In The Beginning

A trip is composed of many parts. The first part is just an idea - a spark; a tiny piece of randomness that captures your imagination. It burns low in the depths of you mind, flaring up now and again the way a stray breeze coaxes a smoldering pile of leaves into flame. Sometimes the little fire gutters out, lacking enough fuel to sustain it. But sometimes that spark in your mind refuses to be dampened. The flame grows a little bigger, fed by a snippet of conversation, an article, a dream. Given the right combination of fuel, the fire takes on a life of its own, burning big and bright enough to become a full-fledged inferno.

That’s how our girls’ trip began. Deb shared a link on Facebook about a buffalo roundup. We had read about it a year or so ago in a South Dakota tourism guide, and a tiny spark had flickered into life. It smoldered quietly all that time, like a well smoored fire, until Deb posted the article. Gin, Deb, and I pondered it, discussed it, and slept on it. The wee spark burst into flame. “Book it!” we all agreed.

Anticipation is another part of a trip. Our family are great planners – we love the dreaming and discussing, the research and study, the plotting and preparation. Tasks dropped easily into place. Deb, who is especially good at nailing down details, took charge of the itinerary. I’m chief cook and bottle washer, and Gin will be our chauffeur. Somewhere along the way, the next generation was invited into the fray, and our group of three became five: Deb, San, Gin, Tiff, and Dawn. The flames grew higher.

As I said, preparation is half the fun. We had official meetings, where rough drafts of the timeline were filled in piece by piece. Of course, the meetings always included plenty of good cooking – and laughter. “You have one job, Deb! Just bring the damn cheesecake!” We were assigned homework too. Since we are going to visit the ‘Dances With Wolves’ movie location, we all had to re-watch the movie. Each of us needed to learn a good ghost story to tell around the fire one night.

A Facebook thread kept us abreast of breaking developments. Days might go by without any activity, then suddenly a rash of posts would pop up as someone thought of something and the rest of the group chimed in. We had as much fun online as we did in the meetings. Here’s what we are like online:

MzDawn
Make sure horseback riding is on the itinerary pretty please!
Debbie
Very good. Your mom likes horseback riding too. I will look and see if it is available.
Tiffany
Yep! Can't wait! I love the idea of horseback riding!
Sandy
I've already checked on the horses. There is a lottery for a few people to join the roundup, but you must have livestock handling experience.
Debbie
Holy crap! I thought you were referring to a nice leisurely horseback ride experience...not round up the buffalo
Tiffany
I think she meant just riding horses not necessarily with 1000 lb. beasts.
MzDawn
I don't want to round up damn buffalo!!! I'd like to survive this trip!
Sandy
No, I meant I wanted to ride with the beasts! But I guess I'll settle for a trail ride....
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Debbie
OK group - need to think of a book to listen to as we travel along. Everyone try to think of one or two and I will get them on my iPod.
Tiffany
Ok and try to think of books with minimal sex scenes, because seriously I can think of no worse torture than being stuck in the car listening about "nipples like cherries" with my mother and my aunts.
MzDawn
Well said....I feel your pain!
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Sandy
So far we have 4 of our Native American names for the trip:
Black Kettle
Li’l Pot
Seeks Pie
Bean Gatherer
We need one for Deb!
Tiffany
Deb = Thunder Talker. Because James did tell her she sure is loud. haha
MzDawn
Omg dying!!!!! Perfect!
Debbie
LOL! And I am sorta the bossy one who organizes everything.
Sandy
Sorta?! snort
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Gin

Bean Gatherer has heap big bad news. My snore guard cracked. I gorilla glued it so I hope it holds else it will be noisy in wigwam.
Debbie

Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I am bringing heap big supply of sleeping pills.
Tiffany

I'm dying over here seriously
Sandy

Black Kettle will bring earplugs for all. I would hate to have some crabby squaw smother Bean Gatherer in her sleep.
Tiffany

Be careful Bean Gatherer packs a mean wallop!
MzDawn

Gorilla glue a snore guard....of course. With the amount of snoring that's gonna be going on, no one is sleeping. Please bring ear plugs Thunder Talker!
Sandy

I could bonk her with my kettle!
MzDawn

Or my Li’l Pot!
Debbie

I was thinking along the lines more of bringing Duck Tape
Gin

Oh hell you're killing me!
Sandy

Why are none of us sleeping?!
Tiffany

Who goes to bed this early? Not this tribe.
Debbie

Crap, I can't finish my work because I have to read what you crazies are doing! I may not sleep tomorrow night at all.
Sandy

Crazy Owl tribe. That's a little known branch of the Sioux.
Tiffany

Crazy Owl tribe, a small band of predominately women from the upper Illinois area. Known for their high pitched "cackling." Letters have been unearthed detailing the tribe’s ability to "scare the menfolk."

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Panic – yet another part of a trip! As d-day looms closer and closer, our to-do lists suddenly seem a lot longer than they had months ago. Last Saturday, we held the final pre-departure meeting. (Yes, there was cheesecake!) The final itinerary was reviewed and last minute changes agreed upon; the week’s menus and pre-trip cooking assignments divvied up. Question, questions. How much room in the HildeVan? Who is sleeping in the top bunks? Does everyone know where their National Park passport is? Who snores? And how badly? How cold will it get because winter clothes are still packed away? Who gets carsick? Morning sick? How many shoes can we bring? And so on….

Chuck Box

Now we have reached the final countdown…we leave in just 11 hours. My freezer is stuffed with 12 dozen homemade cookies; my living room strewn with tubs of food. My refrigerator is completely full. The chuck box is ready. I have the fidgets and pre-vacation butterflies! I just need one more day! I still haven’t packed a thing but seriously, if it weren’t for the last minute I’d never get anything done. Soon - finally - we get to the best part of all – the actual TRIP! “Westward Ho!” No, I’d better not call any of us hos! (Hos? Hoes? How do you pluralize that? If you add the ‘e’ it becomes garden tools. Wow I’m scatterbrained when I’m tired.) Let’s try “Wagons West!” See you all in South Dakota!

Cookies!

Food, glorious food