Update July 12

So far the trip has been fantastic. We basically did nothing but drive the first three days, then when we made it to South Dakota, we began to do some sightseeing. We stayed in the Black Hills of South Dakota for three nights and drove through Badlands, saw Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Devil's Tower, Deadwood, took a train ride through old mining/gold rush towns, and did some beautiful scenic drives, including a wildlife loop of Custer State Forest where we saw hundreds of buffalo. They would just stand in the road, leaving you no choice but to sit and wait while they decided to mosey around. It was great though and we got some fantastic pictures of them. We have seen a lot of wild animals and some incredible scenery. The Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming have been incredible so far for scenery. The day we drove through the Badlands, the temperature was 105 degrees, and at our campground in the mountains that night the temperature was 60 degrees, so the temperatures do change drastically through the day. We even had a hail storm when we were in South Dakota, though the temperature had been 90 earlier in the day.

Wyoming especially, is vast and empty. Towns are a good 60 miles apart and some exits off the interstate are just dirt roads. We have a picture of a town sign that shows a population of 15 residents. There is no traffic. It is such a nice change from the traffic and hustle and bustle of the Philly and Jacksonville areas. We are currently in the town of Buffalo, Wyoming which is a good size town for Wyoming with a poplulation of 3900. It is an unbelievably friendly town and we can see snow covered mountains from our campsite, past the prarie, though it is currently a hot 93 in the sun, down where we are.

Today, we are heading to Grand Teton National Park, then Yellowstone, so we will not have interenet access or cell phones for probably the next ten days.