We've been in Rapid City, South Dakota since May 1 - almost two months now - without giving an update. Before we dive into our favorite hiking and camping spots in the Black Hills, we wanted to share the highlights from our trip from Central Florida to Western South Dakota.
Adios, Florida!
We left Eustis, Florida on March 23 with a partial box of donuts and the compass pointed northwest.
On day one, we made it as far as a Walmart parking lot in Pensacola, and got about as much sleep as you're imagining.
Gulf Coasting
On the morning of day two, we headed into a beautiful Alabama sunrise...
And straight into Mississippi.
We took a break in Biloxi, Mississippi and wished we could have spent more time. As of now, the plan is to make it back to the Gulf Coast this winter when we have more time to explore the area.
We said goodbye for now to Biloxi, and headed to Sam Houston Jones State Park in Louisiana to camp for the night.
The Big Drive Through Texas
On day three, we did a hard day of driving our the first day through Texas, and ended up outside of Austin at Inks Lake State Park. You couldn't ask for a better place to end the day!
On day four, we drove the back highways on our way to New Mexico and saw a lot of fracking and road construction. But we made it to New Mexico!
New Mexico: Land of Enchantment, Caves & Aliens!
Our first stop in New Mexico was to visit Carlsbad Caverns. My mom went to the caverns as a child and frequently talked about them as one of the favorite places she'd been. We stayed the night at Carlsbad Campground and headed to the caverns the following morning. From there, on day five, we stopped in Roswell and got to Santa Fe as the sun was going down. Fortunately, we found a friendly, affordable, clean campground off the highway to rest for the night.
Utah: The Homestretch
We left Santa in the morning and made it to Moab on the evening of day six where we met up with my mom. The next morning we had a ball going on our first hike on a mountain(!) instead of in a swamp in six months!
Finally Home!
Then, seven days later, we made it to Grand Junction, Colorado and hiked our hearts out over the next few weeks, and even took a trip to Denver to see some friends in a mid-April blizzard.
We had a great time in Colorado, and too quickly had to pack up and head to South Dakota. Our last two months in the Black Hills have been non-stop working and playing -- can't wait to share what we've been up to.