So last week J, Dirty D, the g/f, and I went to the Badlands/Black Hills in South Dakota. Here is
the jist of the story -
Day 1
- The g/f & I were late picking up Dirty D & J. (Not too bad about 15 minutes)
- Started to play the alphabet game on signs/cars...J led, Dirty D took over, the g/f & I paired up since the g/f was driving...the lead kept changing hands
- Stopped in Jackson to see the g/f's mom, pick up some binoculars & Bars - Bars were a BIG hit
- Saw the g/f's brother Brent hauling pigs on the other side of the highway
- Saw a million Wall Drug signs (and Murdo signs)
- Hit Sioux Falls and the g/f/I won the alphabet game with "Z" in Zoo
- Drove and drove on a gamillion miles of flat land, hit a crest and ran into a valley with Lake Francis Case and the Missouri River
- Stopped in Belvedier for gas and was asked by some guys from Illinois if we saw them on the side of the road would we stop...blah blah car problems and the g/f said "depends on what side of the road I was on..." always the diplomat.
- Stopped at Jigger's for lunch - Indian Taco's were good!
- Went to the Badlands - You'd have to see the pictures to understand how gorgeous it was and those don't do it justice.
- J and Dirty D climbed up a hill the g/f dubbed "The Boob" (pictures!)
- Dirty D slid back down the boob on her butt!
- Got our first taste of hilly terrain that was going to come.
- Wall Drug came next - stopped and shopped a bit
- Saw where Dirty D lived when she worked at Wall Drug years ago
- Did some HILARIOUS Madlibs on the rest of the trip to the Black Hills
- Got to the campsite (that we didn't have a reservation for - and apparently didn't need since it was crazy dead there)
- Found out there was a statewide FIRE BAN! Asked - how are we going to eat?!?! All we brought was grillable food. Owner let us have a small fire with water nearby.
- Set up camp and realized - the g/f didn't pack sheets and Dirty D brought the wrong size sheets
- "Ran" into Hill City for some beer and to see if we could find sheets and a propane grill.
- The trip to Hill City was winding and desolate. Except of course the 25 deer we saw on the way. We had to not say "DEER!" every time we saw one so that the g/f didn't panic!
- the g/f went into Best Western to ask if she could buy some sheets. That was a big "no".
- No Propane Grills around. Hardware store was closed. No Walmarts. Went back to camp
- Saw 20 deer on the way back through. We counted. We were able to say "Wildlife way back on the left" instead of "DEER OVER THERE!"
- Put some charcoal in the grill at the campsite and lit it up (see Dirty D's page for the fireban fun picture). Waited about an hour for six bratwursts to cook.
- Played some Egyptian Slap something game - super fun
- Bed time!
Day 2
- Got up and had some breakfast (FIREBAN - no hot food)
- Dirty D and J saw some lady walk up the stairs and biff it - she needed 31 stitches on her leg.
- Went to Mt Rushmore. Left Mt Rushmore...oh went BACK to Mt Rushmore - Parking lot was a bit confusing. Thank goodness for a year pass!
- Explored Mt Rushmore - spectacular site!!!
- Chatted with one of the original workers on Mt Rushmore and bought his book.
- Caught a short movie on the making of Mt Rushmore
- Got someone to take pictures (my default picture right now) and the lady called the g/f a "He" (not the first time on the trip, nor the last)
- Saw the sculptors studios and took some pictures
- Went to Crazy Horse. Did not pay to get in, took pictures from the road. (Mt Rushmore was $8, Crazy Horse was $25 and not finished.)
- Oddly we parked next to a car from Kuehn (the place we bought our truck)
- Took off for Custer State Park. Took Needles Highway first
- Went through a couple tunnels then hit the tunnel of all tunnels - pictures on the site!
- I ran through the tunnel following another car so she could take pictures of the g/f driving through
- the g/f made it through the tunnel
- Stunning scenic shots and photos of the needles
- Encountered tons of hills, turns, corkscrew corners, hills going up, hills going down, impatient drivers from California.
- Stopped for cold sandwich lunch and saw a family with twins, they left and another family with twins showed up.
- Started on our journey onto the Wild Life Loop where we were told that there was wild-life-a-plenty. This was a lie. We saw ONE buffalo, couple of Burro's, group of Turkeys and some deer. The wildest thing on the wild life loop was a red tailed squirrel that darted infront of us.
- We get off Wild Life Loop and headed toward Keystone (where we were staying) and THEN found all the buffalo...tons of buffalo. They stopped traffic, it was neat.
- Drove up and down and around more curves and spirals and stuff
- Got to the Cosmos and encountered some very interesting stuff - look at our pictures to see it - we were standing up but looked crooked, standing on walls, the g/f and I were about the same height at one point.
- The g/f & I got picked on at the Cosmo's a lot because of their height differences - we got a group shot there, really neat stuff.
- Went to Rapid City to find a grill (and sheets). Went to ShopKo - got the sheets, no grill. Went to Runnings Fleet & Farm, no grill. Made our way to Walmart and finally got a grill.
- It was raining. Fortunately the rain produced a rainbow AND some awesome lightning. It was the only rain on the entire trip!!!
- Got back to the campsite for some dinner, beer, and cards
- Woke up at 3 AM to our neighbor lady having an orgasmic Charlie Horse. *haha*
Day 3
- Woke up and had Eggs, Bacon, and Percolator Coffee (which took a million years to brew)
- Drove up to Deadwood for the day
- Went into the Saloon ..10 where Wild Bill Hickok was murdered and read about that (it was the original site, but not bar since it burnt down years earlier)
- Went to the recreated Saloon ..10, it was interesting
- Went to lunch at Diamond Lil's - owned by Kevin Costner. J had a buffalo burger
- Went gambling at the Silverado. Spent about $3. All on the nickel/penny slots! They were selling PLAYBOY at the main counter, just out in the open.
- Went down the street to see a re-enactment of a main street shoot out. (It wasn't the Hickok shoot out unfortunately, but still funny!)
- Took the trolley back up to the car and went up to the Mt. Moriah Cemetery
- Saw Wild Bill and Calamity Jane's grave sites
- Drove over to Sturgis to see what's up over there. (Nothing, we were there the week after Bike-Week)
- Found the spot were the g/f got her tattoo
- Made our way to the Petrified Forest.
- Had a lesson by Scotty - then he sent us off on our self-guided tour.
- Saw many of stumps and logs that were petrified in their original location and some in MAN MADE locations
- Saw a TREE STUMP that weighed 4.5 TONS (according to sign earlier - it's about $3.99 a pound = $36,000)
- Parked next to a car from Austin MN
- Made way back to camp and had dinner
- New Camping neighbors showed up - they had a clown car of kids getting out - 5 in total
- Went to the night lighting of Mt Rushmore (couldn't hear the speaker)
- Went back to the campsite and the g/f kicked our butts at poker (J went into the hole $2,500 or so)
Day 4
- Got up to Pancakes and Eggs - again coffee took FOREVER to perk
- Because there was a FIREBAN so we couldn't cook at full temps
- Went to Rushmore cave
- Beautiful Cave - lots of stairs and hitting heads and slippery passage ways
- J & Dirty D went on a horse ride while The g/f & I did some gift shopping
- Did some more shopping as a group up and down the Keystone Strip - found a Christmas ornament
- Went back to the campsite for some more Egyptian Slap something games
- Went to dinner at Flying T's Chuckwagon Cowboy Supper
- Sat at picnic tables, sang along to songs (see pictures) and ate off tin plates and drank out of tin cups
- Allowed to go back up for seconds and the g/f was given 4 pieces of cake
- Some old fellow (seen in some of the singing pictures) root-toot-tooted right next to/into J & Dirty D's faces
- Had a post supper Wranglin T's show & Comedy
- Played more poker and the g/f kicked butt again until the g/f and I had to play blind. I ended up winning.
Day 5
- Packed up and left
- Drove past the Badlands again
- Wanted more of Mary's Bars
- Played more Madlibs
- Kinda quiet ride - more reflective and sleepy
