Westward, Ho!

So, I know I haven't talked much about it, but I thought I might share some photos from our journey westward to Big Sky Country. I didn't get a lot of photos because I was driving, but I got enough to sum up our journey.

This is my little one pretending to drive while we were stuck at the auto repair place in Augusta, GA. Word to the wise, rent something other than a U-haul. I won't go into detail, but suffice to say, after about 12 hours on day one, we'd only covered a distance that usually takes just two hours. Not a good way to start the trip. Fortunately, there weren't anymore problems once we got back on the road, but by then, I was already pretty frazzled.

Day two began with us in Monteagle, TN. We woke up to LOTS of fog - like all the cliches about pea soup and hands in front of your face were completely true. While we waited for visibility to improve, we had a leisurely breakfast at the Rocky Top Restaurant. If you ever find yourself in Monteagle, you owe it to yourself to stop here. There's very good country cooking, friendly staff, and reasonable prices.

More pics from day two: the Nashville skyline, farm life in Kentucky, my tuckered out crew (traveling with a five year-old, a dog, and a cat isn't easy), and the St. Louis arch. We covered as much ground as we possibly could on day two in an attempt to make up for lost time on day one. It was pretty hard, but I really wanted to get to Montana as close to on-schedule as possible. My husband had been in Billings for the last two months, and we'd missed our 10-year wedding anniversary, Halloween, my husband's birthday, Thanksgiving ,and our daughter's 5th birthday together. When my mother in-law offered to help me move out so we didn't miss Christmas together too, I was grateful, and I didn't want to wait any longer than I had to in order to finish the journey.

 When the St. Louis arch came into view, I was a happy camper. I'd been excited to see it since I found out we'd be passing by it on our trip. However, today, the "gateway to the west's" beauty signified something else: our day of driving was nearly done, and better yet, we were halfway to Montana. Twelve hours and four states later, we stopped on the west side of St. Louis and rewarded our monumental driving efforts with dinner at Steak' n Shake.

Day three had us driving through a whole lotta nothin'. To the right is a pic of my little one at a rest stop in Iowa, getting a preview of the snow we had to look forward to. We had to trek the rest of the way across Missouri, into Iowa, and then across the vasty nothingness of South Dakota. To illustrate how little there is in South Dakota, my mom-in-law's husband, in spite of our warnings, decided to forego stopping for gas in Sioux Falls. When we began looking for gas, we finally found a little place several miles off the interstate. This town was so small, the gas station was also the town's grocery store and pizza joint!

On day four, the final day of our journey, we started out about two hours from Rapid City, SD. Over to the right you can see that vasty nothingness I was talking about. Once we got to Rapid City, we took a detour to go see Mt. Rushmore, because coming so close and not seeing it seemed like a crime. After that, we had lunch in Sturgis, SD, where my mom-in-law picked up some souvenir t-shirts at the Harley Davidson shop for her nephew and his wife, who are avid bikers. From there, we made the final push across Wyoming, and I tell you, it was beautiful. The snow on the landscape looked like someone had dusted powdered sugar over a giant donut. There were mountains, antelope, bald eagles, and more deer that I've ever seen in my life! We even got to see Devil's Tower, which is fantastic, because it is literally the only thing around for miles. I'm telling you, if you ever have the opportunity to drive across Wyoming, DO IT! Just fill up on gas first, because if you don't, you might find yourself surveying the landscape on foot with a gas can in one hand.

 This picture doesn't do them justice, but here are some of the Bighorn Mountains (I think). And to think this scenery is practically in my backyard! Anyway, after stopping in Sheridan, WY, we got back on the road and finally arrived in Billings at about 8PM. WHEW! Even though I was sleeping on an air mattress because our stuff was still in the truck, I've never slept so hard in my life.

So there you have it. Our four-day driving marathon across the ol' U.S. of A.