Day 2 of our road trip started off nice and easy.  We were not in a hurry so we took our time to do normal things and to sight see.  Bijan went for a jog and after getting back he found it very hard to cool down. We were not used to the heat and humidity.  Even after a cold shower he was finding it hard to stop sweating. The air was very warm and we were only a day’s drive south of Sask.  I thought in my mind……this should be interesting…….the further south we go and the hotter it was going to get.  Poor Bijan was going to melt.  We packed up and headed back on the road.  First we did a quick stop to buy a Sturgis T-shirt and patch and then off to find Mt. Rushmore. It didn’t take us long and we were into the park.  It was beautiful and we chose to drive through most of it before turning back to the highway.  We passed by the Heads, took some pictures and continued down the road. 

As we rolled into Rapid City we stopped at a Best Buy to buy a couple Magic Jacks. This little device is only $40 and it includes a year’s worth of long distance to anywhere in North America. It has a U.S. phone number coded to it and all you do is plug it into a USB port of a computer connected to the internet and voila… you now have a telephone.  (Remember we are talking 2009.  Before the entire world was connected)  We were happy to find the Magic Jack so we can easily call home.  We stopped and had a quick picnic outside the BestBuy on their staff picnic table.  Bijan and I would stop at a grocery store and buy bread, peanut butter, fruit, tomatoes, cheese and drinks.  This way we brought down our expenses and saved time.  I even had a cutting board inside the truck to make road sandwiches.

After leaving Rapid City, we made our way down to Burlington, CO. We stopped into the first motel we saw. It was a small one and the sign inside clearly said no pets.  I went in and asked the little old lady if we could bring the cat. We found that honesty is the best policy.   We were prepared to take our lumps for the trouble of bringing a cat. The little old lady looked at me and said “Oh no problem, you can bring your little cat in here.” She charged us a little extra and it was a win/win.

Again, we let Ziggy out to stretch his legs. He was a bit cautious as there were other cats in the area. We heard a truck pull up to one of the rooms next to us.  I was watching out the window and noticed the guy get out of his truck.  He grabbed a shotgun from the back and took it into his room.  I was not used to this and it freaked me out.  I know Americans like their guns but it still shocked me.  Ziggy was still out and I went out to look for him.  After 5 min of looking for him and calling for him I found him. 

The man next door, had his door open and I couldn’t help to look in. He was living in this room. He had it all decked out with personal hangings on the walls and shelves. Of course, there was Ziggy.  Sitting inside his room and I had to step in to get him. The man was very friendly and said he liked cats.  He stepped outside to meet Bijan and called him sir.  His name was Scott and he was a welder.   He asked about work in Canada. We had a friendly conversation and then said our good byes and took Ziggy back with us.  We chilled out and watched some TV.  The weather station warned us of a storm coming.  Bijan ran out and grabbed our duffle bag off the top of the truck.  The winds were picking up and it was beginning to rain. Soon major thunder and lightning and a massive amount of rain came down and washed our car and the entire county. Ziggy was freaking. We were all very happy to be in the room, dry and together.