Brandon & Jennifer Bruce

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

4 State Road Trip

Our time left in South Dakota was limited, so if we were going to take anymore road trips - the time was now! So, just a few weeks ago, I asked Jennifer if we could invest our day off attempting to experience a piece of 4 different states (Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, & South Dakota). We wanted to experience the land, enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors, and explore the unknown. We had maps and a general idea of our destination, but we wanted to just flow with whatever adventure we found along the road.

Ok, so maybe those were just MY feelings about the trip. Jennifer was simply humoring me and being a good sport despite my road trip idea. Looking back on it, I was asking a lot to request spending an entire day in the car with a 4 month old baby and a looming cross-country move to Michigan.

We started by heading west into Wyoming to experience devil's tower.

We couldn't stay too long because we were racing daylight if we wanted to see all 4 states before it got dark.

I did have another purpose for getting to a couple of these states. Here's the story... A month after Jaylon was born, we took him on a huge road trip all the way to North Carolina. We also ended up taking him on a couple of flights. Because he had travled to about a dozen states already, Jennifer added a map of the United States to his baby book and colored in all the states he visited. When I saw this, the states that were not colored in stood out to me more than those that were. It instantly became a challenge to take Jaylon to all 50 states as soon as I have the chance. Wyoming and South Dakota were already on Jaylon's map, but we added Montanta and North Dakota!

After leaving Wyoming, we departed from the interstate for paths less traveled. We navigated down dirt roads and made our best guesses when the road forked in two. We were never lost... just on a great journey of discovery.

As we cut through the southeast corner of Montana and then back into South Dakota, we saw some phenominal views of the sky. We witnessed plenty of wildlife including 3 bucks standing together on the side of the road at one point.

This last picture is from North Dakota. We drove up to Bowman and had dinner at a local pizza place. It was such a unique atmosphere and very relaxing. It's very understandable why many people prefer small town life and a slower pace. After dinner, we drove a few more hours to arrive home in Rapid City.

This was a very memorable trip. It was unique because there was a goal and something to be accomplished (4 states), but no agenda and no specific route. We were free to explore, enjoy, and simply be together. And that's exactly what we did!

Labels: Dates And Adventures, Family, Photography, Rapid City And The Black Hills, Traveling

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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

4 State Road Trip

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