So, here we are. Back in civilization!! To all of you who have been checking our blog each day and leaving comments... thanks! I know I said I'd try to blog each day but it's tough when you are way up in the back country. More about that later but for now, here is what we've been up to over the last five days.
I know, seeing someone else's vacation pictures and hearing about their travels can often be a little dull. The nice thing about this blog is that you can just fast forward through the boring stuff and read what you want to. If I think a particular part is a little boring myself, I may take some liberties and just make stuff up to make it more exciting. Then you can decide for yourself which is true and which is fiction... that'll be fun right?
So anyway, we woke up the other morning in a bath tub filled with ice and we had scars where our kidneys used to be... you know, things like that. I'll just throw in a little urban legend to make it fun from time to time. (Bambi wanted me to add that the mohawk is true, not urban legend!!)
So, here we go...
Day one (Tuesday, 8/19/08)
We stayed the night at my parent's house in Edgerton and left at about 7:45 for Sioux Falls where we had breakfast with my brother Kyle (It was hard to leave Edgerton because our parents treat us so well - we were well fed!!). Kyle and I have a tradition of country fried steak at Perkins - good stuff. Kyle brought us our computer and we hung out for a while before he had to go to work for the day (must be nice!! - just a little inside joke).
From Sioux Falls, we intended to just blow straight across SD and wind up at Sheridan WY for the night. However, as we were approaching
the Black Hills, Bambi and I were talking about our childhood trips to the area and both decided that it had been a very long time since we'd been to Mt. Rushmore. I go to Sturgis every year and usually drive within viewing distance of the monument, but we don't stop there. So, we decided that since we have no reservations or schedule, we should stop and check it out. On our way to the park, we stopped in Keystone, SD. It's a great little tourist town just outside the park. We walked the boardwalk and ate at a sidewalk cafe on the main street. We had a corndog and a buffalo burger (knowing Bambi's preference for only eating cows and chickens - preferably from Hyvee, you can guess who ate what. The national park has changed a lot since I was a kid... not the monument of course, but the visitors' area has been improved a lot. There is even a hiking trail that takes you right up to the base of the mountain for an upclose look. Then, Bambi and I decided to get off the trail and follow a clue we found in an obscure book written by Thomas Jefferson that we found under a loo
se board in our local library. We read the clue which took us on a little known trail where we found ourselves on top of the monument. We took a reading from the sun and matched it up to a code found by taking the 5th letter of every paragraph of the US constitution and it led us to a boulder which didn't seem like it should be there. We pushed the boulder aside and found a secret tunnel carved way down into the rock. We found old torches hanging on the wall and lit them to find an old stairway that descended way down into the mountain. We followed it and when we came into a clearing in the cave, we couldn't believe our eyes. We lit a huge, ancient chandelier which lit a chamber the size of a high school gym. What do you know, it was filled with ancient treasure - gold, rubies, and the dead sea scrolls... no, wait a minute... that was the movie N
ational Treasure II. We just followed the designated path and went back to the visitors' center where I probably used the bathroom.
(I'm writing this in an Albertson's grocery store which I'll talk more about later, but I'm running low on battery and there is nowhere to plug in. I'll charge the battery and write more later.)
I'm back... and now I'm writing outside a Smith's grocery store, also in Jackson Hole, WY.
Anyway, I'll write about the grocery stores more later - they actually do play a significant role in our trip so far!! (oooooooohhhhhh--suspense!!)
Back to South Dakota: After seeing the Black Hills, we decided to stay off the interstate. The only problem I had with that plan is that I really wanted to go to Spearfish to eat at the Taco Bell. The story behind that is this: When I was with my dad and brother on our Sturgis trip a few weeks ago, Kyle, Matt (a friend of ours) and I peeled off from the group one night to stay in Sturgis a little later. After leaving, we were all hungry and decided we'd drive back to Spearfish near the hotel to eat at Taco Bell. However, as luck would have it, my motorcycle quit about a mile from our hotel (luckily). Kyle rode back to the hotel and got my dad's tow rope and towed me back to the hotel which was an interesting ride to say the least on a motorcycle!! Luckily, the problem just turned out to be a loose
connection on the battery and my dad had us up and running the next morning. Anyway, I jumped on my dad's Honda and the three of us took off for Taco Bell - getting there just about 3 minutes after they closed. Talk about disappointment. Anyway, I didn't want that Taco Bell to get the best of me so I wanted to go on this trip - most people probably don't hold out Taco Bell as a vacation destination but you have to understand, Kyle and I love us some Taco Bell!!
Anyway, we skipped Spearfish on this trip to take Highway 16 up through the NE corner of Wyoming which was really cool. Very desolate piece of highway, except for the hundreds and hundreds of antelope we saw along the way. We finally ended up in a little town called Moorcroft near I90 which was supposed to have a state park nearby. We left the town thinking it was only a mile or two. After several miles, we realized we must have missed a turn or something (our GPS didn't have the campground listed or it would have been no problem!!) and we were soon to run out of gas. We turned around and went back to Moorcroft for fuel and just bar
ely made it... I mean, that baby was empty. We got directions and found out that we HAD missed our turn and were headed back to Devil's Tower. We would have run out of gas for sure and I don't think that Bambi can push the truck with the trailer connected!! Don't laugh, she's small but she's scrappy. Anyway, we did finally find our campground and it was really cool. Except for the fact that it has no running water or electricity... no problem right? Except for our air mattress is about 3 feet thick and was not yet blown up. I figured I could probably blow it up myself because I'm a triathlete!! Bambi says it could be because I'm full of hot air or BS... you decide. We were fortunate to flag down a ranger driving past and he said we could go to the shop near the ranger station and use a power outlet on the side of the building which saved the day. The next day, when we woke up we found out just how beautiful this park was. It's called Keyhole State Park on a reservoir and our campground was actually a very narrow peninsula with water all around us. Very cool spot to camp and only $12/night!!! We spent our first night in the trailer and sl
ept very well as the temperatures were quite mild - I'll talk about weather more in the next days' blogs (oooooohhhhh more suspense!!). Gotta keep you comin' back for more right?
It's late and that about sums up the first day of our trip. Next stop... Cooke City, Montana.
So anyway, we woke up the other morning in a bath tub filled with ice and we had scars where our kidneys used to be... you know, things like that. I'll just throw in a little urban legend to make it fun from time to time. (Bambi wanted me to add that the mohawk is true, not urban legend!!)
So, here we go...
Day one (Tuesday, 8/19/08)
We stayed the night at my parent's house in Edgerton and left at about 7:45 for Sioux Falls where we had breakfast with my brother Kyle (It was hard to leave Edgerton because our parents treat us so well - we were well fed!!). Kyle and I have a tradition of country fried steak at Perkins - good stuff. Kyle brought us our computer and we hung out for a while before he had to go to work for the day (must be nice!! - just a little inside joke).
From Sioux Falls, we intended to just blow straight across SD and wind up at Sheridan WY for the night. However, as we were approaching
the Black Hills, Bambi and I were talking about our childhood trips to the area and both decided that it had been a very long time since we'd been to Mt. Rushmore. I go to Sturgis every year and usually drive within viewing distance of the monument, but we don't stop there. So, we decided that since we have no reservations or schedule, we should stop and check it out. On our way to the park, we stopped in Keystone, SD. It's a great little tourist town just outside the park. We walked the boardwalk and ate at a sidewalk cafe on the main street. We had a corndog and a buffalo burger (knowing Bambi's preference for only eating cows and chickens - preferably from Hyvee, you can guess who ate what. The national park has changed a lot since I was a kid... not the monument of course, but the visitors' area has been improved a lot. There is even a hiking trail that takes you right up to the base of the mountain for an upclose look. Then, Bambi and I decided to get off the trail and follow a clue we found in an obscure book written by Thomas Jefferson that we found under a loo
se board in our local library. We read the clue which took us on a little known trail where we found ourselves on top of the monument. We took a reading from the sun and matched it up to a code found by taking the 5th letter of every paragraph of the US constitution and it led us to a boulder which didn't seem like it should be there. We pushed the boulder aside and found a secret tunnel carved way down into the rock. We found old torches hanging on the wall and lit them to find an old stairway that descended way down into the mountain. We followed it and when we came into a clearing in the cave, we couldn't believe our eyes. We lit a huge, ancient chandelier which lit a chamber the size of a high school gym. What do you know, it was filled with ancient treasure - gold, rubies, and the dead sea scrolls... no, wait a minute... that was the movie N
ational Treasure II. We just followed the designated path and went back to the visitors' center where I probably used the bathroom.(I'm writing this in an Albertson's grocery store which I'll talk more about later, but I'm running low on battery and there is nowhere to plug in. I'll charge the battery and write more later.)
I'm back... and now I'm writing outside a Smith's grocery store, also in Jackson Hole, WY.
Anyway, I'll write about the grocery stores more later - they actually do play a significant role in our trip so far!! (oooooooohhhhhh--suspense!!)
Back to South Dakota: After seeing the Black Hills, we decided to stay off the interstate. The only problem I had with that plan is that I really wanted to go to Spearfish to eat at the Taco Bell. The story behind that is this: When I was with my dad and brother on our Sturgis trip a few weeks ago, Kyle, Matt (a friend of ours) and I peeled off from the group one night to stay in Sturgis a little later. After leaving, we were all hungry and decided we'd drive back to Spearfish near the hotel to eat at Taco Bell. However, as luck would have it, my motorcycle quit about a mile from our hotel (luckily). Kyle rode back to the hotel and got my dad's tow rope and towed me back to the hotel which was an interesting ride to say the least on a motorcycle!! Luckily, the problem just turned out to be a loose
connection on the battery and my dad had us up and running the next morning. Anyway, I jumped on my dad's Honda and the three of us took off for Taco Bell - getting there just about 3 minutes after they closed. Talk about disappointment. Anyway, I didn't want that Taco Bell to get the best of me so I wanted to go on this trip - most people probably don't hold out Taco Bell as a vacation destination but you have to understand, Kyle and I love us some Taco Bell!!Anyway, we skipped Spearfish on this trip to take Highway 16 up through the NE corner of Wyoming which was really cool. Very desolate piece of highway, except for the hundreds and hundreds of antelope we saw along the way. We finally ended up in a little town called Moorcroft near I90 which was supposed to have a state park nearby. We left the town thinking it was only a mile or two. After several miles, we realized we must have missed a turn or something (our GPS didn't have the campground listed or it would have been no problem!!) and we were soon to run out of gas. We turned around and went back to Moorcroft for fuel and just bar
ely made it... I mean, that baby was empty. We got directions and found out that we HAD missed our turn and were headed back to Devil's Tower. We would have run out of gas for sure and I don't think that Bambi can push the truck with the trailer connected!! Don't laugh, she's small but she's scrappy. Anyway, we did finally find our campground and it was really cool. Except for the fact that it has no running water or electricity... no problem right? Except for our air mattress is about 3 feet thick and was not yet blown up. I figured I could probably blow it up myself because I'm a triathlete!! Bambi says it could be because I'm full of hot air or BS... you decide. We were fortunate to flag down a ranger driving past and he said we could go to the shop near the ranger station and use a power outlet on the side of the building which saved the day. The next day, when we woke up we found out just how beautiful this park was. It's called Keyhole State Park on a reservoir and our campground was actually a very narrow peninsula with water all around us. Very cool spot to camp and only $12/night!!! We spent our first night in the trailer and sl
ept very well as the temperatures were quite mild - I'll talk about weather more in the next days' blogs (oooooohhhhh more suspense!!). Gotta keep you comin' back for more right?It's late and that about sums up the first day of our trip. Next stop... Cooke City, Montana.
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