Where in the World...

Are we??

Who can figure out which state in the Continental U.S. we are in?

This is a contest. But as I am a cheapskate, on the road, and am figuring this out as I go along, I don't have anything to give away. So for the prize, for the first one to figure out where we are, I'll e-mail you some scenic views from our vacation (holiday).

Tonights clue is the picture up on top. If someone doesn't figure it out in 24 hours, I'll edit this post and add another clue.

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The first guess. The first guess!

OK, Do'C got it on the first try. We actually spent the first night of our vacation in Iowa, but with apologies to any Iowans out there, I didn't take any pics that first night (though the kids and I did find a family of toads outside the motel while Liz was checking in).

Our second night was spent in South Dakota (we didn't stay in Sturgis, we actually stayed a few miles down the road in Spearfish). But that didn't matter, as the annual Bike Rally in Sturgis draws 500,000 (!) people on their bikes (mainly Harley Davidson's) to South Dakota. Our first inkling that our vacation coincided with Bike Week was in trying to make reservations. Liz found that most motels (single rooms in 2 star nothing special places) were going for $300/night!!! I was like "What!! We're not talking New York City, this is South Dakota!" We soon found the reason, and eventually found a room for just over $200/night, which still hurt.

There have been Harleys everywhere!


And amazingly, the kids don't see anything abnormal with this. Today we saw the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD (it's a building that is covered in-you guessed it-corn! Quite a-maize-ing, actually),


As well as stopped at Wall Drug for "Free Ice Water!" as well as ice cream.


Tonight we've moved on. For a second prize (reward same as the first) this new location has unique geologic phenomena found in only 4 other places in the world. For the prize, name the place, AND the 4 other countries where these phenomena are found.

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Next clue.

Although there are a few scattered in other places, the 4 other countries that have significant concentrations of these geological phenomena that are located in the park we are visiting are Russia, New Zealand, Iceland, and Chile.


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Ding, ding, ding, ding!

We have our second winner! Niksmom is right. We saw Old Faithful erupt today (twice), as a matter of fact.