West Coast Road Trip: Part One

 

The Longest Day

Going West was an idea we had discussed during our days in the Scotland program. As we drove into the inky blackness of Western Minnesota, two years later, it was almost hard to believe we were finally doing it. This wasn’t the longest trip I have ever been on, nor would it be the furthest I had ever been from home. But it felt different. 

 I think it had to do with the fact that I had just graduated from college. Up until that point, I knew what was coming next, but now, much like the blackness that lay in front of us, I was heading into the unknown. 

 Our first stop was Mitchell, South Dakota, famous for, that’s right, the Corn Palace. A unique sight to behold when you visit during the day. A hilarious escapade when you visit at 5 AM, dazed and sleep-deprived. We ran around the outside of the palace like a bunch of hooligans before finding a giant jackalope to ride, and discovering the definition of the word toggery.

 The sun began to chase us as we sped farther west. By 9 AM we had reached Mt. Rushmore. A place I had not been to since I was 12 years old. It seemed smaller than I remember, however, I felt like I appreciated it a little bit more.  

It was a beautiful day. The sky was a perfect blue as we snaked through  Custer State Park. We were quickly reminded about the size of buffalo as they walked alongside our van. We stopped on top of a bluff as we made our way through the Needles. As I stood there, I tried to imagine how some of the first people to see this place would have felt. Would this place have been as beautiful to them…or would it look like a treacherous pass out west? 

 By early afternoon, we had left South Dakota behind and made our way into Wyoming. Our final stop of the day was Devil’s Tower. An ancient volcano and sacred place, the tower stands out like a beacon along the Wyoming plains. We sat along its bluffs, listening to the prairie dogs bark as the sky turned gold. 

 Twenty-one hours and nearly 600 miles later, the sun set on our first day.