From South Dakota Into Wyoming.

It’s funny how exotic sounding and far away places seem until you get there. Once arriving at these various destinations, they seem (to me anyway) to become “mundane,” as if my presence in these different states is the norm; places I travel a few hundred miles to on a daily basis. There’s no, “wow I’ll be sleeping in Wyoming tonight, when last night was South Dakota.” I don’t mean to sound blasé, it’s just weird how I (maybe everyone does) take it all in stride.

Before embarking on this trip, just the thought of driving through South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho etc. (even though I’ve done the trip a few times before), seemed like a semi exotic thing to do, but driving for hours through landscapes that are constantly changing, then shifting to one that doesn’t seem to vary for miles, puts me into a Zen state of mind. And I like that.

I am where I am and that’s just great. There’s no thought of how many miles I have to drive today, tomorrow, or the one after that; for that moment in time I’m just part of the landscape as I listen to books on tape, chat to N via crackly cell phones out in the middle of nowhere, and “talk” to Gracie (who has so far been an absolute trooper).

From the rest stop in South Dakota………..

To the snow covered hillsides in Wyoming – which thank goodness didn’t get covered in as much snow as it was supposed to – making our driving safer and easier.

To the lone cow ascending the hill.