Greetings From Snowy South Dakota

Hi friends! Sorry for the lack of posts again, but I've been busy, busy, busy. Well, maybe not busy in the truest sense of the word, but I've been moving around a bunch since my last post. Here's my first self-portrait, since I've had many inquiries as to the status of "the beard" and the "hippie hair". Hopefully the next self-pic will have a more exciting back-drop. HAHA!

After leaving my sister's place in Little Rock, I moved on up the road towards my friends Ann and Bishop's in Iowa. I stopped overnight just outside Saint Louis, and did some sightseeing down at the old Riverfront and St. Louis Arch. I thought it was cold, at 23 degrees, but I knew I was in for even colder as I moved up the road. This was the picture that I thought came out best of the Arch. Note the framing of the sun and foreground branches that contrast nicely with the smooth lines of the arch... Ok, enough of my awesome (snicker, snicker) photography skills.

I had a great visit with Ann and Bishop at their lovely home in Iowa City, IA. We took a little walk around the lake at their place, which was frozen over and covered with snow. Absolutely beautiful!!! (bad time to forget my camera, but then again, I'll be back at their place in a few weeks, so I'll get some pictures then) Downtown Iowa City is my kind of place. A 'university town' all the way. Cool stores, coffee shops, and eco-hippie food co-ops (VERY cool by the way!!!) I picked up a couple of zen bumper stickers and a 'travel Buddha' for the truck, then enjoyed a quiet evening with good friends and great conversation next to the wood burning stove.

The next morning dawned at a balmy 9 degrees. I said a temporary goodbye to A&B, then moved on up the road to Green Bay to see my friend Greg. The road was snowy and the entertainment of the day was watching the thermometer on the truck drop through the single digits to below zero. Thanks Greg for a warm place to sleep! Sorry about your beloved Pack last night, but I'm glad you guys didn't get frost-bitten. Hey, by the way, how close were you sitting to the 'bikini girls' they showed on TV??? haha.

Anyway, I've moved on to the west and have bedded down for the night tonight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I spent a warm and toasty night in the truck last night with the temperature down to minus-one outside somewhere near Spencer, Iowa, but completely cozy in my -20 rated mummy bag (remember back when I said that this would become my most prized possession... I wasn't kidding!!!) Although it was a bit painful getting out of the bag to put on the boots! It was AWESOME, huddled up, listening to the wind blow and watching the snow pile up. After seeing nothing but single-digit and below-zero temperatures, It's a balmy 11 in Sioux Falls! It almost makes want to break out the swimming trunks and have a nice cold pina colada... ummm, ok, maybe not!

The driving has been easier than I expected, I guess since it's SO cold that the snow just stays in a complete powder form, so you don't have too much ice to worry about, but I still take it easy! (don't worry mom!) It's funny to see the looks on other driver's faces as they pass me after seeing my "FLORIDA" license tag. hehe. They have this look like "stay the %&@# away from him!!!"

The snow started coming down really heavy this afternoon though, so I decided to treat myself to a hotel room tonight. I promise I'll do better on my posting and write whenever I have some access to the net. I'm headed further west tomorrow, towards the Badlands National Park. If it's open, I'll do some winter hiking and get some good pictures for my next post.

Oh, and on the sweet tea front: Non-existent in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, or South Dakota (although I'm gonna try to find some tonight.)

C-y'all next time.