This past weekend was Fall Break. Which I've decided is so much more enjoyable when there is legit fall weather accompanying the break. Although the last two fall breaks and spring breaks I have spent at home or in various cities in the south, I felt like breaking tradition this year. So I packed up my roomate's car and we took a little road trip to Rapid City, South Dakota. Just me, Lauren, her sister and Allison in one Honda Civic driving 1,200 miles (twice) to spend a few days with La's family in the midwest.
Now what, you may ask, is in South Dakota besides livestock and wheat fields? a LOT. More than you would ever guess! And more than Mount Rushmore (which was by far the highlight and made me so proud to be American I could bust)
We drove half the way, spent the night in Iowa, drove the other half and finally, 28 hours after the original departure time, found our way Lauren's home. Allison caught all the highlights on film, as seen by our excitement for the road sign :)
Here's you chance to be jealous: THE WORLD'S ONLY CORN PALACE, where everything is made of corn and the murals change every few months. We were lucky enough to experience the palace during American Pride month.
I made a new friend at La's house, CC. Shelley--don't be jealous, CC kind of smells bad, but she was my friend since I like petting puppies.
I've recently been reading this book called Vessels and Flowers that my big gave me. It talks about the different personalities of women and how they interact with one another. It's been a huge conversation point in our friend group lately. This trip was so interesting to see how a Golden Pouch (Lauren), and Pitcher (me), and a Vase (Allison) all interact with one another. God was teaching me a lot about genuine acceptance of others and unconditional love.
It was such a blessing to go home with my best friend. I think you can learn so much about watching a person interact in their most natural environment. For Lauren this is definitely her family. It was fun to watch her be completely confident in herself and her surroundings and be encouraged reciprocally by those closest to her.
The majority of our activities were outside, which was nice since the beautiful, crisp fall air was everywhere we went. We hiked, we walked, we toured.. it was the perfect time of year for our visit. South Dakota is beautiful btw.
I was also so glad to have the opportunity to meet Lauren's good friends back home. The Joyal family has become a huge blessing in the Reeves' lives and Kelsey (far right) is the oldest of their three children. We got to go hiking on this beautiful mountain with Kelsey, her boyfriend Eric, and her two brothers Derek and Tyler.
This was one of my favorite parts of the trip: Art Alley. It's a long alley between buildings just covered in art. Grafitti covers the walls and everywhere you look there is this incredible painting of something, someone, some words.. It was kind of sensory overload, but it was so fun and felt surreal like we were on a movie set. Allison was freakin the whole time.
Our last tourist destination before returning was Wall Drug. Where the heck is Wall Drug? you may ask.. Well it's about an hour from Rapid City in Wall, South Dakota and it's about as random as it sounds. There is probably more memorabilia representing Wall Drug than there are actual activities to do. However, it was exciting being that it's like taking Cracker Barrel and turning it into a tourist location: random, eclectic, and makes for some fun finds.
Another highlight of the trip: Allison being hilarious. This tank top she bought at Wall Drug was like a transformation. Put on the tank: alter ego. Ridiculous and so fun. We found this little town for a bathroom break and couldn't resist Allison being the princess she is to have her diva picture taken :)
God is so good and I was reminded this break of how blessed I am by my friends as well as this beautiful country we call home.
