Day 28: Day of Rest Day 29: On route to Sundance, Wyoming (J's Version)

Jenard's rich uncle. There was a corvette convention happening!

Good morning! Today's edition of J's Blog is brought to you by Sear's Auto Center. Always around. Always open. Always your go to mechanic. The air conditioning in the truck is rather fickle and sometimes decides not to blow cool air, so my duty today is to get it fixed. If you're ever in a jam when you're traveling and don't know a mechanic, Sears is a good alternative. They open at 8 (I thought i'd have to fight people off in line with my David Sedaris book, but I was the first and only one here), and they are open 7 days a week. Granted i'm no car expert, so I don't know if they are ripping me off, but when you're far away from home and in need of service, you do what you have to do. Plus, the workers here and at the Fort Wayne, IN Sears were really nice and that goes a long way. I mean this IS: The Nice People Tour.


Unfortunately, the guy just told me the AC looks fine to him. Grrr. It decided to show off for an audience. I still said it isn't consistent, and he feels that if he replaces whatever (recharge is the proper term) there's a chance it still might not work properly. He himself was cool though because he was kind of telling me to not waste my money. This is where I need G's input, but I don't want to bother him. He already had a later start this morning because of the thunder and lighting. It's not too $, so I made the executive decision to give it a shot.

Bike cam is up and running!

Today, marks exactly 4 weeks since we started our trip!!! Wow!! We're estimating about two more weeks until he dips his wheel in the Pacific. By this afternoon, we'll be in Wyoming! At first I thought it was super cool because we'll be in Sundance, Wyoming where the film festival is held. Turns out the festival is in Utah not WY! Oh, well. We should only be in WY for 2-3 days then comes Montana. Montana is more like 4-5 days. We are both a little scared of Montana. We have visions of nothing but wilderness and hills that go on forever. The only thing I really know about Montana is from what I've seen in Broke Back Mountain. ***Sidenote: Good thing I just checked. Broke Back Mountain takes place in WYOMING not Montana. Wow. All these years, I thought it was Montana! 

Another moment of "my life has been an entire lie" until this point is what I learned here in South Dakota regarding the state's capital. I used to take great pride in the fact that from 3rd grade on I knew all of the state capitals. Since we got to SD, we kept hearing people say, "Oh you should visit Peer." Or "You'll be near Peer." Even on the local news we kept hearing "Peer." We're just like "Okay, whatever." It turns out the capital of South Dakota, Pierre is pronounced "PEER" instead of "PEE AIR." Was your mind just blown?

Two days ago when we arrived in Rapid City we had pho for dinner. Honestly, I was quite

surprised and pleased that Rapid City, SD had a pho place. Actually two pho places in town. We tried Pacific Rim, and it was a pretty fancy pho place, too which isn't the norm. Pacific Rim is pretty business savvy because the menu was complete with pho and other Viet dishes, BUT they also serve American sandwiches (BLT, Reuben's etc). I thought this was great because say you go out to eat with a friend who isn't that adventurous in their food choices, and they cringe at the idea of pho (it's just beef and noodles!). Well, here's a great alternative. You can get your pho, and he/she can get his/her provincial sandwich.

Also, two days ago we went to Wall Drug. It was good. Lots of souvenirs and silly photo opportunities. They allow you to get your own coffee for only 5 cents. Pretty cool! Of course, I only had a dime, so I put that in the box. Refills are also 5 cents, but I already put in 10 cents initially but didn't want to look like I was a cheat, so I put in another dime for my refill.

Giving the bunny, bunny ears

Whoa. FREE ice water!! lol

Yesterday, we went to Mt. Rushmore which is only about 25 miles from Rapid City, so it wasn't out of the way at all. There's actually a Super 8 RIGHT at the base of the mountain. I'm sure it cost a fortune though. Even the hotels where we stayed 25 miles away jack the prices up. Since yesterday was our day "off" we had A LOT to pack in. Our days off are not entirely leisurely if that's what you're thinking. There were several errands and chore type of stuff that need to be done. Plus, G needs some rest! Therefore, visiting Mt. Rushmore was slightly RUSHED. *giggle*

We drove up the mountain and parked on the shoulder and took some pictures. You could park in

a lot for 11 bucks to do the Presidential Walk and get a little closer, but it was 90 degrees out and as I said we had a lot of other things to accomplish. We got back in the truck and kept driving and pulled over at another area and still got a great view. The statue itself is breathtaking when you see it. Like you can't really believe this was sculpted out of rock. At the base, there's several tourist spots like zip lining, restaurants, and water slides.

Facebook is something else. You really have no idea how many people look at your stuff on there. More than you think. As you all know, we have our Facebook page for our trip. Since it's a "page" not a "profile" you can be an administrator and control certain things on the page. People "Like" the page to get updates on their newsfeed. If you don't "like" the page, you can still look at it, if you search for it. Well, we have 129 people who have "Liked" our page, but when you're an

Despite what he says, this was G's idea.

administrator to a page, it tells you how many people have actually seen the thing you posted whether it's a picture or video or even a status. Theoretically, if 129 people subscribe to our page you'd think the "people reached" number would be in that ball park. Maybe slightly higher if any of those people shared the picture but only one person actually did that because we get the notification. Well, I posted a photo of me "kissing" George Washington's head at Mt. Rushmore, and so far it has reached 725 people! WOW. That's kinda scary. lol

Also, yesterday we went to Scheels, which is kind of like a Dick's Sporting Goods or Sport's

Authority but way better. As G mentioned in his post, they have a bike service department! The other stores don't have that, AND they have a fudge and coffee shop right in their store. SCORE! G finally got time to update (several posts for your reading enjoyment) and set up the bike cam!!!

Have a great day!!!

PS. If you are going to the food truck festival have a slider from Lunch Box 23 for me AND a cannoli from the Cannoli Truck!