I really like my job so far, but none of my usual tasks can even begin to compare with what I got to do today. My coworker brought her 7-week-old Boxer puppy in for a brief visit! She was awake and playing with us for about 10 minutes, then let out a huge yawn and promptly passed out. So cute!

This is long overdue, but I still thought it worthwhile to post the summary of our experiences in South Dakota that I wrote from the road last week when we had no service.

MONDAY 9/15
We stopped in Sioux Falls, SD for lunch (it’s got an adorable downtown) and then met our cheesy roadside attraction quota at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. What’s a road trip without a cheesy roadside attraction? We had been under the false impression that the whole palace was made of corn, which it of course was not (um, duh). It was simultaneously amazing and underwhelming in the way that most roadside attractions are. From there we continued west on I-90 to Badlands National Park. There were so many juicy bugs between Mitchell and Badlands that we had to stop almost hourly to clean our windshield. We camped at Badlands, and it rivaled Zion National Park as the most beautiful campsite we’ve ever stayed at. There was a full moon, which rose enormously over the landscape, and we listened to wolves howling as we settled into our tent for the night. Oh! And Brian got a cheesesteak in the scariest bar ever in Interior, SD (pop. 67!). The bar also functioned as the gas station and town center, which I guess is how it goes when your town only has 67 residents.

TUESDAY 9/16
We got up early to see the sunrise in Badlands and then took the scenic route out of the park (translation: drove for more than an hour on unpaved roads). Badlands is amazingly beautiful, if you are ever within a few hours of there should definitely take the time to visit the park. In addition to the incredible vistas, we saw prairie dogs and bison up close and personal. We have a pic (which will be up on Flickr when we get the computer set up and can download all our pics from our “real” camera) of a bison scratching himself on a National Park display kiosk! The rest of the day was spent tooling through Black Hills National Forest and Custer State Park. And of course we did see Mount Rushmore, but after the splendor of Badlands we were kind of unimpressed!

Both Brian and I have had a rotating cast of Mac laptops over the past few years, but they all belonged to our employers. We never actually owned a Mac…until tonight! When I got home from work we piled into the car and headed over to the Apple store in University Village, a swank shopping area near the University of Washington (about 20 minutes from our house with lights and traffic and us not knowing where we were going). The purchase process was easy and fun, as it always is at Apple, and Cooper even got to participate! He’s shown below checking out the new iPod Nanos and assisting the Apple employee with completing our sale. Oh yeah, and that’s our new free printer on the counter in the first shot – sweet!

Remember this little guy?

Well, we just found out a couple days ago that he was reunited with his owner the day we picked him up and took him to the shelter! I was so happy to hear this news, I almost cried. I felt so good that we stopped for him and took him somewhere safe where he’d have a good shot at getting back home to his family. It only took an hour start to finish once we pulled over for him.

If you see a stray dog when you’re out and about, please take it to the nearest shelter! My dad told me that he now keeps some old towels in the trunk of his car just in case he ever needs to pick up a stray. An extra leash and small tupperware for water would also be good items to put in your just-in-case-you-find-a-stray kit.

Jess waiting for the bus to take her to her first day of work. I feel like a proud parent.

We’re waiting for our house keys and POD. In the meantime we’re hanging out at the neighborhood beach and dog park. Cooper is going nuts now that he can finally stretch his legs.

We are a couple hours east of Seattle now, and just crossed over the Columbia River. The landscape of eastern Washington was pretty suprising (note the rocky cliffs on the riverbank in the shot below – don’t they look southwestern?), and also prettier than we expected. We’re heading into the mountains now and things are looking a lot more like what we expected (lots of evergreen trees). It is both weird and exciting that this state is our new home!

We just arrived in Idaho and plan to camp somewhere near Couer d’ Alene.

We spent the night in West Yellowstone on the outskirts of the park. It’s a cute walkable town with a few dozen hotels and restaraunts. It got cold overnight with lows in the 30s.

We’re skipping ahead here, but we thought we’d share a scene from Old Faithful from a few minutes ago. It was suprisingly gentle and quiet. By the way, it was about 12 minutes early.