"Butt-blisters," I responded, without hesitation.
"No really, what else?"
This time I had to think about it. Nothing really came to mind. Then it occurred to me that this might be my best vacation. Sure, the weather is hot and sometimes the biting insects are bit pesky, but overall the trip has been totally amazing. Well that's pretty wild, I thought to myself, I have nothing to complain about.
After passing through Pierre, SD, the route became desolate. The dry hills were scraped clean of any green vegetation. The clouds moved and changed form as the hours passed and the landscape retained its original barren beauty.
We pulled into a roadside park in the first town we had seen in over 30 miles. The run-down gas station was closed for the evening. The town of about 10 houses was eerily quiet. Everyone was out somewhere else to celebrate the Fourth of July.
A bit bummed about being so isolated on a night characterized by many festivities, Piper and I crawled up onto the roof of a small shelter and chatted as the sun set over the Western Plains.
Just as the stars began to appear, a car pulled into the roadside park. The door opened and a ten-year-old boy hit the ground running.
"Mind if we set off some fireworks?"
Piper and I looked at each other with smiles.
"Absolutely!"
And so that's how we ended up watching our own personal fireworks display on the Fourth of July, in a remote roadside park in Central South Dakota, under a brilliant starry sky.
