I'm a Driving MACHINE

I left Chicago yesterday afternoon and I'm currently in Bismarck, ND. I decided to spend more of my drive in the US instead of driving straight up to Canada from Chicago. Then I figured that since I'm going a little more west, I may as well stop at Yellowstone. I'm headed to a hotel there once I finish this email, where I'll get a good nights sleep and go to the park in the morning. I made one major flaw in my navigation. To head west from Wisconsin you can take route 94 or 90. I believe 94 is faster because GPS and google maps directed me that way. Now that I've been on 94 for a loooong time, I just realized that if I had gone route 90 I could have seen Mount Rushmore! I checked on google, and the difference in time between the roads is a matter of minutes. Damn. I'm thinking that I'll probably never see Mount Rushmore if I don't see it now, but I'd have to drive 8 hours to get down there, which I'm all set with.

My Drive through North Dakota so far has been. . . special. It's a lot of hilly farmland, which is nice scenery. Unfortunately, there's roadkill galore. I've never seen so much in my life. I suppose that's what happens when you put a 75mph (I'm enjoying that speed limit) highway through farmlands with very little civilization. It's no exaggeration that I see roadkill at least every few miles. Bear in mind that I've been on that road for hundreds of miles. In those hundreds of miles I've seen about 10-15 other cars. I'm really hoping I don't add to the roadkill collection, but the odds are not in my favor.

I also stopped in Fargo, ND for a bit. It reminds me of Manchester, NH. You know, sort of a scrapper. Big enough to have a few cityish buildings, small enough that the lively part of the city is highly concentrated in a tiny area, not even beginning to push the city limits. It wasn't what I expected, but I should have known I wouldn't find Steve Buscemi in a wood chipper. Had to do it.

Okay, I'm off. more later, probably at the hotel. Finding an internet connection isn't easy in these farmlands.