'm under appreciated by the person I'm with. I think our CEO is on my side, but come on! It's disappointing to have thought that my contribution to the team was clear, only to learn that perhaps it's not.

On a happier note, I have close to 350 pictures from the trip to sort through, and I hope to being pushing them up today. Details of the trip to come as well, I promise.