From Loveland CO, to Deadwood, SD is approximately a 5.5 hour drive through some incredibly beautiful landscapes. We took I-35 to just past Cheyenne, WY and then headed off northeast on US 85 towards Deadwood, SD.

I’m not certain about the exact location of the geological formation in my feature photo, but it is along this stretch of US 85. What I am certain about is that i must love this pillar, because I have photos of it from trips home from Arizona (before we started wintering in Texas).

The native photos app on my phone has an info icon that comes up on the photos in my library. I use this to search names of flowers and of landmarks. It’s usually pretty accurate, but this time was way off. Another feature of the info icon, is that I can enter a caption. When I remember to do this, I know exactly where the photo was taken … when I remember being key.

The snow alongside the highway was a cold reminder of the direction we were heading, but the day was sunny and we were singing along to our old favourites on the radio. We reminisced about previous trips to the Black Hills and we were looking forward to our next overnight stop, so the snow was a minor player.

We’ve visited the Black Hills, SD several times in the past, but our last visit was over 15 years ago with my Mom and Dad, so we were looking forward to once again spending the night in Deadwood, one of our favourite towns from the old Wild West. You can read about our last visit to The Black Hills here.

Photo Note: Aside from white balance correction and a bit of image tuning, my feature photo is “as shot”. I had my 58mm tele lens for phone attached. When I compared this photo with the last one I shot of this same formation, using my Nikon DSLR with a big zoom lens attached, I can honestly say that the one with my phone is better. Technology has allowed me to ditch all of that heavy equipment in favour of my phone.

“Coming from a country that’s rapidly changing, I love the idea of a place like South Dakota where nothing has really changed.

Chloe Zhao