Waterloo, IA, to Sioux Falls, SD

Here we come, Siouxlanders. haahahahahahahahahahah.

hhahaahah

Ok now that that's all outta the way. Iowa really set the bar high, I'm not sure we should ever leave. Might just become a corn farmer out here with the cows and the other people. But life goes on, like flowing water, thus we must leave and let go. They say change is the only certain thing in life. That and continental breakfasts. We got that too.

SO NOW WE UP HERE IN SOUTH DICKOTA!

Louisa was counting down the minutes until we got to see the South Dakota sign. And then we missed it. And then we went to the rest stop to find a replica. 

GOOOOO Mount Rushmore!!!!

Uncredited is the South Carolinian GIRLBOSS who took this photo. You go, queen. I hope you find everything you've ever wanted in SD. I know we have (we just crossed the border two minutes ago).

Completely unrelated, but one time (as in, a month ago) my mom told me that Donald Trump was going to carve his face in all the current presidents in Mount Rushmore, and I believed her for the rest of the week. At least. Honestly, I still believe her. 

YAYYYYYY We called Abby, thank you Abby, we called Michael, thank you Michael (and thank you for our future road trip blog title), and then out of nowhere, we were at Scooters coffee with only an hour to go. Whoever said the drive across Iowa was hard was LYING. That was a breeze. Better yet, Corinne went crazy on the bug blood and guts on the windshield.  

Moths and other insects fear you.

First stop, according to all the Instagram ladies, was the Falls. Naturally, we listen to them.

why is this so freaking awkward.

baby mallards swimming from mom to dad

We explored downtown antique stores before heading over to Hot Sculpt at Amy Miller Training. I might have to take a walk in the middle of writing this because it deeply boils my blood and brings up past trauma. Madelynne dropped us off, thank you, mom, because this awesome (JOKE) class filled up. Here are a couple tokens from her alone time. 

advil

smoothie

the recipe of life

Meanwhile, Louisa and Corinne entered the studio, and it was already uncomfortably hot. Louisa nervous. Then, the infrared lights brightened, and the Jersey club music turned up. I wanted to die. This is gonna be bad. The woman started yelling and throwing her weights around?????? People started leaving??? She started yelling at them to come back (they did not, I watched them put those shoes on 20 minutes in and rev their engines right on out of there). Corinne and Louisa left the workout room a rough total of 7 times? Maybe 8. With five minutes to spare, Corinne put those weights away and joined the cult growing in the locker room. We finally ended this hell and found Madelynne happy as a bee with her smoothie in the car.

the Lorax

Misery I tell you.

But, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and oh lordie were we on the brink. As Gandhi once said, time for a swim and a picnic at Lake Alvin.

Got lost maybe four times

shooshi.

face of disgust because the high schoolers (as always) were screwing up the vibe (they were yelling and throwing rocks and wearing boots at the beach like omg buy a flip flop)

One thing I will say is whoever said middle America does not have beaches. They LIED. They do have beaches, the shore is just dirt. Dirt beaches. The best kind. We found a secret dock where a girl put an inch-long (obviously biting) spider on her shoulder and started taking artsy selfies. Some of us are missing our instincts... Not us tho.

Courage is the spice that makes the stew that is bravery.

Obviously not these smart girls (winkie face)

Naturally, we got hungry again. For authentic ice cream.

nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

It's important to note that when we first got here, we commented on how we thought the cool, dusty atmosphere was very interesting, super midwest, and to be quite frank, I thought it was because we were in the dust bowl, and it was very rugged of us. Like, we might as well be in a spaghetti western. Actually, we are in the region with the worst air quality in North America and really should not be going outside. Which makes sense since there really weren't that many people out and about today. But, we are strong.

Tomorrow our sojourn to the Badlands begins. We're going to hop on route 90 and ride that baby all the way home. And by "home" we mean gambling, motorcycles, and national parks. #Merica.

YA YA YEEEETTTTTTTT

heheheehehhe

ahahaahahaha

hahahahaahah

madelynne how do we sign off please help me

jahbdajfbdiuof

hahaahahaha

help

help

bye. -madelynne