July, 2004

For our getaway this summer we headed for the Black Hills of South Dakota. Tammy and I have been there twice together and we thought Rachel would enjoy the trip as well. We left Toby and Allie in the loving care of Jackie and Jerry’s family. I’m always a bit concerned when I pick them up after they’ve been at Jerry and Jackie’s for several days because I think they enjoy their house more. You can’t beat having a fenced in backyard to run free in if you’re a dog. At our home, they can only sit by the back sliding door and dream of being outside. Maybe we should consider an invisible fence.

On our way out of town we stopped by Mom’s to show her the van we rented. Her flowers are looking very beautiful this year if you haven’t had a chance to see them. We were on our way a little after 1:00pm and had a reservation at the Radisson in Sioux Falls.

Rachel makes some very cool lanyards from the array of threads she has. She’ll have us pick out a few colors and in no time she’s showing us the finished product. Here, Tammy is picking out some colors for an ankle lanyard. It’s a nice pastime for the road for Rachel.

We got into Sioux Falls around 5:30 and got ourselves situated in our hotel room and began plotting our night’s activities. Rachel discovered that our room was haunted but it was a friendly ghost so we didn’t complain.

We checked out the Empire Mall but after less than an hour we decided to head into town and find a restaurant for dinner. To our amazement, we quickly learned that nearly every establishment in downtown Sioux Falls closes its doors by 6:00pm. Even the Quiznos Sub shop was closed. We found an open coffee shop where we each got something to drink.

Before finding a restaurant we stopped to check out the ‘falls’ of Sioux Falls. Here’s a photo looking out over the falls from an observation tower. I’m not sure if any of you are into the 3d stuff but if you are, here’s a 3d photo I took of the falls up close. Cross your eyes slightly until the two images begin to form a third image. Once the two images merge to form the third image you may begin to see the 3d affect.

A quick stop at BestBuy for a memory card for my camera and we were back at our hotel with its attached T.G.I.Fridays restaurant. Rachel ponders the menu.

We were hoping to jump in the pool for a quick swim after dinner but it was closing as we got back. It seemed we rolled into town a few hours too late to take advantage of much and we had a long day ahead of us so we decided to call it a day.

Tuesday morning we got on the road a little late but hey, we were on vacation. We called Jackie to check up on the pups and learned that Toby had destroyed an antique hat with feathers which Jackie had sitting by her bed. She assumed that it must’ve fallen for Toby to find it but I explained that he’s very good at climbing up on things to look for stuff to chew on. It was nice to know that other than that they were doing fine. We had breakfast at IHOP and were on the road a by mid morning.

It was a beautiful day but it was going to be a hot one. We made good time across the state and found a couple talk radio stations to carry us along. Just past Al’s Oasis on Interstate 90 in Chamberlain you come upon the Missouri River…or the Mighty Mo. We measured it at 8 tenths of a mile across. The water had an aqua tint to it.

There wasn’t much to see between the Mighty Mo and the Badlands. Rachel kept herself occupied by making lanyards and watching movies. We arrived in the Badlands about mid afternoon and stopped at a trail leading to the Notch. To get to the Notch you have to hike maybe 20 minutes. It gets a bit precarious at times with no railings near steep drop-offs and loose footing. There’s also a Jacob’s ladder you have to climb. The temp was in the 90s…just the way I love to see the Badlands. Tammy and Rachel got a bit overheated on the trek back. I think all my biking gave me an edge in the heat as I was okay. Here’s a fun video of us along the trail to the Notch. It’s about 14mb but comes highly recommended…at least one thumb up…way up.

We got back in the van and continued our drive through the Badlands. If you ever make the trip to see the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore, be sure to make the Badlands a part of your journey. I’m not sure there’s anything else on earth like it.

We didn’t bother to spend any time at Wall Drug. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me or…we won’t get fooled again as President Bush might say. The signs for Wall Drug are everywhere along the interstate beginning somewhere east of Sioux Falls…not to mention the ubiquitous bumper stickers. It’s sort of like Sven and Oley’s in Grand Marias, Mn with all the bumper stickers and billboards advertising their lousy pizza.

We got into Rapid City around 5:00pm and got checked into room 316 at the Ramada off exit 57. Rachel and I had hoped to spend some time in the pool and on their 130 ft slide but it was always so crowded in there that we sort of lost interest in the idea. We got unpacked and headed into the city with a couple stops in mind.

Our first stop was at the Prairie Edge store in downtown Rapid City. What a cool place with some very unique art. Tammy and I discovered it on our first trip to Rapid City and we’ve been coming back ever since. They sell some cheaper items and Rachel found some interesting beads for sale but be prepared to shell out some major cash for most anything else. This is a photo of a section of a paper sculpture which is priced at around $70,000. The full sculpture measures about 6 feet in length and maybe 2.5 feet high. The work is incredibly detailed. Most of the art work in the store done in the Native American genre and many of the artists are also Native American.

From there we went next door to the Firehouse Brewing Co. restaurant. A stop there is always on our must do list whenever we’re in the area. I ordered a hamburger but the waiter messed up the order and I got a buffalo burger instead. I don’t think I could tell the difference between it and a regular burger. We sat out on a covered patio and watched the rain fall outside while we chatted and waited for our meals to arrive.

After dinner we took a drive out Hwy 16 to Mt. Rushmore. As you drive toward the mountain you’ll first catch a glimpse of the faces as you round a bend about a mile from the entrance. It was early evening yet but several hours before sunset. I’ve always wanted to see the mountain lit up but it was too many hours to wait. We did some sight seeing around the visitor center and watched a movie about the making of the monument. The monument was completed in 14 years by a crew of maybe a dozen or more workers. The actual time spent on the sculpting was only 6 years with the rest of the time used for fund raising. I’m always amazed at what man can do when you look at a project such as this. The vision to bring something like that to fruition is remarkable. In some places on the mountain they had to blast through 50 feet of brittle outer rock to get to a harder surface suitable for sculpting. Plan to spend at least a couple hours and maybe more to take it all in. It’s well worth your time. We were surprised to see this wild mountain goat feeding on the grass at the visitor center on our way out.

We headed back to our hotel and walked across the street to Pirate’s Cove for a round of mini golf. Rachel came out on top…as usual. I think I may still owe her a couple dollars for the two aces she made. It was a bit slow going and we had nobody behind us so we played most of the holes twice. Heck, there was even time to enjoy some medieval punishment.

We closed out the night by catching up on the latest in the Tour de France on OLN. Go Lance! Tammy has developed a good understanding of bicycle racing and with a bit more brain washing I’m sure Rachel will too.

We got up early Wednesday morning for our hike to Harney Peak, which is located at Sylvan Lake. We hit the trail at 9:15am which put us ahead of most other hikers and ahead of the day’s heat. It’s a 3 mile hike which takes about 1.5 hours to navigate, one way. I suppose coming back is a bit quicker as it’s downhill for the most part. About 20 minutes into the hike you can look out over the forest and see Harney Peak in the distance. The trail is mostly dirt but often times you’re walking on rocks and uneven surfaces. The trail seemed to get steeper the closer you got to the summit. We joked with other hikers along the way about the imaginary Dairy Queen at the top.

It was nice to finally reach the top and sit down with a snack. A plaque on a rock wall at the top reads, “The Harney Peak Fire Lookout, Dam, and Pump house were built by the CCC in 1939 and are listed in the national register of historic places. Harney Peak elevation is 2207 meters (7,242 feet) and is the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Pyrenees Mountains of Europe.” We had fun at the top mugging for the camera and feeding the chipmunks. I also shot this panoramic video of the view.

On our way back down the mountain we encountered many groups of hikers making their way up. What was a fairly empty parking lot when we began our hike was now packed with the cars of those out on the trail. We headed for Hill City as I had this hunger which only an ice cream cone could satisfy. We didn’t stay long in Hill City before deciding to go back to our hotel for a quick nap so we’d have energy to take on the rest of the day and night.

We let Rachel pick the restaurant for supper and she chose Subway. I forgot how good those sandwiches can be. Maybe I should start collecting stamps again.

After dinner we went to Reptile Gardens…one of the major tourist traps along Hwy 16 as you head out of Rapid City toward Mt. Rushmore. They have some mirrors from the 1935 New York State Fare and we got goofy in front of them. We all thought the alligator show was very entertaining. We got to talking with the guy who did the show and were a bit surprised to find out that he’d only been doing it for a little over one month. He worked there doing odd jobs and applied when the opening became available. He did 10 days of on the job training and then was turned loose to do his own act. We also watched him do a snake show. What you don’t see in the video so well is that he is literally surrounded by alligators as he’s doing his act. The alligator he was sitting atop was very large and it took quite a bit of effort for him to get it into position by dragging it by its tail. All of the alligators know it’s feeding time when he does the show so it’s funny to watch as they begin to gather around and surround him.

We next went to Sanford’s Pub in Rapid City where Rachel taught Tammy and me how to play a card game called, Hong Kong. It’s really a fun game but we changed its name to Slap Happy Mammy…it just fits better. We ordered an appetizer tray of some ridiculously greasy but ever so good food.

Back to the hotel and another check on Lance Armstrong. Actually, I think Tammy is every bit as interested in how he was doing as I was.

Thursday morning and none of us was in a hurry to get out of bed. When we did finally get going we headed out past Custer on our way to Jewel Cave. It was a damp day so what better place to spend it than in a cave. We had to wait about 90 minutes for our tour to begin so we goofed off some out in the parking lot killing time.

Jewel Cave is possibly the largest cave in the world. They’ve mapped over 128 miles of it so far and estimate that that amounts to maybe 3 to 5% of the total. The tour runs about 90 minutes and covers about a half mile. The tour groups are about 30 people large. There are some incredible formations down there. In the center of this photo you can see a formation called, Bacon. The bacon strip measures about 20 ft long. Sometimes it felt like you were in the middle of a giant geode. The temperature in the cave is consistently in the mid 50s throughout the year. There are several caves in the area but from what we were told, Jewel Cave is probably the best.

We pointed ourselves in the direction of the Needles Hwy next. This is a beautiful, winding, tree lined highway with many hairpin turns and two or three tunnels to negotiate. We pulled over a couple times to get out and take some photos and to simply take it all in without speeding by…not that you can go very fast. At times the traffic can get backed up, especially when a large RV has to pass through a tunnel as there is very little clearance. Tammy and I have a tradition now where we listen to Pink Floyd’s, Dark Side of the Moon while we’re on the Needles Hwy. The music creates a nice backdrop.

No visit to the Black Hills would be complete without a stop at the Cosmos. This place is an absolute dive but a money maker for sure. Tammy recalls going here with her parents when she was in high school. It’s obvious how some of the illusions work but for others, I’m just not sure. To start the tour they have two people stand on opposite ends of a level platform. Then they have the two people change positions and you notice a definite change in height between the two people. They place a level and a tennis ball on the platform to show you that it is indeed level. It’s a very interesting illusion and I’d be curious to know how it works. They claim that there are strange gravitational forces at work in the area but I’m not sure. The other part of the tour takes you into a house which is built at odd angles making it appear that you can nearly walk on the walls in places. The tour was a hoot and as tacky as it was I’d still have to say I recommend it and I may even go again sometime. Oh, and they have a gift shop too.

On our way back into Rapid City we stopped off and took the tour of Bear Country USA. I think if we were going to opt out of any of our adventures this may be the one. For $30 we got to sit in our car and watch other people sitting in their cars watching the occasional animal which happened by. But we made the most of it and enjoyed ourselves regardless. We’re living a little dangerously in this scene. We got out of our car for a look at the bear cubs and a quick trip through the gift shop and this photo op.

We saved some of the best for last and that would be dinner at the Italian restaurant, Botticelli. It’s probably one of the more spendy places in town but their food is some of the best. No Slap Happy Mammy while we wait for our food tonight but that’s okay because we’d play later that night back in our room. It was another memorable dinner for us here and the first time we had Rachel along with us.

On the way to our car, Rachel had a dance with a statue of Martin Van Buren. On many street corners in Rapid City they have statues of past presidents and other famous people.

Back to the hotel for another Lance update. We got all of our things packed so in the morning we could get an early jump on the 600 mile drive back home. It’s always sad to see a vacation come to an end but whenever we felt that way we’d remind each other that we’d be coming home to Toby and Allie and that seemed to help.

On Friday morning after checking out of our hotel we stopped by our favorite coffee/bagel shop in town. We never once saw a Starbucks in the state and that was nice because the various coffee shops we stopped at all had their own unique style. I think we managed to get on the road a little after 8:00am.

The drive home was pretty uneventful. Rachel slept most of the way. We found an AM station which was playing oldies and as we drove along It was like hearing those old songs the way we remembered first hearing them.

We were surprised to see a bicyclist traveling the interstate. About 5 miles later we saw another one headed in the opposite direction. I don’t know if it’s legal in South Dakota to ride your bicycle on the freeway but the idea got me thinking about a possible trip on my bike out to the Black Hills sometime in the next few years. I could make it a 4 to 5 day trip and have Tammy and Rachel meet me out there. Maybe I better ease into this one because I know the idea of me biking the freeway makes Tammy uncomfortable. I haven’t researched it yet but maybe there would be some good alternatives to the freeway which wouldn’t be too far out of the way. I remember how especially in the Badlands I caught myself dreaming of riding those roads on my bike. Maybe someday.

The last photo of our journey was this contemporary barn outside of Worthington, Mn. I thought it was sort of cool looking.

We got home in less than 9 hours and Rachel and I headed up to Jackie and Jerry’s to pick up Toby and Allie while Tammy took care of unpacking. You know, it’s always nice to get away but as good as that is, it’s somehow maybe even a bit nicer to get back home. There really is no place like home. I hope you enjoyed coming along on this little digital journey and I apologize to those of you without a broadband connection that may not have been able to view the videos.

Kevin