In western South Dakota, a buffalo nibbles grass on the side of a road. One sight of the behemoth, its spindly legs supporting its bulk as if by magic, and I'm hooked. three weeks into a drive from New Jersey to Alaska, on what I intended to be a quick detour into Custer State Park, a rush of giddiness takes the wheel. The West can wait.
Read the rest of my road trip story in the May issue of National Geographic Traveler or in the magazine's Zinio edition.