only in south dakota

I planned to drive west through the very northern stretches of Nebraska, or the southern edge of South Dakota. I ended up driving the tried and true I-90 from Sioux Falls to Rapid City. There are just too many stops to make on this main stretch of road that can only be found on the highways and byways of this strange state. One thing is for certain: through all the farmland and monotonous hills, South Dakota, markets its' quirks with a passion that can only be found in this Midwest state. I wonder how many signs there are for the Corn Palace in Mitchell alone, never mind for Wall Drug and it's international signage (I think I even saw a Wall Drug sticker in Antarctica)!

My favorite part of the day was spending a couple of hours in Badlands National Park. I got out of the car and took a 2 mile hike through the strange eroded landscape. The weather was warm after all the rain from Iowa, and it felt good to negotiate the terrain.

I remember being in the Badlands with my family some years back. It was hot and we got out to take a walk around some "fossils" that had been placed along the trail in various spots for some sort of educational purpose, I suppose. The memories of that little jaunt was a bit disingenuous, but this time I avoided that trek and just enjoyed God's Creative work. I also read about some real paleontological digs going on in the layers of this dirt.

The drive through the park is pretty amazing. The scenic route is laid out among the peaks and valleys. Parts of the pavement dip into the valleys and others climb to plateaus above the pinnacles. There is one portion of the road that traverses some colorful layers of soil (I missed this part last time I was here).

I finished the day with a stay in Rapid City at a hotel. The sun peaked under the clouds as it set and set a brilliant rainbow on the horizon. It was a long day of driving, but I am looking forward to the rest of my trip and seeing Char tomorrow night in Bozeman, Montana. So far, all plans are on schedule. The car is running. My only casualty was the water bottle I forgot to take off my bike-whoops.

iowa

Traveling to Pella from Chicago was a nice 5 hour drive. I stopped a few times to stretch my legs and pick up the Iowa State map. My visit with Carrie and kids in Pella comes during a pretty good rainstorm. Driving across the border into the state, I encountered some pretty amazing clouds forming over I-80! The produced an amazing amount of percipitation.

I was thrilled to spend some time with Carrie and kids while her husband was out of town. We sort of sporadically see each other and still have a great time talking together! Carrie was one of the first friends I made at Calvin. After I was cut from the volleyball team my freshman year, she marched me straight into the track & field coach's office the next day to get me on the track team as a javelin thrower; an important introduction for the rest of my college career! She has two beautiful children now who were fun to spend some time with!

My second Iowa stop was with my cousin, Lorinda. Her husband, Ryan, was working late, so I enjoyed talking with her and watch little Kendra smile and play. It's so amazing to remember growing up together and see how our lives and perspectives have changed and yet, still connect us as cousins!

the last supper

Today I spent some time with Meredith over a Cinnamon Dolce Latte. I enjoy talking with her about life and her plans for the future and college life! She will be studying in Russia next year!

I also spent one last piece of time with Emily (and Morgan) this afternoon. She is a fabulous friend and I enjoy talking over the cares of life with her. I always come away with a fresh perspective on things when I leave her!

I certainly did not expect much of a send off, but Dave and Mary arranged a good-bye dinner with their family this evening. Erin and Ryan were also able to join us at Red Robin (of course) for an evening out. Heather, Nate, Phil, Jen, and little Ashley all came out so I could have one last Banzai Burger in Illinois. It was pretty spectacular! I will most definitely miss my friends here.

Tomorrow, I finish packing, run a few last errands and head down I-88 towards Iowa. My tentative plan looks something like this:

Day 1: to Pella, Iowa.
Day 2: Pella to Orange City, Iowa.
Day 3: Orange City to Rapid City, South Dakota (I wanted to camp here, but I got a hotel since the campgrounds are not open for the summer yet).
Day 4: Rapid City to Bozeman, Montana.
Day 5: Bozeman to (hopefully) Seattle, Washington.
Day 6 or 7: Make my way up to Bellingham, Washington.

lexi's wedding

My friend Lexi was married today to Matt. Lexi and I met at Calvin College my freshman year and she has been a friend ever since. Our meeting was quite candid. The two of us ended up in an interim (January term) class together called The Dead Sea Scrolls. Our initial friendship was based on being two of only a few women in the class. Then we also both had a mild interest in the two other socially-ept students in our class; they happened to be of the opposite gender. Our mild interest may have been a bit more like an infatuation. We were so smitten that we did things like sit in front of the boys so they could fall asleep, undetected, during the movies (even the professor fell asleep during them)! Even when nothing matriculated from our attraction, the four of us spent most of our class time together and ended up pairing off for our term paper. From that January on, Lexi and I kept in touch.

We were even roommates in Lisle together a few years back; Lexi was one of the best roommates! We would run to Dairy Queen together, have super-loud conversations across the apartment about our dramatic day at work, or the latest interesting man. We used to get the Calvin Alumni Magazine (The Spark) and page to the end where all the marriages and babies were listed to see what had happened in the past months to our friends and acquaintances.

Well, Lexi, I'll be looking for your announcement in a few months! Congratulations. I am thrilled that you found Matt.

singed, by not burned out

I received a change of address confirmation for one of my accounts yesterday. It changed my address from Lisle, Illinois to Lisle, Illinois. As many times as I have moved, this one already gets the "most-challenging" award for address changes. One company even reverted back to a previous address! Even though I've been unemployed, I feel like I have a full time job right now just getting new bank accounts, fixing things that went wrong while I was away, and repacking my belongings to fit in my car.

I spent a little over a day at my Aunt Shirley & Uncle Glenn's house at the beginning of the week sorting through my possessions, and labeling them into one of three categories: garage sale, mailing items, and stuff to squeeze in the car. I put 10 boxes in the mail and managed to combine the garage sale and car items in one load after that! Now, I have a bit of restructuring to do in my car.

My time in Illinois is quickly coming to a close and I can feel that I have accomplished a lot. Thursday my body told me with a near-midraine that it was time for a break. So, I watched a movie in the morning and eventually got going.

The highlight of the time spent here is seeing friends and catching up from the past six months. Emily and Erin made time for one last "girl's night" before we all move in different directions. We used to meet every week for a meal with Emily and conversations of life, career, school, and love. I think those long evenings taught me that it was ok to spill over the sides of the mold that society creates for us (hence, my trip to Antarctica and some of my other quirky idiosyncrasies). Their love and friendship is treasured and the close proximity we shared will be missed as Emily and family move to a new house, Erin & Ryan move to Kentucky, and I head off to Washington.

I've spent some time at a track meet, marking the progress in athleticism and character of the athletes I coached, and chatted with Brandi, perhaps the most "natural" javelin thrower I've ever known for a morning. I had coffee with Jay to catch up with the story of his family and life. I've enjoyed dinner with Dave and Mary, Erin and Ryan, and Phil, Jen, and little baby, Ashley, too.

Today, I'm out enjoying the weather. It's just over 70 degrees and sunny outside. I ran out to the REI garage sale and ended up with a nearly-new pair of glove liners, and the coolest camera tripod ever. My camera loves it so much that it took a self-portrait to show you the new set of legs. I fixed my windshield wiper fluid squirter (or rather, I pretended like I was just going to buy the part and fix it myself, asked all kinds of questions about how to do it and how much the labor would cost if they installed it, and ended up with two nice gentlemen at the Honda dealership to install it for free).

This evening I will mix and match an outfit from the remainder of clothes I have (hopefully) suitable for a wedding and then begin filling up the car again for my trip west.

moving along

I left the comforts of sitting at home to get on with life and (hopefully) work.

Mom and I left last week for the Chicago area. The timing worked well. We were able to spend some time with Sara in Michigan and mom was able to attend a quilt show in Chicago while I started getting accounts in order.

The picture is of the 4 of us Rip women; myself, mom, Laura, and Sara. Of course, Laura is only featured on the front of the Spark magazine, but I think that counts!

Despite the 4 inches of snow in Grand Rapids, it was nice to see Sara again after nearly a year. I hope she has an opportunity to join me on the West Coast soon!

I've been catching up on a lot of business while in Illinois. The best part is seeing friends again and seeing what they have been up to for the last 6 months. There is a sense I have of feeling a bit out of place now (or maybe displaced with the experiences I had), though. I have missed a chunk of life here and don't have a place to live or job here. I'm not sure when I'll feel like I have "a place" again. The feeling can be disconcerting, but I try to remember it's an adventure I chose and that God is with me every place I go.

Next week, I hope to be off towards Washington State. My plans are a bit hazy yet, but slowly pulling together!