Wyoming to Chicago, IL

Beartooth Highway

Most of Yellowstone National Park is in the state of Wyoming, so we crossed the state line from Montana for the last time, through the National Park entrance and onto US Route 212. Peaking at just under 11,000 feet (3,300 metres), and better known as Beartooth Highway, the pass is usually only open from May to October due to heavy winter snowfall, and has been called the most beautiful drive in America with magnificent views over one of the most rugged and wild areas in the lower 48 states. The big blue sky certainly looked surreal at times, though we were brought back to reality at one point when a huge and hairy lone bison strolled across the road in front of us. It made for a very long day, only 500 miles or so but over 12 hours behind the wheel, but it was well worth the trip and would be a great ride to do on a Harley. 

Devils Tower National Monument

The following day we visited Devils Tower National Park, to see a natural igneous intrusion standing over 1,200 feet above the surrounding terrain. Most likely this volcanic plug was created when magma cooled and set solid in the neck of an ancient volcano, after which the surrounding sedimentary rock eroded away leaving this magnificent column. Although in a National Park, the site is sacred to the Native American peoples and once again we read of many conflicts, including a few recreational climbers who purposely choose to ignore a voluntary ban on climbing during the month of June. 

This is the geographic centre of the USA - well its very near here anyway !

Moving on and crossing into South Dakota, we spotted on our road map that we were close to the geographic centre of the USA. Guided by GPS we reached the waypoint but could see nothing special. Just 20 miles south in the town of Belle Fourche there is a tourist marker but we discovered later that we had been very close to the actual point, which is located in a field and involves climbing over a barbed wire fence and across a ditch. Being short on time this picture is the closest that we got to it, not very exciting as you can see. For anyone looking at a map and thinking that South Dakota is too high to be the geographic centre, you are partly correct -  this is the geographic centre of the entire 50 states which includes the two remote states of Hawaii and Alaska - the centre of the contiguous lower 48 being in Kansas.

Mount Rushmore

Next stop was the iconic Mount Rushmore with its bust sculptures of four presidents - Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln - carved from the granite face of the mountain that gives this monument its name. Attracting well over 2 million visitors each year, it certainly had the desired effect of boosting tourism to this region when it was completed in 1941. Just 50 miles north from here is the town of Sturgis, home to the annual Sturgis Bike Rally. Its one of the largest in the world and is held in the first week of August every year - it would have been good to see but we were just a few weeks late for this one.

Driving west to east through South Dakota felt long, on arrow straight roads between enormous fields of corn and soy, and as we crossed the state line into Minnesota the flat plains continued. It was here that the 80's tv series "Little House on the Prairie" was set, and it felt like not much had really changed - the tractors were bigger, but many of the side streets are still rough gravel, giving a distinct and quaint rural feel.

Minneapolis Skyline

Reaching the city of Minneapolis with a full day to spare and under stormy thunderclouds, we visited the "Mall of America", a huge indoor retail complex that receives over 40 million visitors annually. It was an attack on all our senses, the centre piece being an indoor theme park with roller-coasters, funfair rides and attractions. Currently this is not quite the largest mall in the USA, but it boasts an aquarium, adjoining hotel, many restaurants and bars, two huge food courts and of course plenty of retail stores, and is the perfect place to spend a rainy day.

Capitol Building, Madison.

The last big day on the road took us over another state line into Wisconsin, and into its capital city of Madison. Being a university city, it felt like it would be young and vibrant, however arriving on the Labor Day public holiday the streets surrounding Capitol Square were very quiet, and we struggled to find somewhere to eat. The empty streets made for easy parking though and we got some great shots of the Capitol Building before sunset.

A short trip over yet another state line into Illinois found us arriving at our house sit on the outskirts of Chicago, where we received a warm welcome from Smokey and his human parents. Once again we have been very lucky in every respect - a lovely pooch, a wonderful and friendly couple, a beautiful home and a great neighborhood.

Smokey our furry foster dog.

We wont be doing much, if any, sightseeing here but will spend the time relaxing a little after our time on the road, researching and planning the next phase of our trip, and catching up with various administrative tasks such as sorting out our photos and updating this blog. It is also a great time for us to catch up with family and friends and we will be on Skype most days for anyone that wants to chat with us, plus we'd love to hear from anyone by other means such as email or blog comments. Our Facebook friends will have already seen our latest batch of photos and for those of you not on Facebook you can view them here by clicking this link.