To sum up yesterday:

• Washington: obviously, gorgeous
• Idaho: glorious
• Montana: beautiful

Today I drove 860 miles in 12 hours.  I finished Montana, cut off the top right corner of Wyoming, and pretty much crossed South Dakota completely.

Wyoming:

• Cowboys.
• Snow
• Pretty

South Dakota:

• Flat
• Ugly
• Boring
• Full of rude drivers
• Bed with leftover hairs in my hotel (not a cheap one either!)

I am so ready to leave South Dakota, aside from really wanting to sleep.  The first half was fine, but then driving started getting real annoying.  First of all, I definitely drive like a jerk sometimes, but I swear this whole trip I have been really nice and careful because I don’t know the roads.  I haven’t gone more than 9 over the speed limit because most of the limits are 65-75 and that’s plenty high, even for me.   Also, please note that the speed limit signs are few and far between.

I got pulled over at one point while I was actually going under the speed limit (of 75) because I was waiting for the cop to pass me, and he tells me he clocked me FOURTEEN MILES BACK going 75.  Now, I know for a fact that in WA a cop can’t pull you over if he’s been following you at the same speed for more than 2 miles, but I don’t know if that’s nationwide (I assume not, but it does seem like a good rule).  I let it go, I was nice and apologetic because I really didn’t realize the speed limit had been reduced.  He said 14 miles back, the speed limit was 65.  He gave me a verbal warning.  That’s great.  But still annoying - fourteen miles?  Pull me over when I’m actually doing something wrong, not 10 minutes later.

Then I need gas, and my gas finder app tells me where the closest one is.  It is the creepiest place ever and it doesn’t take credit cards, plus I hafta pee, and there’s no way I’m going into a deserted creeper gas station alone.  No.  Murders happen that way.  But the next station isn’t for 28 miles and my gas light has just gone on.  I haven’t pushed my car very far since I got it, so I was a little nervous.  Luckily I made it, but SD teased me TWICE saying “gas next exit,” and both stations were CLOSED “for the season”!!  WTF South Dakota.  WTF.

Anyway, then it starts getting dark as days tend to do.  I have my cruise control on so that I don’t get pulled over again by any cops that may be 10-20 miles behind me.  And I’m still passing some people.  One person can’t seem to maintain his speed, and we keep leapfrogging.  Fine, but I’m the one with my cruise control on.  My speed hasn’t changed.  Then he decides he needs his brights on whether he’s behind me or in front of me, so I just let him stay in front of me (this is unlike me; like I said I am driving very nicely!).  Then I am behind another person (and still pretty far back), and someone in the oncoming lanes has their brights on which is blinding me, so I flash my brights at THEM (habit, I didn’t mean to piss off the person in front of me) and they shut them off, but the once I pass the person I’m behind, they get RIGHT up on my tail and turn on their brights in what can only be retaliation, because that’s a pretty aggressive move.  And they stay there.  For like 20 miles, no joke - whether I move over for them to pass me or not.  Then it becomes a game of leap frog between the two douchey brights drivers that BOTH want to shine their brights at me.  I was feeling incredibly harassed, and it was super stressful.

Anyway, I hate South Dakota.  I hope one day someone changes my mind about this state, but as of right now, I have no choice but to assume that this entire state is full of asshats.

The hotel I’m in is nice, but when I went to lay down I found a hair on one of my pillows.  Gross, but I just picked it off and pretended it didn’t exist.  Then there was another.  One I can ignore, two I cannot.  The guy from the front desk just came up and changed my sheets because there are no maids right now, which was very nice of him (even though obviously someone had to and it shouldn’t have been me - this isn’t a Motel 6 it’s a Marriott), and they added 5000 points to my mom’s rewards account for the trouble (she booked my hotels with her points).

So tomorrow I can try to sleep in and I only have another 4 hours or so til I get to Des Moines.  In a hotel there for one night and then I get to move in to my apartment on Monday.  

I hope the worst of this trip is over, and I hope Iowa is full of nice people.