Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Now that I’ve sort of figured out how this blog program works, I need to go back and tell you what I’ve been up to since leaving Rochester.
I pulled out of “Mayotown” about 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 8th and drove west on I-90 to Fairmont, MN, where I stayed in a Super8. Nothing scenic en route, though I did see my first Wall Drug billboard. And I admired the chutzpah in the SPAM Museum billboards. Weather was raining, very grey, with periodic lightning. But at least no tornadoes!
On Friday the 9th I drove from Fairmont, MN to Kadoka, SD—another Super8. No major sights in between. Except LOTS of Wall Drug billboards, and of course the one-of-a-kind Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. A big civic auditorium, the outside of which is decorated in corn cobs and corn silk. You can see a pic at my Yahoo photos page, in the Westward, Ho! album:
http://photos.yahoo.com/esoterica1693
Weather was overcast and showery.
Saturday morning I headed out from Kadoka to the South Dakota Badlands. Quite awesome. The sky was still overcast, so my pic doesn’t do the colors any justice. From the Badlands I headed to Rapid City, SD, and then down towards Mount Rushmore and the other Black Hills sights.
Mount Rushmore looked just like all the photos of it you’ve seen elsewhere. Big and granite and presidential. J Took the scenic route from Rushmore down to Custer State Park. Saw my first bison there. And some sheep and prairie dogs and burros. I really liked that park.
Then headed to the town of Custer, and the Crazy Horse Monument. Intended to be a memorial to all Native Americans, it will, if and when it’s ever finished, be the largest sculpture in the world. Carved from a mountain, like the Rushmore memorial, only much bigger (which is sort of the point :-), it will show Crazy Horse on horseback, gesturing out over all the surrounding lands. When asked by a white man “where his lands were,” he is said to have replied, with a broad sweep of his arm—“my land is where the graves of my people are.” They have a huge gift shop where they sell authentic Native American crafts to raise funds to continue the sculpting. I bought myself a genuine Native American Talking Stick. I could have used it during the past 5 years of chairing innumerable meetings and leading youth group discussions. I’m sure I will have more opportunities to use it in the future…..
From there I headed up what looked on the map to be a straightforward route from Custer to Spearfish. It turned out to be anything but, as the Hwy Dept detoured the road onto a mud and gravel track up and over a mountain, and it started snowing very heavily, and got dark very fast. Thank goodness living in MN taught me something about driving in and on snow, else I would have wrapped myself around a tree or plunged off a mountain switchback. What a nerve-wracking, prayer-inducing drive! Once we were back on a “real” road I stopped at the first motel I found—which put me in Deadwood SD at a Best Western. Deadwood has little to recommend it unless you’re a gambling nut.
Sunday I drove from Deadwood up to Devils Tower, Wyoming, where I took a short hike and some pics but had no Close Encounters of the Third (or any other) Kind. I did, however, read Morning Prayer while staring up at the Tower. From there I continued on across most of Wyoming. The “High Plains,” with their cattle and horse ranches and oil wells, gave way eventually to the stunning Bighorn Mountain range, which I crossed on US 16. Absolutely breathtaking scenery for miles and miles. And enough of a climb (up to around 9,000 ft) that my car definitely felt it! I had no idea there was such variety and such beauty in Wyoming.
After coming out of the mountains it was across some semi-arid and near-desert areas before arriving in Cody, WY for the evening. Had a fabulous meal at Las Comidas Mexican restaurant on the main strip in Cody. I recommend the Alamos Quesadillas!
I spent the first part of Monday at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, which is actually a first-rate museum of art of the American West, and its geography, and also the life and culture and challenges of the Plains Indians. The Plains Indians exhibits were much more informative than those at the Crazy Horse Memorial exhibit complex. I heartily recommend the Buffalo Bill Historical Center to anyone passing through Cody, even if you know or care little about Buffalo Bill Cody himself. I zipped through the gallery devoted to him, but lingered in the others.
After Cody it was through the beautiful Shoshone Valley, and then into Yellowstone National Park. The weather turned even grayer and wetter, and by the time I’d made my way across Yellowstone I was getting depressed. I’d seen enough snow and felt enough cold wet wind; I think the sun had been out for all of 5 minutes since I left Rochester. I settled in at the Days Inn in the town of West Yellowstone. West Yellowstone has cheap motels, and not much else. Most of the town is closed b/c it’s still “off season”—visitors don’t come to the Park in any numbers at this time of the year. Decided to be adventurous at dinner and had buffalo roast. Tasted basically like roast beef. Maybe a bit stronger, but not much.
Which brings me up to today, Tuesday the 13th. Spent today tooling around the various geyser basins in Yellowstone. Praise God, the SUN finally came out and it was a beautiful day. Saw lots of neat sights. The highlight was of course Old Faithful, but West Thumb had lots of interesting things too. Got some gorgeous views of the Tetons in the distance across Lake Yellowstone. And I spent some time just standing staring at rushing rivers and getting into a more relaxed rhythm. Finished off the day with a dinner of pan-fried rainbow trout at a local restaurant in West Yellowstone.
Tomorrow it’s up to the northern sections of the park.
As I have time to edit and upload pictures, I'm putting them at the yahoo site referenced above. About 5 there now, more to come.
GRB
I pulled out of “Mayotown” about 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 8th and drove west on I-90 to Fairmont, MN, where I stayed in a Super8. Nothing scenic en route, though I did see my first Wall Drug billboard. And I admired the chutzpah in the SPAM Museum billboards. Weather was raining, very grey, with periodic lightning. But at least no tornadoes!
On Friday the 9th I drove from Fairmont, MN to Kadoka, SD—another Super8. No major sights in between. Except LOTS of Wall Drug billboards, and of course the one-of-a-kind Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. A big civic auditorium, the outside of which is decorated in corn cobs and corn silk. You can see a pic at my Yahoo photos page, in the Westward, Ho! album:
http://photos.yahoo.com/esoterica1693
Weather was overcast and showery.
Saturday morning I headed out from Kadoka to the South Dakota Badlands. Quite awesome. The sky was still overcast, so my pic doesn’t do the colors any justice. From the Badlands I headed to Rapid City, SD, and then down towards Mount Rushmore and the other Black Hills sights.
Mount Rushmore looked just like all the photos of it you’ve seen elsewhere. Big and granite and presidential. J Took the scenic route from Rushmore down to Custer State Park. Saw my first bison there. And some sheep and prairie dogs and burros. I really liked that park.
Then headed to the town of Custer, and the Crazy Horse Monument. Intended to be a memorial to all Native Americans, it will, if and when it’s ever finished, be the largest sculpture in the world. Carved from a mountain, like the Rushmore memorial, only much bigger (which is sort of the point :-), it will show Crazy Horse on horseback, gesturing out over all the surrounding lands. When asked by a white man “where his lands were,” he is said to have replied, with a broad sweep of his arm—“my land is where the graves of my people are.” They have a huge gift shop where they sell authentic Native American crafts to raise funds to continue the sculpting. I bought myself a genuine Native American Talking Stick. I could have used it during the past 5 years of chairing innumerable meetings and leading youth group discussions. I’m sure I will have more opportunities to use it in the future…..
From there I headed up what looked on the map to be a straightforward route from Custer to Spearfish. It turned out to be anything but, as the Hwy Dept detoured the road onto a mud and gravel track up and over a mountain, and it started snowing very heavily, and got dark very fast. Thank goodness living in MN taught me something about driving in and on snow, else I would have wrapped myself around a tree or plunged off a mountain switchback. What a nerve-wracking, prayer-inducing drive! Once we were back on a “real” road I stopped at the first motel I found—which put me in Deadwood SD at a Best Western. Deadwood has little to recommend it unless you’re a gambling nut.
Sunday I drove from Deadwood up to Devils Tower, Wyoming, where I took a short hike and some pics but had no Close Encounters of the Third (or any other) Kind. I did, however, read Morning Prayer while staring up at the Tower. From there I continued on across most of Wyoming. The “High Plains,” with their cattle and horse ranches and oil wells, gave way eventually to the stunning Bighorn Mountain range, which I crossed on US 16. Absolutely breathtaking scenery for miles and miles. And enough of a climb (up to around 9,000 ft) that my car definitely felt it! I had no idea there was such variety and such beauty in Wyoming.
After coming out of the mountains it was across some semi-arid and near-desert areas before arriving in Cody, WY for the evening. Had a fabulous meal at Las Comidas Mexican restaurant on the main strip in Cody. I recommend the Alamos Quesadillas!
I spent the first part of Monday at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, which is actually a first-rate museum of art of the American West, and its geography, and also the life and culture and challenges of the Plains Indians. The Plains Indians exhibits were much more informative than those at the Crazy Horse Memorial exhibit complex. I heartily recommend the Buffalo Bill Historical Center to anyone passing through Cody, even if you know or care little about Buffalo Bill Cody himself. I zipped through the gallery devoted to him, but lingered in the others.
After Cody it was through the beautiful Shoshone Valley, and then into Yellowstone National Park. The weather turned even grayer and wetter, and by the time I’d made my way across Yellowstone I was getting depressed. I’d seen enough snow and felt enough cold wet wind; I think the sun had been out for all of 5 minutes since I left Rochester. I settled in at the Days Inn in the town of West Yellowstone. West Yellowstone has cheap motels, and not much else. Most of the town is closed b/c it’s still “off season”—visitors don’t come to the Park in any numbers at this time of the year. Decided to be adventurous at dinner and had buffalo roast. Tasted basically like roast beef. Maybe a bit stronger, but not much.
Which brings me up to today, Tuesday the 13th. Spent today tooling around the various geyser basins in Yellowstone. Praise God, the SUN finally came out and it was a beautiful day. Saw lots of neat sights. The highlight was of course Old Faithful, but West Thumb had lots of interesting things too. Got some gorgeous views of the Tetons in the distance across Lake Yellowstone. And I spent some time just standing staring at rushing rivers and getting into a more relaxed rhythm. Finished off the day with a dinner of pan-fried rainbow trout at a local restaurant in West Yellowstone.
Tomorrow it’s up to the northern sections of the park.
As I have time to edit and upload pictures, I'm putting them at the yahoo site referenced above. About 5 there now, more to come.
GRB
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