Excellent account of the travel! Visiting the West is so exciting - when I went to LBH, after visiting Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills, we traveled several miles without any building, just a road, a little fence and the Plains.
You just begin to feel like you’re John Wayne.
We went about 10 miles on a dirt road to get closer to the Devil’s Tower. Had to see it after Close Encounters......
Our family is able to travel quite a bit - both in the US and overseas. We have many friends & acquaintances who have also traveled to many exotic locations around the world.
Without fail, the trip that single most elicits uuhs & oohs is not Europe, is not Hawaii, is not S America or Asia, it isn't any of those; it's doing a cross-country US roadtrip.
With money, you can fly anywhere, take a cab, and stay in a nice hotel. But there's something about getting in a car and driving yourself across the vast Western plains, through the Appalachians and on to the East coast, with a limited itinerary and an itch to see our country.