There was a car following Yunluo from behind. Seeing Yunluo driving very slowly, he was looking for a chance to overtake, so he was very close to Yunluo. But after almost hitting the deer this time, he seemed to be scared and started to stay away from Yunluo.

Yunluo breathed a sigh of relief as they slowly drove out of the narrow forest road. Along the way, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu kept their eyes wide open and stared at the dark road. The two close encounters with wild deer still left Yunluo and Yan Chenyu with lingering fears, but they did not expect that Yunluo and Yan Chenyu's "fate" with deer had not yet ended.

Just after merging from the small road to the main road, Yunluo once again braked in front of a deer. This time, the huge, horned elk was leisurely strolling on the road. Because of the limited visibility, Yunluo had to get very close to see it. After he braked suddenly, it was stunned for a moment and immediately jumped off the road.

This deer was much bigger than the two he had encountered before, but for some reason Yun Luo didn't feel nervous at all. Could it be that he had gotten used to it after encountering animals two or three times? !

Yunluo actually admired her own calmness in such a situation, because if she turned the steering wheel suddenly, it would easily cause the vehicle to lose control, so controlling the direction and braking the car was the most important thing. When Yunluo was learning to drive, she often heard the instructor emphasize this issue, and now she thinks it is right.

Soon after they walked out of the forest, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu quickly found a relatively large town with many hotels, which was a good place to rest. After driving for several hours in the night, Yunluo was exhausted, so he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

The trip was coming to an end, and the next task was to return to Illinois safely. The journey back from Yellowstone took about 21 hours, passing through five states, and the only attraction Yunluo had arranged on the itinerary was Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore is like many tourist attractions in China, an artificial attraction built to make money. And when it was built, due to severe lack of funds, only five presidents' heads were carved before the project was stopped (the original plan was to carve full-length portraits), but even so, it took them 14 years to build.

Yunluo and Yan Chenyu didn't take this attraction too seriously, they just came here to take pictures because it was a must-go. And the weather today was very bad, it was rainy all the way, which was the worst weather Yunluo and Yan Chenyu encountered during this trip.

The rain got heavier when Yunluo and Yan Chenyu arrived at Mount Rushmore National Memorial Park, completely ruining their mood. Yunluo and Yan Chenyu came to the viewing platform with umbrellas. Seeing the five most famous presidents in American history "crying" in the heavy rain made Yunluo and Yan Chenyu see the funny and humorous side of the usually serious politicians.

Overall, Mount Rushmore is just a very small memorial park. There is no other scenic spot worth mentioning in the entire state of South Dakota, so it can only be used to show off.

Yunluo and Yan Chenyu stayed at Mount President for an hour before leaving in a hurry. After they left, the weather cleared up and the sun shone brightly. Yunluo joked that it was actually because the presidents were so excited to see Yunluo and Yan Chenyu that they burst into tears.

Driving east from Mount Rushmore, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu were surprised to find that they would pass through a national park, Badlands National Park. They had never heard of this park before, but after searching Google for pictures, they found that it looked like a smaller version of the Grand Canyon.

Because there is little vegetation here, the rocks are strangely shaped, and the surface looks like an alien planet, it is called Badlands National Park. Badlands National Park is right next to Highway 90 where Yunluo and Yan Chenyu drove all the way, but it is not until you enter the park gate that you can discover the strange terrain here.

The stones here were a yellowish earth color that Yunluo had never seen before, and there were occasional sparse weeds on the ground. At this time, the sun was slowly setting in the west, shining with a fiery red light, and a large black cloud was rolling in from the east. The whole scene was really like the surface of an alien planet.

Every national park in the United States has its own unique features. The more you look at this Badlands Park, the more different it is from the Grand Canyon. It is less majestic and more spooky, less generous and more cunning. Although the Badlands is less famous than other national parks, you will never be disappointed if you visit it.

Due to time and schedule constraints, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu did not have more time to explore this wonderful geological landscape in depth, and only saw the tip of the iceberg before continuing on their way. However, the few hours they spent in Badlands National Park also left a deep impression on Yunluo and Yan Chenyu.

There are so many amazing geological structures on this vast land of the United States. Although the United States has only more than 200 years of cultural history, these vastly different surface forms tell the ancient story of the Earth that is hundreds of millions of years old in this young country.

After the Badlands National Park, they basically entered the flat plains of the Midwest. Yunluo and Yan Chenyu did not go to any other scenic spots except for a short overnight stay at the University of Iowa. From the barren Gobi Desert to the steep mountains and ridges, to the lush and endless green, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu could say to themselves with a smile that the territory of the United States is just like this.

The 15-day trip was smooth sailing, and the itinerary was almost 90% consistent with Yunluo's plan. Although he had seen so many beautiful sights along the way, Yunluo still felt that there were still many places he hadn't seen enough, and he always hoped to stay a little longer in one place.

This vast area of ​​the western United States is so majestic that it seems that after visiting it, my temperament has also improved to a higher level.

This trip has been Yunluo's dream for a long time. Every time he wanted to go, it was either because the season was not suitable or he could not make time, so he has not been able to go for a long time.

When Yunluo learned that he would have a few weeks of free time before school started at the end of August, he started his plan to travel west to the United States three months in advance.

Making a plan is also a very exciting process. Often, I can inadvertently discover some beautiful scenery that I have never heard of from everyone’s travel guides on the Internet. As long as they do not deviate too much from Yunluo’s general route, Yunluo will happily add them to his itinerary.

Moreover, Yunluo would read the travel notes written by different tourists for each scenic spot. Only after confirming that it was really worth visiting would Yunluo include it in the plan. Therefore, there were no stops along the way that Yunluo and Yan Chenyu felt were a waste of time.

Yunluo printed out a copy of the simple maps of all the national parks he found, made a table of the addresses of all the passing points for easy input into the navigator, and intercepted a lot of very useful travel notes. Yunluo put all this information in a folder and carried it with him. After more than ten days of walking, Yunluo had almost read it to pieces.

There are commemorative stamps in the visitor center of each national park. Yunluo stamped all the homework he had done in advance with the seal of the corresponding national park. It can be regarded as a kind of review of Yunluo and other students' homework by these geography teachers.

Summer is the peak tourist season for national parks in the western United States. Hotels are difficult to book and are expensive. However, since Yunluo started paying attention to hotels two or three months in advance, he did not encounter any obstacles.

Yunluo and Yan Chenyu did not stay in any luxury hotels for the past ten days. Instead, they booked economical chain motels on the roadside, with prices ranging from US$60 to US$120.

Fortunately, the service industry in the United States is really developed, and the sanitary conditions and supporting facilities of these small hotels are also very good. Even the camping sites have very complete service facilities. For self-driving backpackers like Yunluo and Yan Chenyu, they really feel at home.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Yunluo also felt that if he really drove into Hilton every night during a self-driving tour, it would ruin the atmosphere of riding in the wilderness. So Yunluo felt that the accommodation along the way was both economical and he did not feel wronged.

The most troublesome part about booking rooms and campsites is to coordinate them with the itinerary. The disadvantage of booking early is that if you encounter any uncertainties in the first few days of the trip that delay you for a while, all subsequent reservations will have to be cancelled and started over, and there is no guarantee that there will be rooms available.

Yunluo was very glad that Yunluo and Yan Chenyu could follow the plan and did not have to suffer in booking a hotel. Google Maps was a great help in this regard. This map not only helped Yunluo and Yan Chenyu locate, but also calculated the driving distance and time between two points clearly for Yunluo and Yan Chenyu, and it was very reliable.

Yunluo and Yan Chenyu were also very casual when it came to eating. They both knew that the theme of this trip was unlikely to be gourmet food, so they were not picky when it came to eating. They just filled their stomachs while trying to eat healthy food.

Later, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu discovered that the best hot dogs in the United States are in gas stations, the most delicious roast chickens are in supermarkets, and the most appetizing steaks are from the backyard of their own tents. Normally, it may cost 15 dollars per person to eat at a restaurant, but Yunluo and Yan Chenyu can often enjoy a meal on the road for only 5 dollars.

Before setting off, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu prepared a large refrigerator. They bought some edible ice cubes from the gas station and put them in it, and used it as a simple refrigerator.

Even though this refrigerator takes up a lot of space in the back seat, it ensures that the fruits or salads that Yunluo and Yan Chenyu eat are fresh, and also ensures that Yunluo and Yan Chenyu can have refreshing drinks at any time under the scorching sun.

In short, a car, full of luggage, and a belly full of excitement are the carriers of this wonderful fifteen days. Tired of travel agencies and stereotyped metropolises, this long-distance self-driving tour is the craziest trip Yunluo and Yan Chenyu have ever taken. There are too many surprises in this land that should be discovered, and Yunluo and Yan Chenyu should also have more trips to enrich their lives. (To be continued...)