We were warned  that we could run into snow. We checked the weather and thought we would miss it - no problem. Then we rolled out of bed this morning, opened the curtain and blinked several times. "Is that SNOW!?" Well, yes it was. Just a light dusting. No big deal.
So we packed up the car and headed out of Rapid City South Dakota. Which by the way was really charming. I wouldn't have minded exploring a bit. But we wanted to see Mt. Rushmore ,as my husband said "before they blow it up". So off we went. Once out of town the snow got really serious, along with sleet, and freezing rain. See the pictures above. We've lived in Florida for - well let's just say for a really long time and haven't had to drive in snow and ice for many years. So we crept along s l o w l y. As the weather deteriorated we decided we were going to have to forego our Mt. Rushmore visit and just hope that it survives until we can make it back here. Better to be flexible than stubbornly soldier on and possibly slip off a mountain.

We made a stop in Custer to have some breakfast and give the weather a chance to improve. That was a good decision because the weather did in fact improve. On our way to Cody we drove through a wide variety of landscapes. In Wyoming we climbed a mountain taking the switchback curves with care up ,up, up while the temperature plummeted down, down, down about 25 degrees.
The wildlife made regular appearances on our sojourn. We saw Several herd of antelope grazing. And two groups of deer crossed the road right in front of us. I found it interesting they way they would cross the street and once safely on the other side they turned and looked at us before going on their way. It felt like we just shared a moment.

One more picture. This was the view from the top of the mountain in Wyoming. Of course the photo can't do it justice,but I wanted to show you anyway.