Rapid City: the first day

Photos.

South Dakota rest stop

This has been a very hot summer. Yesterday, the weather was oppressively hot -- so much so that I had no interest in cutting the grass before our journey. It was a good day to pack and simply make sure we got a good night's rest The evening rain broke the heat and we slept with an open window. Fitfully for me, soundly for Bob.

Jumped out of bed  at 6:00 a.m., made ham & swiss sandwiches for lunch, and were on the road by 8:00 a.m. There was a lot of traffic between St. Paul and the I90 turnoff. Rain was intermittent until we got onto I90 and then we got a few big dumps, one of the worst when I was driving. Fortunately, I have finally gotten comfortable in Bob's Chevy Traverse and so was able to adjust both the front and rear wipers fairly well, with the expert advice of my passenger, of course.

The ham & swiss sandwiches (Boarshead deluxe ham and whatever swiss was on special at Lund's & Byerly's) were absolutely delicious, accompanied by fresh carrots and celery. We  had only a half sandwich each so we have tomorrow's lunch prepared too. It will be far better than fast food on the road, as I discovered some time ago when I just couldn't stomach the idea of a Big Mac or whatever.

As the afternoon wore on, we saw the hope of sunny skies and the promise of better weather tomorrow. We stopped for the night at Country Inn & Suites on Lacrosse Road in Rapid City, a Priceline bargain at $104. The room is very big, with plenty of seating and a good Internet connection.

We've been in the Mountain timezone since mid-afternoon, so the challenge will be to stay up long enough to get to bed at a decently late hour.