Sunday, June 23, 2013. I’m really too tired to be writing this but we did so much today if I don’t get it on record I’ll never remember it all! And if this doesn’t make a lot of sense it’s because I am so dang tired I can barely form a coherent thought. It’s hard to believe this is only the second day of vacation. Somehow it seems we’ve been gone much longer. Sleep last night wasn’t the most restful because the beds were really hard! How hard were they? They were so hard I’d wake up and my arm would be asleep on the side I was lying on. It stormed most of the night too, with high winds, a lot of rain and some hail. Between the thunder and lightning and the planks for beds, I didn’t wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. (‘Cause I’m normally such a morning person, you know. Not!)
Anyway, we ate a quick breakfast of cereal and loaded up the van. Well, except for me who was busy searching high and low for Dane’s wallet. The wallet he had entrusted to me last night and is now nowhere to be found. I never did find it, although everyone seems to think it will turn up. I’m so glad most of his cash is in my wallet. Anyway, we finally got on the road only to find there was a huge nail in one of the tires. So off we went in search of a town big enough to have a store like Farm King to get it repaired. Luckily enough, at the gas station where we stopped for directions in Chamberlain Dan and Tim bonded with some local characters who happened to be able to repair it right away. First we had them drop us off at a local flea market. After all the wind and rain (which was between 2.9 and 8 inches depending on who you asked), the grounds were muddy and the merchandise wet. Still, we were able to find a few goodies and the men got to look around too since the tire repair went so quickly. I bought a really cute pair of shoes with Dios de los Muertes skulls on them!
Still in Chamberlain, we stopped at the St. Joseph Indian School and Museum. It contained a wealth of information and artifacts from native American culture. It also had movie props from “Dances With Wolves”, some very fragrant Linden trees, and a pretty nice gift shop. Well, except for the two incompetent clerks who couldn’t figure out how to exchange an item for Gin and frankly, didn’t care much if they ever got it right. I hope they are teaching the students better skills!
We set out for the Badlands, but first made a stop at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. I needed my National Park Passport book stamped, and everyone else wanted to buy a passport too. Unfortunately, they were fresh out of passports but I got mine stamped. I am not going to gloat, however, that I have one more stamp than anyone else.
Finally, the Badlands! A nice temperature and bright blue sky made it a perfect day to hike around these incredible eroded formations. We got a little silly, photo bombing each other and generally acting foolish and having a great time. We saw a whole herd of mountain goats, which looked kind of scraggly by the way. We were having so much fun we forgot to have lunch so decided to drive the half-hour to Wall and eat there. A trip to Wall isn’t complete until you stop at Wall Drug so we did, of course, and actually could have skipped it. It really is just a giant gift shop. We ended up eating lunch in a shady spot in the Wall Drug parking lot next to the railroad tracks and then it was back on the road for Mt. Rushmore.
It was late afternoon before we arrived at Mt. Rushmore, and the setting sun behind the mountain didn’t make for the best photo opportunities. But the grandeur of those immense granite faces is something everyone needs to witness personally. It is truly magnificent (even if it does spark silly arguments such as whether or not snow would cling to Washington’s nose). I think we are a little punchy by this point, actually.
Into the Black Hills National Forest we drove, up and down winding switchbacks, through tunnels and over log bridges. We drove along roads that clung to the side of a mountain, with sheer drop-offs on the other side. We were on our way to Custer State Park where we are spending the night. The pine-covered mountains had a lot of logging done, clearing the trees dead from insect damage. Since it was dusk, the mule deer were out and about and we saw a lot of them. Well, the men did anyway and made the women feel inferior since they could spot them more frequently than we could. (It could have been due to the fact that they could look out the front windows and all we had were tinted side windows but whatever.) Somehow I think we got turned the wrong way because we were on the road an awfully long time, so long in fact we decided to eat in the town of Custer instead of cooking at the cabins. A good, hearty meal at the Cowboy Café disappeared in record time. Dane ate an entire 1/3 pound buffalo burger and fries with not a crumb left over!
We finally arrived at our cabins in Custer State Park. Ours was really nice, but the men’s was in a different campground area so we haven’t heard how theirs looked. It is so peaceful and quiet, and the supermoon is big and bright over the pines. At this altitude, it is much cooler so I had to get out a hoodie. All in all, a good day. I hear quiet snores all around me as I finish this blog. There is no Internet connection here so it will get uploaded when I can find a connection. Goodnight!
No comments:
Post a Comment