Midwestern through and through

Ah, South Dakota. It was good. As it got closer to my time of departure, I was starting to kick myself for volunteering to go work 12 hour days all weekend, including Labor Day. I know I said 18 hours, but that was because I was counting the hour we had to drive there and back everyday, plus the fact that every waking moment was planned around work.

Although we were working hard, it felt almost like a vacation. I was able to escape the busyness of the city life and enjoy the simplicity of the Midwest for an entire week. We spent the week at the State Fair, manning a booth and educating voters about an initiative on their ballot. I love campaigning, so add to that the fact that I got to eat fried food all week and it was almost paradise. Deep-fried Oreos three times in one week? Heaven.

I have to give a plug for Hampton Inn, because I think it's an awesome affordable place to stay. Everything was really clean and their continental breakfast? Wow. I ate three times as much for breakfast than I normally do. They also had a 24 hour workout room and a pool and hot tub.

We made friends with the middle-aged waitress at Ruby Tuesday who was fascinated that we were from D.C. and asked for our information so she could keep in touch. Very cute.

We also met boys. Yess! In fact, we got so much attention throughout the trip that in a raw moment of truth, I said, "We need to move here." I saw so many babies and adorable kids, I was convinced I needed to just quit my job and start a family . . right.now! One of the boys we met was full of bad intentions. Being the "too nice" person I am, I agreed that although he could not take me to the concert alone with him, he could accompany my friend and I. . After taking us to bullriding the first night and sending me innapropriate text messages the following day, I soon realized he was a freak (and married), and we quickly replaced him with some very nice boys from the Governor's campaign. Boys with manners, appropriateness, and good morals. They made the Diamond Rio concert twice as fun as it would've been if just the two of us had gone. Because 4 people singing off key is way better than two.

I became pretty homesick being in the wide open spaces and didn't particularly want to go back to the big city. The last night of the trip, we were in a town just 3 hours from home. My family and I met halfway for dinner and brought the perfect ending to my trip. I was ready to go back.