Our Trip Westward: Missouri, Iowa, and South Dakota
Greetings from South Dakota! Actually, as you read this post, we’re probably in Wyoming or Montana on the second leg of our trip from St. Louis to Seattle. We drove all the way from St. Louis to Rapid City, South Dakota on our first day, and then spent yesterday recuperating from a 15-hour drive and enjoying the sights of South Dakota including Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills.
As you can tell from his face, Charlie was way less excited about the road trip than we were.
I apologize for any poor-quality photos, as every photo in this post was taken on our iPhones.
Western Missouri was surprisingly scenic. After so many driving through pancake flat Illinois on Friday, even small hills were a welcome sight for us.
After a few hours, we made it into Iowa, which again was surprisingly pretty for the Midwest with some pleasant hills.
Fact: everything east of the Missouri River in South Dakota is so flat you could close your eyes while driving down I-90 (but please, don’t do that). And then, all of a sudden, you go down a 15% grade and then it’s all hills and gorgeous scenery from there.
Charlie had mixed emotions about going to a brand new (to him, Ryan and I have both been to the Black Hills before) place, but overall he was happy.
And then he have moments of puggle upset.
Puggles apparently find national monuments to be boring. Charlie was not impressed with Mt. Rushmore.
We spent a bit of time at Mount Rushmore, but the Presidential Trail was closed because of snow! Yes, South Dakota got snow in May!
We honestly spent a couple hours trying to find the entrance to the Black Hills National Forest before realizing it was a forest, not a state park with a welcome center. Also, all these hills look like mountains to us Midwesterners.
We drove by Crazy Horse, and I’m pretty sure they haven’t made any progress on it since I last saw it exactly ten years ago.
Seriously, though, even just driving around the Black Hills is breath-taking. Although that may be because we’re at 4x our usual altitude…(which made my lungs burn during my run today!)
Of course, we ended the day with beer! We ate at Firehouse Brewery and had amazing beer and perfectly cooked buffalo burgers. Buffalo is my favorite meat ever.
Questions of the Day:
Have you ever visited South Dakota?
What’s your favorite national monument?
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14 Responses
Looks like a beautiful route for a road trip! I have never been over that way…but I can tell you that east coast travels are no nearly as scenic (well maybe some parts but not the standard 95 that takes you all the way up and down the east coast) Glad the trip is going well and you got to enjoy some nice food/beer along the way!
Thank you! I’ve never been out east and I still really want to visit – I’ve heard it’s prettier than the Indiana/Ohio areas where I used to live!
Beer 😀 That is my favorite national monument! lol. That’s a good question. I haven’t seen that many. Certainly not that many “natural” monuments (ie ones that aren’t just built in a city). Hmmmmm
Beer is the best way to get to know a city 😉 And come out our way to see lots of natural monuments!
I’ve never been to SD, but I love that you are stopping to see sights and do things on you way to Seattle. And I love Buffalo too!!!
It was definitely worth the time in the car to see all the sights! I really recommend SD for a visit – or at least the part that’s west of the Missouri! 🙂
Gorgeous. This isn’t a monument, but the Grand Canyon is my favorite part of nature I have ever seen. Safe travels for the rest of your journey!
I really want to see the Grand Canyon! We’re hoping to get down there sometime soon now that we’re closer. And thank you!
Hi! Maddie passed along that you wanted to be added to the 2015 Fall Marathoners Blog Roll I put together, and you’re now on the list! Yay! Good luck on your BQ attempt – so exciting!
https://themillennialnextdoor.com/2015-fall-marathon-blog-roll/
Looks like you’re having a beautiful trip! I’m from Iowa and it’s nice to see my home state get some love for its often-overlooked natural beauty 🙂
Thanks for adding me to the list! And I agree – Iowa was very beautiful, especially compared to the surrounding states – it was like a hilly little gem hidden in the Midwest!
CHARLIEEEEEE! Gosh I love him… I’m glad you guys are getting some good sightseeing in!! I’ve never been to South Dakota and spend most of my time on the East Coast, so it’s cool seeing all of your pictures!
Thank you! I have a ton of photos more to put up – the trip just got more and more beautiful as we headed further west!
I’m LOVING reading these recaps – we are about to hit the road for I-90 tomorrow morning and do all this!!
Ahhhhh so excited for you!! 🙂 It’s seriously one of the most beautiful trips, especially when you get west of the Missouri! Safe driving!