Black Hills - WOW!

Got here in time to see the evening program at Mt. Rushmore.  Quite an experience to sit in the amphitheater, right below the monument.  Warmed up by some visiting barbershoppers.  Those geezers were having a great time - got the crowd singing along.  Next a ranger gave a talk on the L & C trip which was followed by a film describing the construction and the meaning of Rushmore and ended by the lighting of the faces.  Was very moving and was very glad I made the effort to see it.

The following day I headed for the Crazy Horse memorial which honors the Native American people.  It was begun by Korczak Ziolkowski  and has been continued by his wife and 10 children after his death.  The site, which is privately supported, also includes a museum, cultural and education center and restaurant. It's huge,  the faces from Mt. Rushmore would fit into the head.  Several artisans were also there with hand-made crafts.  I'm going to regret not buying those earrings.

Went back to Mt. Rushmore thru the "eye and ear poppin' Wild Mouse" ride thru the Peter Norbeck  drive.  10, 15 & 20 mph hairpin and pigtail turns.  No railings.  When an engineer asked if it could be built, said all he needed was plenty of dynamite!  It was quite a thrill and found out Patience is great on the curves.

Explored Mt. Rushmore again and this time took the ranger tour.  Interesting story of how Gutzon Borglum  became the sculptor.  Seems the local politicians wanted to find something to bring people to the Black Hills after the gold rush fizzled.  They asked Borglum to talk to them about the possibility of doing a tribute to western heroes. He suggested something with more national appeal and drew a couple of pictures of Washington and Lincoln.  Unfortunately, he already had the Stone Mountain contract to do a tribute to confederate generals and couldn't do both.  He'd done a prototype of General Lee, seated on a horse, wearing a hat.  The good southern ladies (who were financing the endeavor) told him that NO southern gentleman would wear a hat in the presence of ladies and insisted it be removed.  He told them to shove it - literally.  He pushed the prototype off the mountain so it couldn't be duplicated and headed for South Dakota.

Off the Spearfish thru Spearfish Canyon.  It was spectacular.  Just when I thought I was going to run into a 200' wall, the road would make a sharp turn.  Paid my respects to Wild Bill and Calamity Jane in Deadwood.  The reality of their lives is quite a bit different from the Doris Day & Howard Keel rendition. However, Calamity did get her wish to be buried next to him.

Had a bit of a scare when leaving Lead.  Pulled off to the side of the road to take a picture and heard a scraping noise from Patience's tummy.  When I stopped for gas, saw a green liquid on the pavement.  Thought coolant so stopped at a auto repair place on the road.  Turns out Patience's coolant is PINK.  The mechanic refused to take anything for checking her out.  That's something else I want to mention.  I've stayed off the interstate and stuck to the back roads so I've gotten to see lots of lovely small towns.  People have been so kind and helpful with directions, recommendations, anything I need to know.  Food has also been outstanding.  Had the best BLT with home-grown tomatoes, smokey bacon and thick whole wheat bread at Cindy B's and home-made rhubarb pie at Penny's (from her garden).

Next was Devil's Tower - came up over a hill and there it was.  Nothing in the landscape to challenge its power.  Had no idea it was a solid piece of magma formed underground and millions of years later, water and wind removed everything from it.  Learned that from the ranger's walking tour around the base.  It's a huge attraction for climbers (record is 18 minutes- must've been part squirrel).  As you see, I didn't get very far.

A little more Wyoming, then Nebraska and a more extensive stay in Colorado.

Want to to begin by telling you what I've learned:

1 - If you choose the eastbound interstate instead of the desired westbound, you'll travel for quite a few miles until an exit appears

2 - ROAD NOT MAINTAINED BY STATE - means gravel road (the reason for the above interstate lesson)

3 - Patience is really good at U-turns.

4 - Although the sign at the Badlands says people have been coming there for 12,000 years, the man next to me corrected that information for his three children. Adam was born 3,000 years ago.

Traveled from MN to my first stop in SD, Aberdeen. Flat and beige except for small juts of pointed or loaf-shaped masses randomly scattered about. I'll let our geologist explain this puzzle. Then suddenly, fields and fields of sunflowers appeared. Flowers make you smile. It was amazing to see the variety of landscapes in the state - from stark to pine-infused hills



Went to the museum and picked up some interesting information about the town. The idea for the Yellowstone Highway which stretched from the east coast to Pugent Sound, originated there. Also, the USO fed thousands of WWII soldiers pheasant sandwiches as well as home-made pies. Speaking of pheasants, had to stop for a couple crossing the road - turkeys sashay; pheasants skitter



Began my Lewis & Clark trip down the Missouri River and had breakfast at Mobridge with Rosie. Her daughter lost her job so Rosie put her through nursing school. She's now working in a clinic on the reservation and Rosie left Cincinnati to join her a few months ago.

Stopped at on overlook to see the Sitting Bull and Sacajawea memorials. She was a captured Shoshone who was sold to a French trapper (who married her). L & C wanted to hire her husband as a guide but he refused to go without her. Turns out she was the more valuable guide, plus she had a baby (John Baptiste) on the way. Talk about working mothers! Now that I've seen the distance and the terrain these people traveled, I wonder how I would have fared. No instant oatmeal packets or tiny cans of V-8 juice. Am betting I'd have been tossed in a ravine

Next stop was Pierre (pronounced peer). It won the state capitol contest and the building (which also houses the state supreme court) was wide open for exploring. An interesting note was a sign in front of the governor's office on the first floor - Come on in. The grounds were lovely with lots of gardens and sculptures. Visited the Oahe Dam which was dedicated 50 years ago by JFK to tame the Missouri. Didn't work so well last year. Went to a presentation at the Moose Lodge about its construction and met some of the original workers, then stayed to hear a local country western band. The celebration was the following day and George McGovern was supposed to attend but had come down with a cold. Had the pleasure of being his escort at a 10th Dems fundraiser - a wise and kind gentleman.



While following the back roads to Kadoka, I heard what I thought was music coming from a small town called White River. Thought it might be a high school band practicing so decided to take a look. Turned out to be a rodeo and I plopped down beside a woman with a score card in her hand. Figured I'd watch for a while but ended up spending the entire afternoon with Donna while she explained rodeo to me. Her favorite was the barrel racing, which she competed in as a young woman. Turns out she was the former secretary for the rodeo sponsor (the Rotary). Which explains why this elderly man told her to tell the gd committee they spent too much gd money on the sound system and get the gd thing fixed by tomorrow. She smiled and told me he was the former president.

Spent the following day driving through the Badlands. It was like driving through a city of sand castles - palaces and ancient temples with columns, fretwork and deeply carved ravines. Decided to see it from both perspectives so when I reached the end, I turned around and drove back thru it



This is beginning to look like a novel, so will cover Rapid City plus, later

Greetings - Put some mileage on Patience but we've been having a great time together.  She's having the desired effect on me.  I actually pull over and LET people pass me.  For those who have had the pleasure of being my passenger, you know that's a huge shift in behavior.

Left Jeanne's on Saturday and while rolling down Hwy 56 to the Mississippi, had to stop for 2 wild turkeys crossing the road - then around the corner was a 20' turkey sculpture made from crushed beer cans.  Perhaps I'm reading too much into these omens.

Wandered along the Root River valley in southern MN and stopped to watch people bike and canoe.  Gorgeous day and a lovely winding road through beautiful scenery.  Next was Spring Valley, and while admiring the lovely old restored homes a sign caught my eye - Wilder Museum.  Although there's no relationship, decided to drop by and get acquainted with Laura Ingalls and joined a couple a guys and a docent touring an 1860s home.  She began listing my chores as a prairie wife and I had no problem with the coal hod, firebox, baking 8 loaves of bread, rocking the cradle while churning butter but bailed when we got to the chamber pots.  Luckily for me (and bad news for Tim), that job is assigned to the oldest son.   She also took us into a barn that had a collection of farm equipment, sleigh, surrey AND a 2 seater open cockpit airplane made from a kit using an auto engine.  Not 1860s material but darn impressive.

Planned to stay in New Ulm but there was no room at ANY inn. A very kind desk clerk at EconoLodge called around and found a room for me in Sleepy Eye (comments allowed here) where I met up with some youngsters celebrating their 55th high school reunion.  Back to New Ulm to get back on my route along the Minnesota River and straighten myself out on the definition of a Glockenspiel.  Not a wooden child's toy after all but a 45' tower that depicts the area's German history using carved wooden characters and music.  Unfortunately, it was pouring rain so didn't get to see the performance.

Next was Fort Ridgely, site of the Dakota War (or conflict) depending on who's telling the story.  It seemed like all could have been avoided had the Indian agent given  the tribe the promised provisions and gold for their signing over southern Minnesota.  Would love to have wandered the grounds more but still raining.  Good for Minnesota but not for hiking.   Sadly, many of the corn fields I passed were yellowed and brown.  Some even looked like they'd been hit by a wind storm and large swaths were laying on their sides.  A double whammy.

Up to Spicer to stay at my first network B & B.  My host was wonderful - welcomed me as a good friend traveling through and decided to stay 2 nites.  It was a lakeside home on Green Lake with a comfy suite. Stopped at her community garden plot on Monday to pick up some dinner ingredients and then on to New London to poke around the shops and art studios & have a panini lunch.  Met some of her friends that evening, some of whom were working on a Democratic state representative candidate's campaign. Together we diagnosed most of the world's problems. Sue winters in Laguna Beach so am planning to drop by on my CA tour.

Am in South Dakota now.  Will update you after the weekend. 

Looks like my Target experience is going to be a recurring theme!  While watching several small planes do butterfly imitations (which I later found out was crop dusting), I accidentally took the northern route and ended up in Wisconsin Rapids.  No matter - found a lovely county road along the Wisconsin River and saw some beautiful homes nestled along the banks.  This GPS toy is great!  Wove in and out the back roads before connecting up with my original path.  Took another detour thru an Amish area west of Viroqua.  Discovered Patience needs extra encouragement when climbing some of the steep hills.  Luckily, she comes equipped with a power button and springs into gazelle-style action.
 
Jeanne & I spent Tuesday visiting old haunts in LaCrosse and along the Mississippi River.  Also dropped in to see Mary, an old friend I haven't seen in almost 40 years.  Although she's had some health problems, it was lovely to "catch up".  Had our picture taken at the top of Grand Dad's Bluff. 

Going to visit another friend in Stevens Point tomorrow.  Leave for Minnesota on Saturday. 

 

August 5 - Well, I’m on my way!  All my earthly possessions are in a 10x10 storage locker or Patience, my car.  Good news is that everything fits.  There’s even room for a passenger.

Am in the middle of some transition time and much appreciated R & R – first in Lincolnshire with Barbara, who gave comfort to a really pathetic guest while I took care of the gnarly loose ends of leaving the townhouse.  My sister, Mary, has given me a beautiful lakeside retreat in Oshkosh and tomorrow I leave for Viroqua to stay with my high school buddy, Jeanne.  Then it’s on to Minnesota.

It was an interesting beginning – I had a “What the heck were you thinking?” moment when I couldn’t find my way out of the Target parking lot at Hwy. 59 & Higgins Rd. (you don’t want to know) but managed to shake it off when Jay pointed out I have a compass Ap on my phone.  At least next time I’m lost, I’ll know the direction I went.  Talk to you soon.