South Dakota & Spontaneity Part. 1

My friends and I recently decided it was extremely necessary to leave the state of Utah in search of diversion and vacation. We aren’t fond of the drink and we rarely gamble, so our possible destination points were endless. Being that it was the 4th of July weekend we were filled with an inordinate amount of patriotism and jubilee. This joy and whimsy we were imbued with led us to the decision to travel to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. We figured it was only 11 hours away, and you have to see it at some point right? So we made plans to leave around 11:00 p.m. on the 4th after the fireworks and related festivities. The day of, we started telling people of our capricious plan to visit the Black Hills and were met with no small amounts of laughter and sarcastic remarks on the supposedly boring and pointless nature of the journey we were about to undertake. Even many who had visited Mt. Rushmore in all its glory opined that it was cool to see, but not worth the 11 hour drive through Wyoming to look at a mountain for 10 minutes, then leave.

We had 5 best friends together and were not about to let the poor attitude of others deflate our elation. So at around 1:30 a.m. we entered the car and commenced our trip to South Dakota. We got about a mile away and decided we needed to consume food immediately. We headed to Sonic, ate mediocre food and took an Instagram with our delicious drinks to commemorate the genesis of our journey.

The drive through the night and into the morning was long and bereft of any gorgeous vistas or exceptional landmarks, but somehow we managed to have an amazing time. The point of this post is twofold: I wish to document the fun trip I had with my friends, but more importantly I wish to explain how easy it is to enjoy any moment in life. We could have had a very boring trip full of complaints and regret, but we had an epic vacation full of spontaneity and poignant memories. I believe two things. I believe that personnel will always trump geography. And I believe that every experience can be wonderful and enjoyable if we only allow it to be. This post will be replete with obvious clichés; but who does not need the occasional reminder on how to follow the Latin instructions carpe diem?

Our driving immediately commenced with loud music interspersed with colorful dialogue and crafty opportunities for photographs. Our laughter and consumption of caffeine fueled us all the way to Green River, Wyoming, our first stop.

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