Last I wrote in here we were in Post Falls ID after nailing down two of the four corner states , California and Washington (via Dallas- I know, kind of a long way).

We are now in Dallas again after hitting the last two of our "Four Corners" adventure.

So a little recap- We took off for Mt Rushmore as it was one of Kelly's bucket list items. This ran us through Missoula MT and as it is one of our favorites we had to stop in- just for a bit though as it seems that the state of Montana was on fire- that smoke was so thick at times that we felt as if we were driving in fog! Stopped for the night in Bozeman and up early for the next leg which we hoped would end up in Hill City SD.

Pushing hard, we found the drive to be getting longer- we just aren't as enthusiastic about those 5-600 mile days as we used to be.

We arrived in Hill City, huddled up and got ready for a well-deserved "off day" of exploring Mt Rushmore and the surrounding area.

WOW. Mt Rushmore is one of those places. You know- the ones that make your jaw drop and heart jump. It really is a fascinating place, both from the sheer majesty of the site and the various people from around the world that are enjoying this alongside us. Watching the reactions from our fellow travelers was almost as much fun as they had watching ours.

Deadwood. Just the name conjures up visions of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Al Swearengen. True historic characters and not just television characters- we had a great time wandering about, but since we aren't really the gambling types it was time to hit the road for points beyond.

Where in the heck is Wall Drug? Answer- about 50 miles from Rapid City SD, and 8 miles north of Badlands National Park. While some may have heard of Wall Drug, those that haven't are missing out on some of the best marketing of a roadside stop ever accomplished. Rather than going into it here, check it out, or better yet- take the ride!

After the requisite stop- we dropped south a bit to the Badlands. What a surprise- this is probably those most aptly named areas in the USA. This is as harsh of an environment as we have seen since Craters of the Moon in Idaho (another aptly named area). The power of water is on display here while having none in evidence.

Onward our pilgrimage continued to The Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. Yes, that Corn Palace, where else?

From there, we traveled across Iowa and something we found to be very interesting- big "help wanted" banners strung from buildings and factories at almost every exit and overpass. Makes one wonder about the actual existence of those jobs or the employment issues facing the country. Could it be that we need to think about relocation as a job search technique? I just don't know.

We stopped in Chicago for a couple of days for Kelly to reconnect with her ancestral roots and then on the road to Avon OH to visit with one of our clients.

Took that opportunity to drive along the Lake Erie shoreline, very pretty.

Through Pennsylvania then into New York, we stopped in Findlay Lake for the night.

On to Niagara Falls for our 30th wedding anniversary. We had to make that trip, and glad we did. While I have seen a lot of magnificent waterfalls, and have been in a lot of iconic places, Niagara Falls is the one we always remember- the falls were magnificent, but the people! It was so crowded with tourists from all countries. Very cool to be walking along and hearing all of the different languages and accents.

From Niagara Falls through Rochester for another client visit then on to Southbury CT which would be basically home base as the work stuff continued.

So, I'll pause here before regaling further on the travels of our Land Yacht, "Little Bad Ass", as we have named our little vessel.