When I was a kid, I always dreamed of seeing Mount Rushmore.

I love rocks, and several people dangerously and tirelessly carved faces into the rocks. Not just any faces, either. Four of the most influential faces of our country—the Presidents of the United States.

As we entered South Dakota and Tony stubbed his toe grabbing my most beautiful rock from the side of the road, I couldn't help but admire the sparkle of it.

The rock is what I believe to be a formica. The sparkle it has makes it one of my favorite rocks I've ever owned.

The majority of the trip, I slept.

When I wasn't sleeping, I could feel the pain from the "cliff dive" I'd taken the night before.

We didn't have any hotel reservations because the plan had been to be hiking in Nebraska, and you kind of can't do that when you're on crutches and can barely eat anything that isn't soft because of the hole you put in your face.

I didn't really see much of anything until we got to Mount Rushmore.

We stopped at a hotel that still had a view of Rushmore and decided food was rather important. So instead of trying to go in that night, we went looking for dinner.

We could always see the memorial the next day.

Did you know it's considered a memorial?

I learned that recently.

So into town we went in search of dinner.

  

We stayed in Keystone, which is the closest town and is very small.

I was surprised when we went searching for food at just how small it was for having such a historical piece of American history so close by.

It also happened to be quite hard to find somewhere to eat that late, and it really wasn't even that late—maybe 8 or 9 p.m.

We ended up with pizza.

We took it back to the hotel, ate, and fell asleep.

A ton of cute little shops surrounded downtown, all geared toward tourists. We found a few bars and a lot of Western photo shops.

We also found the 1880 Train.

That became our adventure for the day because we decided riding on a train was something my leg could actually handle.

Having to miss out on the gorgeous rock formations and trails in Nebraska had really depressed me, but the view from the 1880 Train—and the completely unexpected adventure Tony had taken us on—lifted my spirits in ways I couldn't describe.



Somehow, Tony ended up getting migraines while we were traveling through South Dakota and looking for hot springs.

That led to wrong turns.

Those wrong turns led to us ending up in Wyoming.

The only thing I really saw in Wyoming was an oven on the side of the road.

Then, at a gas station, I saw that exact same oven on a Wyoming postcard.

We decided to stay overnight in Wyoming at a beautiful hotel that allowed dogs and even accommodated them with shower stalls and plenty of floor room for puppy pads and a dog bed.

It made me want to take my dog R.J. someday...if I can ever get him to stop terrorizing people.

One day he'll go on a trip with us, and just like with my stepson, Dresdyn, I'll probably worry the entire time.

It'll be worth it, though.

When we woke up, we continued our search for a hot spring on our way back toward Nebraska and Ash's house.

We finally found one.

And Tony had been right.

It was perfect for my broken body and in such a beautiful location.

When life throws a wrench into your plans, sometimes something good can come out of it.

This was definitely not the best thing that could've happened.

But at that moment, sitting in that water, it almost felt like it.

It wasn't too crowded. It was perfect for just relaxing and not worrying about anything for a little while.

The cooler water right behind the hottest spring was completely empty. I guess because it was so cold, but after a while it helped wake me up, and I could still swim.

Afterward, we continued on, closing our journey with one more night at Ash's before heading to the airport.

On the way back, I was looking out the window when I spotted a pile of bicycles in a tiny town on the side of the road.

Of course, being an oddball myself, I decided we absolutely had to stop so I could get a picture.

That bicycle sculpture and the oven on the side of the highway in Wyoming kind of made me giddy.

There's something about seeing those random things in the middle of nowhere.

People create these little pieces of happiness for other people who happen to pass through.

Some people might find those types of things a little bizarre, and I swear that at the time, part of me did too.

Why would an oven on the side of a highway become a tourist destination?

Then I found that postcard at the gas station when we finally stopped to ask for directions.

And I knew it was perfect.

Tony even grabbed one of the postcards to give me.

He still hasn't written in it.

He's slacking on his own old-man gift.




 

The rest of the trip went about as smoothly as it could.

The ride home, as expected, wasn't much fun with crutches and a wheelchair.

Being able to sleep the next day away after the flight, however, was amazing.

One day, I hope to go back and see the nature Wyoming has to offer.

So many parks we passed called my name.

The Nebraska parks still call out to me too.

There's also still the plan to measure the ledge at Jumbo Lake and finally find out how far I actually fell.

Life is full of surprises.

Sometimes all you can do is ride with them.

And with that, our trip through the Midwest in 2021 comes to an end.

Who knows where the next adventure will lead us?

Hopefully somewhere just as epic.