The Priceline King

It has come to my attention that some of you believe we are actually sleeping in our car.  Those of you who know me are probably laughing right now. 

Actually, my husband happens to be a Priceline Wizard.  Bob can name his own price anywhere in the world  and always get us a fabulous deal. One of several reasons I have kept him around for over 30 years!  

 So, while we do spend much of our time in the Lexus, we also enjoy a comfortable bed at night.  Our 2008 vehicle gets just over 30 mpg on the road too!  A great car for travel but you wouldn't want to sleep in it!

We were disappointed to see how "touristy" Mount Rushmore has become.  Anything you can possibly sell with the heads of dead presidents on it is on sale there or near there.  Although we have a national park pass we still had to pay $11.00 for parking.  Our advice is to pull over on the way and take a great shot of this incredible National Monument and move on.  Unless you need a Presidential Shot Glass that is.  

 If we wanted to enjoy an obnoxious tourist attraction we would have gone to Wall Drug...which we did.  These people are marketing geniuses! 

The drive to these attractions is still The Best Show In Town!  You never know what you might discover around the bend..  Here are some of our favorite sites from the last two days.

Deadwood Wedding

We had a fun little surprise while visiting Deadwood, SD on Saturday.  While gathered on the sidewalk with hundreds of other tourists waiting for an old west "shootout" to begin, an announcement was made that we would be witnessing a real life wedding. 

 Two of the actors in the troop that portray historical events that happened in Deadwood had decided to share their wedding ceremony with the tourists in attendance.  It was a very moving ceremony that still included a bit of humorous "gunfire" when an objector to the marriage spoke out.  

We love the unpredictability of exploring new places!  

Spearfish Canyon is another place we are so glad we didn't miss.  A hidden treasure in the Black Hills! 

Badlands and other stories

We had hoped that we would learn some of life's great lessons on this trip and our second day provided a BIG one.  Objects on a map are farther away than they appear.   

Consistent in our lack of preparation, we set out on Day 2 thinking we had a bout a 3 hour trip to the Blackhills in South Dakota.  We fired up the GPS and it indicated it was approximately twice that far.  Mental note, check distances the night before leaving.

About an hour or so into the trip the sky became ominous!  Satellite radio does not provide local weather updates ( at least not on the 70s channel )  and my attempt to find a local channel failed.  We pulled into a rest area and rode out the storm. Luckily the tornados passed over us and went north. Watching the spinning clouds above was humbling however. 

Once the sky began to clear we were on the road again. We crossed the Missouri River as the storm moved north. 

 Badlands National Park was just as beautiful as we had remembered from 31 years ago.  What an amazing world God has created! 

 

Road Tripping

My husband Bob and I have always dreamed of traveling the country in our retirement.  Just leisurely seeing all the places we have always wanted to see and spending as much time exploring an area as we wanted to.  

In preparation, we sold our house, put everything in storage, and moved into our son's basement for a couple of weeks while we wrapped up a few things.  This is oversimplifying it a bit but you get the gist. 

Before anyone gets the idea that this is a well planned trip I need to disclose now that we picked up maps at the local AAA yesterday.  Yep, less than 24 hours before we left we sat on our son's sofa (he could use a new one but who am I to talk...I live in a car) and discussed all the places we wanted to go.  Bob took a highlighter and drew circles around these destinations.  For us, this is preparation.  We also filled a cooler full of beverages and bought some assorted snacks.  Last night we threw some things in a few suitcases. Ready to roll! 

Just letting you know what you're getting into if you choose to follow along here.  The fact is we have been hoping to take this journey for a long time but to say we have actually been planning would be a flat out lie.  

We aren't sure exactly where we are going and we aren't sure how long we will be traveling.  One thing is certain, we plan to see as many interesting sites as we can.  Probably an enormous amount of uninteresting ones as well.  

I will blog a little along the way and post some of Bob's great photography too.  

If anyone has any ideas on places we should go or things we should see please be sure to comment. We would love to have some type of guidance!

Do any of my Realtor or Accountant friends know if one can get a homestead exemption on a car if it is your primary residence?  Could the center console be considered a home office?  

South Dakota here we come!