The Beginning

About 40 hours and 2,400 miles later I made it to Jackson Hole, Wyoming! We left Connecticut on the morning of Tuesday, May 22nd and drove all day through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and into Indiana, where we spent the night. An abundance of adrenaline, good music, and homemade kale chips made the first day of driving a breeze.

After a rough night of sleep, we woke up early and was back on the road driving through the rest of Indiana and into Illinois. Navigating the bustling city streets of Chicago was hands down one of the most stressful parts of the whole drive.

Sweat collected on our faces as we struggled to change lanes and find our way back to the highway after missing our exit, however, the city eventually spit us back out and we made our way into Wisconsin. My legs felt like jello from sitting for so long as I finally stepped out of the car in Naceda, Wisconsin, where we stopped to rock climb for the rest of the afternoon. It was my first time climbing on sandstone and I have to say it did not go as well as I had hoped, but that it to be expected I guess when you climb for the first time on new rock. We did not have a guide book either, which made it difficult to find some of the routes and determine their difficulty, however, we managed to jump on a fun route going up a spire, which gave a great bird's eye view of the surrounding area.

The view looking down from the top of the spire.

We also set up a top rope and gave some tougher climbs a go.

Adam climbing on one of the main faces.

Me giving it a try.

After we grew tired of swatting away the frenzy of mosquitoes that seemed to be feasting on our legs, we journeyed over to La Valle, where a family friend of Adam's were kind enough to let us stay the night at their gorgeous lake house. It was a beautifully built wooden home with large windows that flooded the rooms with natural light and framed their backyard view of the lake. They cooked us a delicious dinner on the grill and we indulged in strawberry-rhubarb pie for dessert, which hit the spot after a long day of driving and climbing. After we finished eating, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset while we explored all the fingers of the lake and looked at the impressive houses built along it's shore. Nothing was as exciting or felt as good as getting to take a hot shower though! That night I went to bed feeling fresh and with a full stomach - it was arguably one of the bed nights of sleep I got the entire road trip! 

We woke up early and Kim and her husband brought us out on their lake to go tubing before we had to hit the road again. 

We drove through Minnesota and into South Dakota, feeling refreshed from the home-cooked meal and cool lake water. As the sun was setting the flat prairies of South Dakota turned into the beautiful formations of the Badlands.

Badlands National Park, South Dakota