Rob jumped at the chance to visit St. Elmo street in Allentown, PA after coloring his Easter eggs. Why was he so interested in visiting here, you ask? Well... Rob Lowe happened to star in a little movie called St. Elmo's Fire, and the picture that tours the country is actually FROM that movie. Crazy!
Karen and Rob on St. Elmo street
Rob traveled out to Emaus, PA to color some Easter eggs.
Karen modeling the Eye-eggs, version #1.
Rob modeling the Eye-eggs, version #2
Rob watches over the three dozen eggs we colored.
The proud egg-makers. 
I got to experience a presidential election from the battleground state of Florida. I made my father drive around with me looking for voting locations to see if there was anything to see.
This sign has nothing to do with McCain or Obama, but it helped me to realize how Florida officials like to try to confuse their citizens. Who ever heard of a Red School Day?
The Obama-mobile
More political commentary from Florida citizens.
Sorry for the blurriness -- I took this at night from a moving vehicle. If you had to spend the rest of your life on a deserted island with either Joe the Plumber or Joe Six-pack, who would you choose?
Every day that I've been in South Dakota, the Weather Channel warns me that there will be rain and thunderstorms the next day. And every day I wake up, the weather is beautiful. It stays nice until 3 or 4 in the afternoon and then there's a thunderstorm. This system works fine for me. Rob and I woke up, saw the clear skies, and set out for the Devil's Tower in Wyoming.
I took this picture about 6 miles from Devil's Tower.
I did the 1.3-mile hike around Devil's Tower. Do you see any people in this picture? Look closely...
Maybe a little zooming in will help to see the rock climber. If you click on the picture it will zoom even more.
Here's a shot from the other side.
Prairie Dog!
I looked at a map when I was at the Devil's Tower -- no offense to Mrs. Weasleby, but sometimes I like to see the big picture. I realized we were about 30 miles from Montana, a state I never visited. So of course, I had to head north just to add it to my list!
After driving through the southeast nugget of Montana I returned to South Dakota. I wanted to visit Sturgis to see where the bikers hang out. I ate lunch at The Knuckle Saloon, one of the biker bars. It reminded me of... a biker bar.
After Sturgis I drove over to Deadwood. I was intrigued by the many casino billboards I had seen. I visited one of the casinos. I was the only player at a $2 blackjack table. It was weird. I guess I'm used to the more crowded casinos in Vegas or even Atlantic City. I played a few hands and took off. 
Rob and I went to Mt. Rushmore first. Look at those faces!
On my way to the viewing area there was a family of mountain goats. I like goats. Here's the baby goat. 
And here they are... Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. Got really lucky with the weather -- not a cloud in the sky!
This one goes out to all the people who have a soft spot in their hearts for Abe. 
After visiting Rushmore I drove along the Norbeck scenic route through the Black Hills. I took this picture because I kept seeing these piles throughout the mountain and I don't know what they're for. Any ideas?
On Heather's friend Tony's advice I drove through Custer State Park. He said there was a lot of wildlife there, but I wasn't really expecting to see any up close. I was wrong. Here is the first of three traffic jams I experienced. The first was due to a group of wild burros. 
Three burros came up to my car and scratched their necks on my side view mirrors. Here's one of them. We didn't talk, but I think he was very taken with Rob, who was in the back seat.
Buffalo vs. Benz. I'm rooting for the Buffalo!
More wildlife at Custer.
After driving on the Custer Wildlife Loop I took a ride on the Needles Highway. Here's a one-lane tunnel I got to drive through... 
... and the view on the other side!
With my trusty iPod aboard, I listened to Bruce Springsteen's Badlands as I drove from viewpoint to viewpoint.
I was a dork and read the little informational postings the Badlands people put up. Apparently that yellow and reddish stuff is indicative of the area previously being covered by a shallow ocean.
Wild sunflowers grew here and there throughout the park.
Yes, at some of the more empty viewpoints on the 20-mile loop road, I set up the tripod, got Rob out of the car, and took some shots. At one point when I was setting up my tripod (Rob was still in the car) a couple pulled up to see the sights. I guess the tripod gave me an air of authority because as the woman got out of the car, she called out "Yoo hoo, Mr. Photographer, will you take our picture?" Grrrr. I got "sir"ed at another national park. I know, I know... I have short hair and I was wearing a baseball hat. But I HAD to have my hat on because my hair was messy from the wind! Whatever. I took her pictures, waited for them to drive away, and got Rob out of the car.
Anyone want to walk along the trail with many stairs?
The town of Wall is right outside of the Badlands. I started seeing signs for Wall Drug as far east as Minnesota. I later learned that there are signs for Wall Drug as far away as Amsterdam and Africa. I visited Wall Drug, home of the 5-cent cup of coffee. It's a giant place filled with rooms and rooms of stuff to buy. This is the cowboy boots room. Hooray, boots!
