Day 3: South Dakota and The Badlands

Well, we made it to Rapid City, South Dakota, the last stop before we reach Red Lodge.  Heading due north from Omaha, we traveled along the Iowa-Nebraska line (aka the Missouri River) until we reached Sioux City.  We crossed into South Dakota at some point, but I'm not exactly sure where; each time I thought we had crossed a state line, I saw a sign for an Iowa Welcome Center.  Along the way, corn fields gave way to cattle ranches and large stretches of prairie land.

Once we started heading west on I-90, the rolling prairie really began. Once we passed the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder (of "Little House on the Prairie" fame), the towns and rest stops became few and far between.  Imagine crossing this vast plain on a wagon or by foot (and no place to get a Coke Zero!).  We passed the "world famous" Corn Palace in Mitchell, but postponed visiting until our return journey. 

By far, the best part of the day was taking a detour through the Badlands.  By chance, we stopped at a gas station/store that happened to be at the entrance of a 40-mile loop road that goes through some of the most beautiful parts of the Badlands.  The road has incredible views and lots of "scenic lookouts."  It was spectacular and the boys were thrilled (and a little scared; some of the drop offs were steep and high).  I've included a few pictures in this post, but you can go to my Picasa album to see all of them.

Here in Rapid City, there are still a ton of bikers hanging on for the last day of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Mostly, it's middle-aged men and women dressing up as outlaw motorcycle gang 

members. It's really a funny scene, but at least at our hotel, the riders are pretty tame.

Tomorrow, we're off to Red Lodge. Whether we stop first at Mt. Rushmore or try to drive through Deadwood will depend on a number of things, including what time we get up and what the motorcycle traffic looks like. At any rate, we hope to make Red Lodge by early evening.

Driving Thru the Biofuel Belt

One interesting note about our journey so far: apparently, we've just barely missed both presidential candidates.  Barack Obama was in Elkhart, IN on Thursday and John McCain was at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines yesterday, which we passed by about 4 p.m.  Unfortunately, no sightings of Secret Service SUVs or the Straight Talk Express...  Also, we happen to be driving through many of the so-called "battleground" states, where no candidate has a clear advantage: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa.  Oddly enough, I haven't seen one yard sign or bumper sticker for either candidate....

Our route on day 2 took us mostly through the endless corn fields of Illinois and Iowa.  We're talking hundreds of miles of nothing but cornfields, scattered trees and a few herds of cattle sitting in whatever shade they can find.  This is what I call the "Biofuel Belt," because a very large portion of this corn is going not to food production, but as raw material for ethanol and biodiesel (which is mixed with petroleum-based diesel and used in conventional diesel engines, no modification required). We passed a very large ethanol processing plant and wondered whether more of those will be popping up in the Midwest.  It's interesting how this area is, in the popular imagination, home to the "family farm"; if these are family farms, then they must have some darn big families to plow, plant, irrigate and harvest these vast fields of corn! (No wonder Mormonism was popular here in the 19th century...)  I would wager that there are more "family farms" in Pennsylvania and New Jersey than in the corn belt.

We also passed the Amana Communities, a relic of a German religious movement that was somewhat similar to the Amish in beliefs and practices. Apparently, it's not a "living" community any longer, but is a major tourist attraction, selling crafts, etc. 

Two other notable bits: 

• We passed several wind turbines. Mostly, they were in small groups of two or three. No major wind farms...yet.  One turbine was being constructed, and the blade assembly was on the ground.  Until then, I hadn't realized just how big the blades are (Anndria says they are about 200 feet long). 
• There are very few towns or places to stop along I-80 in Iowa.  There are vast distances between farms and communities.  It really drove home the fact that many Iowans must be really hurting from the increased fuel costs.  I complain because my drive to the grocery store is 10 minutes.  These folks have to drive ten miles just to reach the end of one cornfield!

That's it for day 2.  If I can focus Adam and Matthew for more than a few minutes on something other than playing in the pool or watching cartoons, I'll have them post their thoughts and pictures (they took several yesterday).

We're On Our Way!

We left Landenberg this morning at about 8:45 a.m. (after a quick return trip to make sandwiches for lunch!)  Traffic was a bit heavy through Lancaster -- hey, the mushroom industry and "Pennsylvania Dutch" tourism are big business around these parts -- but once we got on the turnpike, we got up to cruising speed. 

We traveled almost the whole way on the Pennsylvania and Ohio turnpikes.  The Pennsylvania turnpike goes through the Allegheny's and skirts Pittsburgh.  It's narrow, twisty and hilly.  We went through at four LONG tunnels, one of which had only two lanes open due to construction (yikes!):

We arrived in Elkhart, Indiana about 7:30 p.m.  The boys went for a quick swim in the pool, although it was a bit cool even for them (Adam had no problem with 60 degree water at the Jersey Shore!). We took Jake for a nice romp in the nearby office park.  We let her run around in a big grassy area and then took her back to the room to eat.  She's a bit confused, but seems to be doing okay so far.  We brought both her kennel and her dog bed, so she's got most of the comforts of home.  

Nothing terribly interesting to report. We passed over the Allegheny River, which was quite wide where we crossed.  Ohio and Indiana are very Midwestern looking -- tons of farmland mixed with trees laid out over a slightly rolling landscape.  We passed a HUGE GM plant somewhere in Ohio.  According to the gigantic banner hung on one of the building, this plant makes Chevy Cobalts -- bet they're working three shifts these days!

So far, so good.  Hopefully, we'll get some good photos that we can post over the next few days.

Tomorrow's destination: Omaha, Nebraska.

Getting Started

Hello family and friends!!

On Thursday, August 7, 2008, Brian, Adam, Matthew and Jake ("the Gaerity Gang") will begin "The Gaerity Great Western Road Trip." Our plan is to drive from Landenberg, PA to Red Lodge, Montana to stay with our friends Andrew, Beth and Matthew Gilchrist.  We'll stay for a week, exploring the nearby mountains, trails and forests.  If we can manage it, we'll squeeze in a day trip to Yellowstone.  Barring any unforeseen issues, like moose attacks or prairie fever, we hope to return to PA on or about August 20. 

This blog is to help our family and friends keep track of us, and to share our adventures with them.  We hope to post everyday, with pictures taken by each of us (except Jake).  We'll see if we can keep that commitment.  If nothing else, it will fun to see who's reading along!!

Our journey to Red Lodge will take us through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota -- a total of just over 2000 miles and four days of driving.  We've planned stops in Elkhart, Indiana (near South Bend), Omaha, Nebraska (which is near nothing) and Rapid City, South Dakota (where we'll be near 100,000 bikers who are attending the annual Sturgis Bike Rally).  

On the return trip, we're planning to stay in Rapid City for a couple days, taking in the local sites like Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, Custer State Park, Keystone, Deadwood and the Badlands.  Don't think we'll get to hit all of those, but we'll do our best.  After exhausting ourselves in the grand American tourist tradition, we'll head home for PA. There is an outside chance we'll stop in Chicago to visit with friends, but there's nothing definite so far.

So wish us luck, and enjoy the journey!!