I finished classes in Fuyang Jiangnan High School on June 21 and left China on June 25. Now I only have 5 weeks before I leave for Peru. My roommate, Christine, got married on July 7th in Seattle and so instead of flying I drove with Micah there.

The Badlands, SD

We basically took I-90 from Chicago all the way across. After 13 hours of driving the first day we stopped in the Badlands, South Dakota and camped under the stars (because we had a miscommunication as to who was supposed to bring their tent and so we ended up with none) which was really nice because of the dry weather and clear skies.

We passed a prairie dog town, which evidently they have the PLAGUE!!! Watch out for those guys.

Got to see some really nice sunsets from the road.

National Bison Range, MT

Our next stop was Helena, Montana and to the National Bison Range. They keep a steady 350 bison there because of how much land they have and at different times of the year they move them around from one range to another for grazing. It was such a beautiful wildlife sanctuary, we saw the bison (of course), a mama black bear and her cub, antelope, deer, mule deer and other different rodents and birds.

Crossing the Columbia River on the Washington-Idaho border. 

Then on the 4th day of driving (5th for me since I started in Washington DC), the 4th of July we finally made it to Seattle.

This is the view from Edmonds, WA looking across the Puget Sound and at the Olympic Mountains on the peninsula.