Traveling to South Dakota

On Monday October 6th Mark and I left New Glarus, WI heading to Britton, South Dakota. The trip took about 9 hours and we encountered about every type of weather there is. When we left it was 53 degrees and cloudy. In the Dells it started to get sunny. The temperature got up to 74 degrees. It almost felt like summer again! Then it started to rain real hard. We could barely see the road (glad I wasn't driving :)...) Then it became sunny while raining then cloudy while raining. We ended the drive with the sun setting, no rain and 64 degrees. It was absolutely beautiful driving into the Northeast side of South Dakota. The sun was setting and you could see outlines of the cows standing on the hills. I couldn't get my camera out in time to take a picture of the cows...I know you're thinking "Whitney I've seen cows before" but there where hundreds of all different kinds of cows, and the sun was hitting them just right. It was a really cool site to see. I did manage to get a couple pictures of the sunset. The pictures don't do it justice but it will give you an idea. Mark said he would pull over so I could take some pictures but I think you can see them pretty well through the window.

The people here in South Dakota are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I feel like I walked back into 1950. I know I wasn't alive then, but the manners people had back then are what people in this town have today. Yesterday morning I got up and went over to the hospital to workout,(people staying at the hotel can workout for free!) and I walked in and a man named Bronco greeted me and made me feel welcomed. After working out I walked into town to get some lunch for later and as I would walk by a man, any man, he would take his hat off and bow his head and say "howdy mam." I went to walk into the grocery store and before i got up to the door a man spoke up behind me and said "Just a second mam" then he opened the door for me. I took a couple walks yesterday and while walking I never once opened a door, I was greeted over 20 times, and smiled at over 30 times. Even people driving in their cars would wave. I have never been treated so well in all my life by strangers. It is really refreshing to know there are still people out there who are just plan nice. I think people who live in cities need to at least once a year come to a small town and see what manners really are.

Here we are driving into Britton, South Dakota.

I don't know if you can see it, but there was a rainbow...it was pretty!