Good morning South Dakota!

So, on out way to Minnesota we stopped in Madison to say hi to my friend Erica. I forgot to write about it, but I texted her about an hour before we got to town and we were able to go to lunch! Super cool! Sad to have missed out on seeing James and Jamie, but good to see her none the less.

Then we spent some super relaxing time at Nick's aunt Debby's place and caught up on some much needed rest and relaxation. We were having such a great time that I forgot to take almost any pictures. The only ones I really have are of this epic 6 person simultaneous cannonball (Nick, his cousins, brother and uncle) and this picture of his aunt Debby wearing fabulous sunglasses.

We left yesterday afternoon and took a somewhat convoluted route through Minnesota and most of South Dakota. (We left following 94 W and and realized kind of late that we wanted to be on 90 W. Whoops.) Last night we rolled into Wall, SD around 10:30 at night and after a quick google search found that the only free RV parking (our preference, obvs) was down a two lane highway and off to the left. Seriously, the directions were "Look for radio towers on the left and go through the gate. Park anywhere." After some healthy skepticism, we found said radio towers and a seemingly unmarked gate. Upon closer inspection (remember, it was dark) we saw a small sign that said "Welcome to Buffalo Gap National Grasslands" Bingo! We scooted along an unpaved road about 100 yards and saw an RV parked off to the left. Another 100 yards, another RV! We were in the right spot. We went down to the end and pulled off. We got out with the dogs to admire the most beautiful sky full of stars I have seen in quite some time. In that moment, this whole thing started to feel real. Up to now, it has just felt like we are on vacation, not some huge life transition. Looking at those stars, I felt so lucky, so happy, so grateful. You guys, I know you've all been telling us for a month, but this thing we're doing is seriously awesome and I'm finally starting to appreciate that.

Overnight, storms rolled in and rocked and rolled Harvey all night long. The thunderstorm was lovely, but the wind had me shaking in my boots a bit. It was all worth it to wake up to this:

What we did last night is known as boondocking, and I'm seriously addicted. I can't believe we get to do this! 

This morning, we had a quick breakfast at the epic tourist trap, Wall Drug. Requisite silly tourist pics:

Now we're back on the road! Might stop off at Mt. Rushmore in a bit and then we're gonna drive as long as possible as we still have over 1,000 miles to go in the next couple of days. Portland, we're coming for you!