FROM THE HEART

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ALERT:
This entry is OC,SH’s 3,000th post!

In the United States, today is National Sugar Cookie Day! Will you celebrate by making &/or eating some of these today?

Saturday’s Leadoff Drive: Day 16.
“Coast-to-Coast” Road Trip, 07/09/2011.
5 years ago this very date & day, I traveled from Bozeman MT to Sioux Falls SD to Fargo ND. With a destination to end the day in Sioux Falls SD, I left Bozeman MT ~7:40a. Now, some might say I had a boring drive along I-90 E, but I enjoyed it, taking many photos along the way & relishing the low amount of traffic! I finally stopped for gas & a bite to eat in Sundance WY, between 1:50p & 2:25p. Back on the road, I had originally planned to stop along US 85 in Lead-Deadwood SD, but since I was there a little later than I’d imagined & thought I had plans in Sioux Falls, I continued. Just beyond that interchange, I saw this 1958 Chevrolet:

Also along this stretch, I saw exits for Mount Rushmore & Wall Drug (both of which I’d seen on family road trips). As late afternoon turned into early evening, I approached Sioux Falls through a weird thunderstorm … a lot of dark, impressive clouds with very clear downpours seemingly all around me. It was about this time I was discovering my friends in Sioux Falls were going to be no-shows & not provide a place to stay as they had offered. So, when I finally arrived in Sioux Falls proper ~9:35p (had been delayed by making calls along the way), the 3 hotels I stopped at were already booked solid. The kind person at the counter of the 3rd hotel explained to me a convention of some sort was in town; I wouldn’t be finding a room that night. Ugh. Knowing my plan was to drive to Fargo in the morning, I asked her if she’d call hotels north along I-29. She did, but the closest I could get a reservation … Fargo. So, a quick stop for gas, a caffeinated beverage purchase & I was on my way out of Sioux Falls along I-29 N ~10:30p. I arrived at the hotel ~1:35a.