Rusty had been lost in thought, it was obvious that I pulled her out of it.

"I'm not sure where the water caves are, but if it's in driving distance, that will be part of the trip. I was thinking the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota... something we could do without being in crowds or needing guides much. There are some neat caves in the Hills that have magnificent formations underground, and they were formed by water and time. I've been in a couple of them, and they are beautiful."

She seemed excited by the idea, and I knew that keeping her away from crowds would help in her recovery for a while. There were lots or pretty roads in the Hills, and open areas in a State Park where you could go to drive through buffalo herds, through donkey herds. You could visit a prairie dog city, watch the antelope and mountain goats and Dall sheep. And you could just enjoy the beauties of nature without the crush of crowds.

Surfing online, there were lots of hotels which had rooms open this summer; I reserved the best rooms with hot tubs in them and made sure we would have no huge long-haul drives. This would give us a little break from planning, and would use some of the time we had to burn anyway.