HOLY COW!  We really couldn't be any closer to home, considering we were just in Maine a month ago.  We pulled into Sun Valley a few hours ago, had some lunch and are looking forward to meeting up with Rick later this evening!  But lets back track a bit.  We have come a long way since Chicago.  

We traveled back northwest through Wisconsin to Duluth, Minnesota.  Clouds grew heavy and low and temperatures dropped considerably.  We stopped at Fitger's Brewhouse for a hot lunch and a few stouts before moving on.  Continuing northwest, we traveled by many beautiful lakes before pulling over in the Chippewa National Forest for the night.  Trees were stark as all the leaves had fallen.  Fall had passed and winter felt heavy.  Highs were in the mid 30s.  Chilly weather kept us moving.  The next day we traveled to Fargo, North Dakota and again our stay was brief.  We look forward to returning to Minnesota and North Dakota and exploring a little more another time.  

We turned south from Fargo and slept at a truck stop just past the South Dakota border that night.  We woke to a gorgeous sunrise and icicles on the truck.  

We traveled west, through seemingly endless prairies and plains, from the eastern border of South Dakota to Badlands National Park.  

Before Badlands, we made a quick stop at Wall Drug.  For anyone who has traveled through South Dakota, you know what I am talking about.  It's a ridiculously touristy strip of shops selling nic-nacs of all sorts.  Signs lead to this bizarre stop for hundreds of miles.  So we had to stop.  

Badlands National Park was fantastic.  The landscape is a beautiful mix of high prairies, canyons, steep mountains and hoodoos.  And, we had the place to ourselves, which is always a bonus.  

We went on a great hike and braved the cold, windy weather.   

We saw many big horned sheep.

And witnessed fantastic sunsets.  

After a great few days we continued west through Sturgis and Deadwood and back south to Mt. Rushmore.  

Mt. Rushmore is even more impressive than we imagined.  It was great fun checking out presidential facts and learning how the engineers crafted such an enormous 'sculpture'.  

We also checked out Crazy Horse.  At first sight we were disappointed.  It's fifty years from completion and felt like a giant tourist trap driving in.  But after watching the documentary of the sculptor and the family behind the memorial, we grew a greater appreciation for what is to come.  

We continued south through the Black Hills National Forest to Wind Cave National Park.  The drive itself was beautiful.  We knew very little, or rather nothing of Wind Cave, other then seeing it on the map.  To our surprise the park was gorgeous.  It's rather small, with rolling plains full of elk, bison, pronghorns and prairie dogs.  We were satisfied with the scenic views and incredible wildlife, just to find out that Wind Cave lies beneath the hills and is the worlds longest cave!  139 miles of cave in one square mile.  Amazing!  

We loved every moment of South Dakota and could have explored the Black Hills for weeks.  But it was time to move on.  

We put on some serious miles and drove the length of Wyoming the next day.  It was a gorgeous, yet long drive.  Our goal was Jackson but skies grew dark and it was time to pull over.  We found a forest service road in the Teton National Forest and woke the next morning to a beautiful creek.  

As we made our way to Jackson the next morning we enjoyed the view of the Tetons towering over the highway.  

Jackson is a great town.  We arrived in the early afternoon and enjoyed watching the Hawks game from the Snake River Brewery.  

We camped that night on a forest service road just outside of town and spent the next day exploring Grand Teton National Park.  Unfortunately we woke to a cold, cloudy day, but it was still beautiful. 

We saw several moose, elk and even a small grizzly!  

It was amazing watching the snow line drop over the next few days.  

All campgrounds in the park were closed for the season but we found a great spot just outside of the park limits.  

After a nice hike around Two Ocean Lake the next morning, we continued north through the Tetons to Yellowstone National Park (marking twenty-five national parks this summer!).  

Yellowstone was gorgeous.  And so quiet this time of year.  It was the perfect time to be there.  Despite the chilly days and freezing nights (upper teens), we could not have asked for better timing.  Just a few of the many campgrounds remained open and water was shut off for the season throughout the park.  But as always, we made do.  

Wildlife was spectacular.  We saw HUNDREDS of bison, herds of elk and even a couple wolves!  

Scenery was equally as spectacular.  

When Old Faithful erupted, hail began to drop in buckets.  It was very theatrical, to say the least!  

Yellowstone, the Tetons, and all of Wyoming are a wonderful place to be.  We had such a great time and loved having the wide open space to ourselves.  We'll definitely be back.  Perhaps next time it'll be a little warmer!