Great American Road Trip - July 3, 2011 (Day 3)

After a great second day in Mitchell, at Wall Drug, at Mt. Rushmore, and in Spearfish, we woke up, enjoyed the free waffle breakfast at the Comfort Suites, and headed to Deadwood, South Dakota. Upon arrival, we walked around a bit, and then we popped into Kevin Costner's casino. The casino was cool because Costner displays his costumes from many of his movies there, including Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and For Love of the Game. It was really neat to see all of that, and it reminded me of how many movies Costner has been in and how many of them I've really enjoyed.

After walking around a bit, we boarded the Boothill Tour bus and set off for a formal tour of the town. The tour was nice because I knew very little about the town or its history. (Unlike many people I know, I'm not really fascinated by the tales of the American west. It's not that I don't recognize its importance in the development of America or the struggles of the people; it just doesn't capture my attention like other time periods or areas).


I think my favorite part of the tour was the trip up to the town's old cemetery, which sits high up on a hill overlooking town. Both Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried in this cemetery, and we were pleased to learn that there was a Jewish section in the cemetery. It turns out that Jews played a prominent role in the development of the town, and it seems like they were well accepted or at least a recognized part of the town. From what I know, this was fairly unusual for the time period, and it was very nice to see.

After the tour, we had lunch at Saloon No. 10, a bar in town. Many bikers must hang out there, as they had a sign saying no motorcycle colors and the bouncer responded in a pretty serious manner when we asked about it. Anyway, the original Saloon No. 10 was the place in which Wild Bill Hickok was killed while playing poker (the bar has moved, so it no longer sits on the actual location of his death).


An interesting story about Will Bill - as a lawman, he knew he couldn't trust many people in town, and as a result, he never sat with his back to the door when he was out and about. However, on the night he was killed, he had entered the saloon to play poker, and the only seat available was one that would require him to sit with his back to the door. He asked his friends to switch seats, but they refused. Wild Bill hesitated to sit down, but his friends gave him a hard time, so he finally gave in. Of course, Jack McCall then walked in and shot Wild Bill in the back of the head, killing him instantly. When he died, he was holding what people now call the "dead man's hand:" two black aces, and two black eights. Interesting for sure.


After lunch and some ice cream, we hit the road again. Our next stop was Wyoming (a new state for Beth) and Devil's Tower. My sister Amanda and I took a similar trip after I took the bar exam in 2008, but we didn't have time to stop at Devil's Tower then, so I was looking forward to seeing it this time. Though the signs may have exaggerated how long it would take to get there (definitely not just a 25 minute detour), the Tower was worth the drive.


There was a nice trail around the tower, but we only hiked part of the way because it was pretty hot and because we needed to continue on to Cody for the night. We got some great pictures at the tower, and we also saw some vultures flying around the top of it (at least that's what other people told us they were). In addition to the vultures, we saw prairie dogs in the tower area, and that was pretty cool. Finally, we saw some people climbing up the tower - I'm not sure I could have done that even when I was in fantastic shape. In fact, I'm not even sure I would have ever wanted to do that - I've never been all that interested in climbing things, period. Anyway, I admired their strength and determination, even if it wasn't for me.


After Devil's Tower, we continued our drive to Cody, Wyoming. Along the way, we spotted our first antelope - pretty cool. We also drove through parts of the Bighorn National Forest, which is gorgeous. Notably, we saw a good amount of snow, which is nuts for July! At the end of the day, we saw Shell Falls, a raging waterfall and river in Bighorn - gorgeous as well.


That night, we stayed at the Legacy Inn in Cody, and it was a cute little place with a nice proprietor. We had thought about maybe going to find a local place to eat in town, but we were both tired, so we had our first fast food of the trip: Taco Johns for me, and Burger King for Beth. After eating and uploading a few pictures, it was time for bed. Another great day on the Great American Road Trip!
Some random notes: we kept track of the different state and Canadian province license plates we saw on the trip. By the end of the trip, I think we saw every state except for Delaware, Alabama, West Virginia, and Rhode Island (and we may have seen Rhode Island; I'm blanking). We also saw most, if not all, of the Canadian provinces. Pretty cool to see folks from all over out and about on the road.

Great American Road Trip - July 1-2, 2011 (Days 1 and 2)

This past winter, Beth and I planned a western road trip to visit Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming/Montana, Idaho (briefly), Glacier National Park in Montana and Canada, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Beth had never been to Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho, and I had never been to Idaho or Canada (odd I know, as I've lived in Minnesota for most of my life). We (Beth) diligently planned our route, made hotel reservations, ordered maps and tour books, arranged for the best pet sitters ever (thanks Jessie and Carolyn!), prepared the little blue Honda Civic, and researched things/places to see. In short, we were really looking forward to the adventure, which we estimated would cover a little more than 3,000 miles.

After a brutal winter and a disappointing spring, we finally set out for what I deemed the Great American Road Trip on Friday, July 1, 2011. We both had to work that day, so we didn't hit the road until around 4. Our first destination was Mitchell, South Dakota, approximately 5 hours away and home of the (somewhat) famous Corn Palace.

Because we weren't in a hurry, we decided to stop for dinner at The Ranch in Fairmont, Minnesota. Dinner was great, but as we ate, the sky to the west became more and more ominous. Beth wanted to wait out the storm at the restaurant, but being the optimistic (and slightly crazy) person that I am, I insisted that we just push through. Unfortunately, we ran into what turned out to be a pretty intense thunderstorm that involved hail and sheets of rain. I finally gave in when we no longer could see at all and said we should pull over. Beth, the poor driver, readily agreed and we pulled off to the side of the freeway. The storm quickly passed, and lucky for me, our car endured no hail damage. Maybe some day I will learn!

We pulled into our hotel, a Days Inn, in Mitchell some time around 9 or 10, and I felt like we were really on our way. A successful first night, storm and all!

Oh, a slightly amusing story about our room that night that first night. It was obvious that the hotel was packed, as they gave us a room that was obviously normally used as a conference room. It was huge, and we had a Murphy bed that came out of the wall. We also had a industrial bar/kitchen sink in the room. I was worried that it would be a super loud and uncomfortable room, but it turned out to be just fine. I guess the Days Inn knew what it was doing after all.

July 2, 2011 - Day 2:

We woke up Saturday morning, had our Days Inn breakfast (that Beth could have handed to me through our conveniently connected door), and headed into Mitchell to see the Corn Palace. My family took a vacation to western South Dakota when I was a kid, but we never stopped at the Corn Palace. Almost everyone told us it wasn't worth the time, but we figured we couldn't skip it since we were already in Mitchell. And, how can you pass up the opportunity to see kitschy

Americana at its best?

After the Corn Palace, we hit the road again and Wall Drug was our next destination. Like the Corn Palace, Wall Drug is one of those truly hokey tourist places that is hard to skip. At one point, we started counting the billboards advertising Wall Drug between Mitchell and Wall, and I think we reached over 300! Insanity. We also drove over the Missouri River along the way, and I've never seen it that high. Sort of freaky. Anyway, here are some pictures from the journey and that pit stop:

After the Wall Drug extravaganza, we were off to Mount Rushmore. I was very excited to see it, as I hadn't seen it since I was a kid and I remembered it being pretty cool. It turns out that they made quite a few improvements since I was last there. They now have a really nice visitor center and plaza, as well as a parking ramp. And, they didn't use any government money to fund the entire project. Pretty cool.

While there, we took a ranger-led tour, which we both really enjoyed (except for the horribly rude people that joined us). For instance, the elevation of Mt. Rushmore is over 5,700 feet, and the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, originally planned to sculpt the presidents' torsos in addition to the heads. We also looked for the restaurant that Beth's grandparents, Walter and Vivian, ate at years ago, but the ranger said it was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by a snack shop on the plaza. Oh well, things change I suppose.

After Mt. Rushmore, we headed towards Sturgis, South Dakota, where we had long ago used Priceline to book a room for the night. Unfortunately, Priceline chose Super 8, which made me nervous even back then, but I was hopeful that it might turn out okay. Wrong - we arrived to a not-so-nice hotel and a rude clerk who informed us that she only had a smoking room available. She also told us that we wouldn't be able to find any other rooms in town. The smoking room in the shady hotel wasn't going to work for us, so Beth started looking for another room and I called Priceline. After being on hold for quite a while, Priceline did come through and refunded the price of the room for that night. At the same time, Beth found us a room at a Comfort Suites in Spearfish, South Dakota (just a bit further west on 94) instead. Whew!

That night, we went out to dinner at the Spearfish Chophouse and Whiskey Bar. It was a cute little local place at the base of Spearfish Canyon, which we decided to drive through after dinner. The canyon was gorgeous, and we saw many deer as we drove along. We also saw a lovely waterfall (Bridal Veil Falls) and the city of Deadwood at night. After that little adventure, we relaxed in the hotel hot tub and hit the hay. All in all, it was a really great second day on the Great American Road Trip!

Snow and boxelder bugs

The weather forecast called for snow today, but I wasn't sure I believed it (come on, they are always wrong!). It's only October 26th after all. However, there was definitely sleet out there today - yikes! I don't know why these things still surprise me, as I remember vividly the Halloween blizzard of 1991, but for some reason I'm always a bit taken aback when it snows so early.

The upside of the early snow/cold? Death to all the boxelder bugs on the outside of my bedroom window. I hate those damn bugs. They are all over the inside of my window, on the blinds, and on my curtains. I know they are harmless, but they still creep me out. Not a fan of bugs in my house, period. I hope this blast of cold air kills the rest of them so no more can crawl in. I also wish Crosby Pointe would do something about them. They always say there's not much they can do...clearly they are not familiar with a little something called GOOGLE. Sigh. Again, not sure why I'm surprised, as our apartment manager doesn't even know how to keep track of who parks where in the garage...I guess google is just beyond her.

Anyway, we won't have any accumulation today, so the snow isn't really a big deal. However, I did hear that we are supposed to have more snow than usual this year overall, and also that it's supposed to be colder too. Not sure how B will handle that, as she barely made it through last winter! I'm also not sure how I will handle it, since I've been freezing lately, so much so that I have to use this microwavable heating pad that B has. Yikes! Stay tuned...

Wilderness Wedding

This past weekend, B and I went to my friend Melissa's (aka Grover) wedding. I've known Grover since middle school, and she's always been extremely active and outdoorsy. So, when I received the invite, I shouldn't have been surprised to find out it was a camping wedding, meaning that people were going to St. Croix State Park for an entire weekend to camp and celebrate her wedding. I didn't think much about it when I RSVPed for me and Beth. However, as the day actually approached, B had many questions, and so did I. Dress code? What kind of cabin are we staying in? Does it have heat? Will we have to share with others? On and on. So, after a semi-panicked call to Grover, I got some basic information, and off we went.

We dressed like we would for a non-outdoor, non-camping wedding...which meant we were quite overdressed! Oh well. Grover was in a gown, and Mike was in a tux, so we weren't that out of place. The ceremony was quite nice, and afterwards we had a bit of time to check out the cabin and change into more casual attire, as there was a social hour between the ceremony and dinner. As we entered the cabin, we heard this loud squeaky sound coming from the window. I thought, uh oh, a chipmunk must have entered the cabin somehow. I kept checking out the window, which had a wooden shutter on the outside, but I couldn't see anything. I went outside and opened the shutter, and then I heard B shrieking - it turns out there were bats in there. I immediately slammed the shutter shut and went back in the cabin. Unfortunately, the damn bats were still in there, and B was shouting for me to go back out there and open the shutter. So, I mustered up my courage (butchness?) and opened the damn shutter. One bat flew away on its own, but I had to flick the other one off the screen with B's shoe. YUCK! Once the bats were gone, I closed the shutter and we didn't experience any more problems.

After the bat incident, we went back up to the wedding/dinner/reception area. I didn't know too many others at the wedding, so we just walked around the camp - quite nice actually. Things were going well, and then the catering truck pulled up. I kid you not, the sign on the truck said "divine swine" and had a picture of a pig. Poor B - good thing I made her eat something before we got there, as it certainly wasn't a kosher meal. They did serve roast beef, so she didn't starve. So, so funny. What are the odds? Honestly...she was already super hesitant about the whole outdoors thing, and then the pig truck pulls up! LOL!

The rest of the evening went quite well. We had amazing views of the stars, and shared a twin bed and sleeping bags to stay warm (it was FREEZING). All in all, a good day and night - a nice little adventure if you want to call it that. :)

The next morning, we hit the road early and checked out more of the park. It was quite pretty (I'll add a few pics later - they are on B's camera), and it was nice to just spend some time driving around. After that, it was a hot breakfast at Tobie's and back home (civilization as B calls it).

Congrats Melissa and Mike - you guys deserve all the happiness in the world. I was honored to share your day with you, and I wish you all the best!

Alaska - Day 6

Thursday, August 21, 2008:

We started out today with an awesome breakfast at Fannie's Flapjacks. It was a family style breakfast and included eggs, meats, biscuits, potatoes, pancakes, juice, and fruit. It might have been the meal in Denali, probably by far. We also met some nice folks from Indiana - they were part of a giant tour group. It seems most people are on tours, which often makes us the little misfits on the bus/dinner room/etc. It's pretty funny, and the others seem to adopt us with no problems.

After breakfast, we went over to the Denali Visitors Center, checked our bags, and did some day hiking. We had some time to kill because we had to check out of our room by 10:00, but the train didn't leave until 4ish. This was good though, as Dad really wanted to so some hikes. We got a map and set off. Our first trail wasn't anything special, but it did bring us down by a river. After that, we chose another trail which was somewhat difficult - uphill for a long way. The view of the meadow below when we made it to the top was worth it though, and I was pleased we made it without too much struggle. Dad did much better than I did, but this doesn't surprise me, as he's a runner.

I lost my favorite long sleeved t-shirt along the way - fell off my bag. Dad speed walked all the way back along the trail for quite some time, including uphill, and he found it! I was so happy!
I also randomly found $40 in my pants pocket - think it was from my last trip, and it was washed in the washing machine. Sweet! When I lost the shirt, I thought, well, at least I found money to buy a new one. When Dad found the shirt, the cash was an extra bonus!

We ran into some sort of bird on the second trail - it jumped out and scared Dad. I thought he was going to fall down the side of the mountain! After Mom suggested what it might be, I googled it and she was right: It was a ptarmigan, Alaska's state bird. Cool! It sort of looked like a pheasant, but I swear it had red eyes.

After we finished hiking, we picked up our bags and headed to the train depot, which is right across from the park visitor center. Again, sort of a contradiction - a huge natural wilderness right across the way from 1000s of tourists. It's like Disneyworld - Denali.

As we waited for the train, we met up with some fellow train riders from the previous train trip and passed an hour plus chatting with them. They were great folks from Salt Lake City, celebrating their 40+ wedding anniversary. We boarded the train with them, and we were off to Fairbanks - the train started moving before we even sat down! This time, the car was pretty empty, and Dad and I had tons of space in the back. That made it much more enjoyable.

The Utah folks asked us to eat dinner with them, and we chatted for another hour plus - really great people! We even managed to discuss politics civilly! They were knowledgeable about many things, and that was awesome. Good stuff. If they ever came to the Twin Cities, I could see my parents hanging out with them. They were that friendly!

Oh, crazy guy was on the train again, and he moved from his assigned seat to sit right in front of me. He was much more calm and chill this time. I feel bad for him - Utah folks knew who he was and thought he has some sort of problem, perhaps DD or something. I agree. Sad. Dad figures that someone in Denali must have told him to shut up, because otherwise we can't figure out why he was so quiet. I can't imagine having to endure a 9 hour wildlife/park tour with him - yikes!

We saw a HUGE bull moose in the far distance while eating dinner on the train. It was pretty far away, but it was neat to see.

We arrived in Fairbanks with no problem, and got our hotel. Walked around the city a little bit - tiny city, very industrial. Sort of bleak really, could be right out of the 70s/80s. Reminded me of how MN of the 80s is depicted in movies - like in North Country! Pretty much like that. There were lots of homeless people walking around, and nothing open. The sun didn't set until quite late - it was very light at 9:30 pm.

Fairbanks is a big city in AK - in winter, there are times when they don't have water, as pipes freeze! There are million dollar mansions with outhouses! I can't imagine why people would want to live like that, but clearly many do.

We are leaving SUPER early for Barrow tomorrow morning - flight at 7:30, shuttle pick up at 5:30 am. Thus, I have to jet, as it's quite late! Oh, note the time in the clock picture - 9:30 pm and it was still quite light out!