Saturday, May 31, 2014: we hit the road 

packing up the Subaru

Kurt and I set the alarm bright and early for 5 am to get a head start on our longest day of driving (12 hours total). After saying goodbye to our dog River and my parents (who cared for her during our 2-week trip), we left their house in the Chicago suburbs and set out for South Dakota. The drive was mostly uneventful, though we did have to make a few stops to refasten one of the kayaks to the roof of our car. The high winds on the road pushed and pulled on the kayaks enough to crack one of the brackets on our roof rack, which we tightened back in place with heavy duty straps. Finally, we got the kayaks secure and were able to finish the drive.

we arrive!

We arrived at Badlands National Park a little after 8 pm local time. Almost immediately, we saw several female bighorn sheep cross the road in front of our car and shoot up the side of a craggy ridge. Since we knew we’d be rolling into the park pretty late and didn’t want to deal with setting up a tent after such a long day in the car, we had rented a cabin at Cedar Pass within the park. We grabbed a late dinner of fry bread and bison burgers, checked into our cabin, and relaxed on the adirondack chairs on our porch with cold beers in hand, watching a lightning storm in the distance. It was a near perfect start to our adventure.

female bighorn sheep

States passed through: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota
Wildlife sightings: female bighorn sheep, wild horses