The family and I hit the road this week to head to the Midwest to see some family. We decided to take our time and enjoy the trip. I have never been one for vacations, so this is different for me – taking my time, stopping and taking pictures, and enjoying life.

Right now, I don’t know when I will return to Montana!

On Saturday night, we stayed in Gillette, Wyoming. Wyoming is bustling with oil wells and we saw coal trains stretching for miles. Gillette calls itself the “Energy Capital of the Nation” and I can believe that from what I saw.

After Gillette we headed over to Devils Tower – the first National Monument. Magnificent! I did not have a “Close Encounter of the Third Kind” either.

From Devils Tower, we headed to Rapid City, South Dakota, where we stayed Sunday night and tonight. I am impressed with this city which has a population of about 60,000. I could see myself living here.

We visited Mount Rushmore and I got my patriotic fix for the day. Although it was a little rainy there were thousands of people visiting and from overhearing some of the visitors talking, they came from all over the world.

Then, it was off to the Crazy Horse Memorial. I was impressed that they have not received government funding for this project. They are non-profit and use donations to do their work – which started in 1948.

Of course, we had to visit Bear Country USA. After paying to get in, I kind of felt like I was driving into Jurassic Park…but I failed to see any dinosaurs while driving through the 250 acre park.

Needless to say, the United States of America is alive and well. We are hosting visitors from all over the globe and many of us are taking our hard-earned money and hitting the roads to see what is over the next horizon.

Of course, a trip would not be a trip without my Garmin, satellite radio, and the old Blackberry. This is an expedition in 2010. Lewis and Clark would be jealous.