Day 18, 19, 20 – Denver, Colorado

Not a whole lot to report the past few days. I’ve been staying with my father's cousin Howard and his wife Theresa in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, a little south of Denver. It’s been another nice break from traveling in a car and having to find a new place to set up every night.

The first day, I took the light rail, Littleton-Mineral to 16^th Street into downtown Denver. I was told that when I got there, the Wynkoop Brewery would be a good place to have lunch. I walked down the pedestrian only 16^th street which was mainly shopping and restaurants. Like any city, it was crowded but not overly so.

I arrived at Wynkoop within 10 minutes of stepping off the light rail. Wynkoop Brewery is Denver’s oldest brewery and produced 1,602 barrels of beer in the first half of 2010, a pittance compared to the almost 4.5M barrels produced at Budweiser at Fort Collins. After a quick lunch I would be off to see the downtown. I ordered a buffalo burger and a Mile HI.P.A. To make a long story short, I proceeded to work my way through the beer list, leaving only two for another time. About five hours later, it was time for me to catch the light rail back in time for dinner. I can’t say I saw much of the downtown but I had a great time meeting some cool people and trying some great beer. Top recommendation: Mile HI.P.A.

The following day, yesterday, was rather low key. I had my car in the shop for most of the afternoon for an oil change after only 2 ½ weeks and almost 3,000 miles, and a radiator flush. It feels good to have the Subaru ready for action again.

This morning, Howard, his friend Elliot and I played 18 holes at the Fox Hollow golf course in Lakewood. It was a perfect day for golf, about 80 degrees and very little wind. I was very happy with my 91, especially considering I haven’t played in four months and was using borrowed clubs. The sun is strong in the mile high city, even with sun block I got a little bit of a sun burn. And yes, the ball does fly considerably farther at higher elevations.

Tomorrow I think I’m going to check out Colorado Springs and Pike’s Peak.

Day 17 - Boulder, Colorado

I was lucky to find the camping area at Longs Peak last night. It sure beat sleeping in the car. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a lot of sleep. I was woken up around 3am by some pretty high winds that came through Rocky Mountain National Park. Of course, this was the night that I didn’t think I needed to put in the tent spikes to hold down my fort. The only thing holding my tent from blowing away was me inside trying to sleep. It was the wind and the movement of my tent that woke me up, but once awake I could hear some rustling with what sounded like a metal box. I wondered why someone would be up at 3am and making noise by banging on a metal container? The blowing wind kept me up the rest of the night.

I laid awake until about 7am when I decided that I might as well pack up the tent and head on to Boulder to check out the town. As I exited my tent, I noticed directly behind it (paced at 12 yards), a brown metal container. Apparently, this was a bear-proof, food containment box. People put food items in these to keep bears from coming into their tents or breaking into their cars. Since I set up my tent in the dark, I didn’t noticed how close I was to one of these. I don’t know for sure, who or what, was trying to get into this food container behind my tent at 3am, but if I had my guess, it was probably big, black, furry and cuddly looking.

I followed US-7 south from Longs Peak and arrived in Boulder by 8:30. Boulder lies right at the foot of the eastern section of the Rockies coined the “The Flatirons”, named from the five rock formations that represent the shape of flat, metal clothing irons.

I had formed my first impression within about 5 minutes upon entering Boulder, loved it! It seemed like a very active town with lots of bicyclists and pedestrians out and about. I drove down Broadway Street which was lined with beautiful, well maintained houses and modern shops that eventually led to the University of Colorado at Boulder. I stopped to get a bite to eat and then took advantage of Border’s book store’s free WiFi to finish the blog from the day before. Border’s was tucked into an outdoor shopping mall lined with some upper end retail shops and lots of restaurants and eateries. It was a perfectly sunny day but already into the upper 80s. I pulled my mountain bike down from the roof of my car and decided to explore the hippie, granola (insert any tree hugger reference here) town on two wheels instead of four. After about 3 hours of riding around, I think I covered most of the main areas. For having a population close to 100k, Boulder has a small town feel and just about everything that I am looking for.

I realize that I am going to have to work on some sort of a rating system in order to rank possible relocation areas based on the criteria that are most important to me. Since I don’t have a system in place, a simple pros/cons list will have to suffice for now.

Pros

· Active, outdoor community

· Pedestrian, bicycle and animal friendly

· Proximity to hiking, biking, fishing, rock climbing and skiing

· All conveniences of a large town with small town feel

· Pedestrian only historical area (shopping, cafes, breweries)

· Qdoba

· Public transportation

· Weather (300+ days of sunshine)

Cons

· Cost of living, expensive housing

· Proximity to skiing. Close by NJ standards (1-2 hours) but I would prefer to be closer

· Weather – Hot summers and mild winters. Average snowfall in town is only 83”. Most snow melts away within a day or two.

Boulder summary: I like it, a lot! I still have plenty of locations on my list to check out, but Boulder will be high on the consideration list.

After spending the day in Boulder, I decided a warm bed would be a nice change so I headed to Highland’s Ranch, just outside of Denver where my father’s cousin and wife (Howard and Theresa) have opened their doors to me.

Mileage update: 2,849.9

Day 16 - Wyoming to Colorado

I slept well last night and woke up to the sound of cows grazing in the fields next to where I set up my tent. There were also 9 Pronghorn Antelope out feeding; just waiting for me to try to take their picture so they could run off. I decided to go about my business and they just went about theirs.

I’m not really sure what my fascination has been with these Pronghorn? Maybe it’s because I wasn’t expecting to see any antelope out here, because for some reason I always associated these animals with other continents. Well they are here in Wyoming and in abundance. So much so that my intrigue in them has started to slowly fade. The first 10-15 antelope sightings I had to pull over and try to take a picture. After several hundred miles of seeing them in just about every other field, they have now become commonplace. I still consider them to be beautiful animals, but now I have been desensitized with antelope overload.
I think I’m finally starting to find my traveling rhythm. I no longer feel the need to squeeze so much into a single day. I’m sleeping until I’m ready to get up, not getting up because I need to get on the road. I’m also finding excuses to stop more often along the way, whether it be at a rest stop, coffee house or a McDonalds to kill an hour or two, just because. I’ve just about completely lost track of the days now having only my cell phone to remind me. I also haven’t read a newspaper or an online news article or watched TV for the past 16 days. I used to be so programmed to keep current with what was happening in the world as well as every economic report. I have to say that it feels pretty good to be unplugged. I don’t know for how long I will be able to stay disconnected from the matrix, but for now I have to say I like it? I guess it will depend on whether I choose the red pill, or the blue pill?

I’m thinking of stretching out this trip and heading out to the west coast as well. I know it will kind of depend on the weather and how I feel in another 3-4 weeks but I’m enjoying this so much that it’s sounding like a great idea.

The drive to Cheyenne, WY was uneventful. Not really much to see at all besides more cows, horses and antelope. I suppose that I could have driven the rest of the way last night in the dark, but then I would’ve missed my first sightings of the Rocky Mountains, something I’ve been anxiously awaiting.
I crossed the border from Wyoming into Colorado somewhere between 2 and 3pm. Fort Collins was the first real town I came to. After almost a week, I finally reached a piece of suburbia. The familiar stores and restaurant chains were a welcomed sight. As I drove through Ft. Collins, I saw a sign for the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour. I know these tours usually mean free beer. On one hand, I give Bud beer about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. On the other, free beer always gets a 10, so I figured this would be as good a place as any to stop and stretch my legs. This facility is the second largest Budweiser brewery in the US, right behind St. Louis, MO. They have the capacity to brew 60,000 kegs of beer per day, or 30,000 barrels. They brew up to 9M barrels on an annual basis. We toured every step of the process and also got to see some of the famous Clydesdale horses which this is the main training facility. After the tour we were able to sample a few beers. It still tastes the same, it’s still Budweiser, but it was free.
After the Budweiser tour, I decided to head to Estes Park in the Rocky Mountain National Park, via Loveland. Immediately upon getting to the base of the Rocky Mountains, it seemed all up hill. It was a beautiful drive through the Big Thompson Canyon (US-34). Winding and twisting roads with almost vertical rock walls on both sides. Lots of people were out fly fishing the stream that ran along the roadway. I got to Estes Park as it was getting dark. I tried to find a place to camp but the only thing available was a KOA, which was basically a tiny spot on a gravel parking lot for $27, more than I have paid to stay anywhere so far, no thanks. I decided to head south along SR-7 towards Boulder, CO. I didn’t think I was going to find anything but happened across Longs Peak Campground, serving only first come, first served tent campers, elevation 9,405ft. The road up to the site was a class 5 road (whatever that means), but my Subaru had to kick into low gear to get up the steep road. I found a spot and set up my tent in the dark. The ground was hard and it was too difficult to drive home the tent spikes, or I was too tired and didn’t really care at this point. It was a calm night with no wind so I would take the chance of not needing them. All around there were postings to “bear proof your campsite”. After 16 days of camping, I had finally reached bear country. Just a little something for me to think about at night.

Day 15 - Wind Cave, Hot Spriings, SD -> Wyoming

This morning I decided to sleep in until almost 8:30. For those that know me, that is a feat in itself as I am usually up by 6am. Maybe it has something to do with not having to get up to go to work anymore? I think it’s partly that and the fact that I’m just sleeping better out under the stars.

After a quick shower, I gathered my things and drove to Custer to have breakfast. Options are limited in a small town so I decided on Subway, where I could sit down, open up my laptop and plan what to do for the day. When I walked in, I noticed a couple dressed in motorcycle attire and carefully studying maps. After I ordered my breakfast sandwich and coffee, I sat down at a table adjacent to them and asked where they were headed. We got to talking and it turns out that they were from British Columbia, Canada. Bob and Brenda Timbers had been on the road for almost two months, driving east through the Canadian Provinces, down through Maine and some of the New England States and then back across the Midwest where I met up with them at a Subway in downtown Custer, SD. They had accumulated a little over 12,000 miles so far on a BMW motorcycle and hope to get back home in about a week. Barbara writes articles for motorcycle magazines and is also writing a blog for friends and family. I would give her blog a plug here if it was public, but she was kind enough to add me to her route list so I am looking forward to reading about their trip. I can’t imagine how they are able to carry everything they need, for two people, for two months, on a single motorcycle. It makes me feel like I am going a bit overboard and bringing everything but the kitchen sink. It was a pleasure meeting and talking with Bob and Brenda and I wish them safe travels back to Canada, eh!

I decided to head south out of Custer on US-385 and visit Wind Cave National Park. On my way there I saw a few more Bison, some Pronghorn Antelope and a bunch of little Prairie Dogs. I got there just in time to catch a free cave tour starting at 12:30. As of now, Wind Cave is the fourth longest cave in the world at 134 miles. I say, as of now, because it is constantly being explored and is almost documented at 135 miles, which would put it tied at #3. Wind Cave got its name from a small, 10 inch opening in the earth where air is blown out or is sucked in depending on the atmospheric pressure changes. Supposedly, wind has been clocked blowing out at over 100+mph. It is 630 ft deep and stays a constant 53F all year round. Based on air and volume calculations (I’m simplifying of course), several scientists estimate that only 5-10% of the cave has been discovered. The tour lasted about 1 ½ hours and was excellent!

From Custer I headed further south to Hot Springs where I visited the “Mammoth Site”. This is an active archeological dig site where excavators uncovered Mammoth bones in 1974 while trying to build a housing development. New bones are constantly being discovered thus increasing the total number of animals found. These animals were dated back approximately 26,000 years ago to the Ice Age. So far, 59 Mammoths (both Columbian and Wooly), along with camels, wolves, giant short-faced bears and some 50+ other species have been identified here in Hot Springs, SD. Admission was $8.00 and the tour was about 25 minutes, so if old bones is your thing, go check it out.

After spending several fantastic days in South Dakota, I figured it was time to move on. My two choices were to go south through Nebraska or west into Wyoming and then head south from there. I didn’t recognize any towns or cities in Nebraska that sounded familiar but I’ve heard of Cheyenne, WY so with a few touches of the GPS buttons to set my coordinates I was off in the direction of Cheyenne. The GPS estimated that it was about a 4.5 hour drive, getting me there around 9:30. Everywhere I have went, the scenery has been amazing. A few minutes out of Hot Springs, it seemed like the houses disappeared, obviously there were a few here and there, but for the most part there were none that were visible from the road. It was mainly grassland where herds of cattle would graze or just wide open, unattended fields. I came to the crest of a hill and it was like looking over WY from the sky and getting a preview of what was in store. I think after 30-40 minutes after leaving Hot Springs, SD I crossed over into Wyoming. I drove with my binoculars on my lap, video camera and digital camera on the passenger seat and my phone/camera charging on the center console. I found myself stopping every 10-15 minutes to try to take pictures of all of the Pronghorn Antelope. They were everywhere, several hundred of them easily along the way, but it was difficult to get them on film because they spook easily. Just as I pulled over and was ready to take a picture, off they went.

Determined to see as much of this country as I can, I decided to pick a spot to sleep here in Lusk, WY, and continue on tomorrow when there is daylight again. It is a full moon tonight with perfectly clear, starry bright skies. Low for this evening is 37 degrees so it should be good sleeping weather again. My fingers are already frozen.

Buenos noches.

Day 14 - Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore. Black Hills, SD

Today marks my 14^th day on the road. I have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this trip so far, minus sleeping in the car, and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Last night was a chilly night. When I woke up at 7am it was 35 degrees. I was pretty comfortable in my sleeping bag but tonight I think I’ll wear another layer of clothing.

Before I started the day, I wanted to finish yesterday’s blog so I headed a few miles south to Custer so I could get a better signal on my phone to connect to the internet. It would be a lot easier if there were a Starbucks or a Barnes and Noble around for free wifi but I haven’t seen one of those since I left Minneapolis. I entered the Cattleman’s Steak and Fish restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and sat down to the table with my laptop, two cameras, phone and various cables and got to work. Considering that I’ve been in cattle country for the past few days, I decided that it was only right to order the steak and eggs breakfast, medium rare. I’ve now come to learn that medium rare in South Dakota means just enough time on the fire to set some grill marks. It was about as red in the middle as lightly seared tuna, and it was oh so delicious! As my brother is often heard saying “this animal already died once for its sins, why do we need to kill it a second time?” I couldn’t agree more. For those of you who like your meat “cooked”, keep this in mind if you ever come to SD.

I decided that today was going to be an easy day. You would think that while I’m traveling I would have all the time in the world to myself. On the contrary, I’m usually on the go from about 7am until 8 or 9pm and needed some time to relax.

First on the agenda for today was to see the Crazy Horse monument which was only about 6 miles north from Custer. This is another mountain carving, just like Mt. Rushmore, only this one is of an Oglala Lakota Indian warrior and his horse. Construction is far from complete, although carving began in 1948 by a Polish American sculptor (there’s a joke in there somewhere). The monument was visible from miles away and a really good view could be had at the front entrance. Since roughly 25% of the carving was complete I figured I didn’t need to pay just to get a closer look at the head. Maybe in another 50 years when they finish his arm I’ll reconsider?

Mt. Rushmore was another 17 miles up the road from the Crazy Horse monument. The sun was out, it was about 75 degrees and there were plenty of people out taking in the sights. Admission was $10 to help offset the expenses for the new parking facility and re-admission to the park is good for a calendar year. Mt. Rushmore features the heads of four US presidents carved into the granite walls. From left to right, the faces are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, each approximately 60 feet high. This monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and finished by his son Lincoln. Initial construction began in 1927 and the faces were completed by 1939. The original plan for Mt. Rushmore was to carve out each president from head to waist until funding ran out in 1941. I took part in the free walking tour led by one of the park rangers which was a good way to learn a little about the history and great contributions each of these presidents made that have shaped our country and why they were chosen to be a part of Mt. Rushmore. This was well worth the visit.

That’s was about it for today. Nice and easy. Tomorrow I might head out of South Dakota but to where I’m not sure? I’ll look at some maps over breakfast and take it from there. I’m also taking suggestions.

Mileage update: 2,287.5

Day 13 - SD, Black Hills, Custer, Needles, Mt. Harney

There were no campgrounds open near the town of Keystone last night. I drove around for almost an hour trying to find one, but I kept coming up short. My shelter for the night was the front seat of my Subaru, a very, very uncomfortable option. There are not many ways to contort one’s own body while being confined to the cockpit of a car. I slept in spurts of maybe 10 minutes, with each interval being interrupted by a cramped leg or a sore neck. I’d be lucky if I slept more than an hour in total. It started raining heavily around 10pm and continued on through the night, so maybe it was an acceptable trade off, sleeping in a car vs. packing up wet camping gear in a downpour?

At about 5am, I couldn’t take sitting in my car any longer and I set out to search for a place that served coffee. Of course, nothing was open so I sat in front of a little shop advertising “all you can eat pancakes, $1.99". It didn't open until 7am so I waited in the parking lot. At around 6:30 the owner came out and asked me if I was waiting for his shop to open and he invited me to come inside while the griddles warmed up and the coffee brewed. Mt. Rushmore opened at 8am so I sat and talked with the owner for about 1 ½ hours, helping myself to refills of coffee behind the counter. Initially, I thought I was going to be sending the owner back and forth repeatedly to make more pancakes but I could only handle the first plate of two because each one was about the size of an 18oz porterhouse.

As I was getting ready to leave, a minivan pulled up and six senior citizens got out and came in for breakfast. As they talked I picked up on a very unique accent and asked if they were from Maine. Turns out they were from Rockland. I said “So, what do you put on your Waas’ hot dog?” They sprung to attention faster than they have probably moved in 50 years. They couldn’t believe that I knew of a tiny little shack selling hot dogs in the small town of Rockland. I mentioned that I worked for FMC and would occasionally travel there to visit our manufacturing facility. We connected further as we discussed other area establishments like “The Brown Bag” and “Red’s” famous lobster rolls. One of the gentlemen used to work for Marine Colloids, a company that FMC acquired some 20-30 years ago. He said I reminded him of his favorite grandson. I didn’t think Grandparents were allowed favorites; at least not mention this in public? I kindly took the compliment and I headed up the road to Mt. Rushmore. That was my small world story for the day.

It was still raining hard and there was low cloud cover, so much that Mt. Rushmore was not visible. I figured I would come back to see Rushmore later and instead take 16A towards Custer State Park to witness the roundup of the buffalo. Apparently, the Black Hills is home to some 1,450 buffalo. The purpose of the roundup is to thin the herd to manageable and sustainable levels, somewhere around 950. Calves are branded and females are vaccinated. Approximately 500 animals are sorted for sale stock. The drive to Custer was probably not much more than 25 miles but it took a little over an hour to get there because of the narrow, twisting roads that traversed over hills, through one-lane tunnels and several thousand feet of elevation changes, up and down. It was a beautiful drive and some parts reminded me of driving through Switzerland, with hair pin turns on the edge of steep cliffs. This was definitely a different South Dakota than I was used to.

The Black Hills forest opened up in Custer and revealed rolling hills of prairie land. I saw tons of white-tail deer (8-10+ pts, Kevin), wild turkeys and pronghorn. I eventually came to a crest of a hill which made visible several hundred grazing buffalo. I continued along the road and was able to get within petting distance of some rather large creatures. I sat in my car and watched them graze for almost 2 hours. What a fantastic experience!

From here I drove the Needles Highway (SD 87) which leads up to Sylvan Lake. This was another gorgeous drive covering 14 miles of twisting, narrow roads. Along the drive are amazing views of high granite rock faces. Needles Highway got its name from the slender granite peaks, cathedral-like spires and the “Needles Eye” which resembles the eye of a needle. I took a break from the car and hiked up the Cathedral Spires Trailhead to get up close to these giant rocks.

I arrived at Sylvan Lake and found the campground to be closed. I was hoping this was not going to be another sleepless night in the car. Right at the base of Sylvan Lake was the entrance to the Mt. Harney Trailhead. The peak of Mt. Harney is the highest elevation (7,242 ft) in the US, east of the Rocky Mountains. It was now 2:30pm and a sign at the base of the trail suggested allowing 4-5 hours to complete the 6.5 mile round trip hike. Knowing I was at risk of losing daylight, I hurriedly assembled my backpack and made my way to the top. The hike brought me close to the rock faces and it was neat to see the granite walls from higher elevations, a different perspective from the road. Along the trail, I kept my eyes peeled to hopefully catch a glimpse of some elk, bighorn sheep and mountain goats which are known to be in the area; unfortunately I didn’t see anything except more big bucks. I eventually made it to the top of Mt. Harney. Absolutely incredible views, looking down at the tips of the spires in the distance, when just a few hours before I was looking straight up at them. Hopefully the pictures do it justice!

I made it back down by 6pm with plenty of light left. I kept a good pace going up to ensure I would get back in time. Round trip was 3 hours 25 minutes.

I set out to look for a place to sleep so I headed south towards Custer City where I came across Fort Welikit. $12 and a secluded place to pitch a tent was a welcome relief.

I have been having a hard time with cell coverage the past few days so I cooked some dinner and enjoyed a fire, leaving the blog until this morning where I could get a signal from a downtown restaurant.

Day 12 - Sturgis, Spearfish, Lead, Deadwood, South Dakota

September 22, 2010

Woke up at the Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgis, SD at 7:30 and decided to get an early jump on the day. I packed up my things and was on the road by 8am. Even if you’re not a biker, you have probably heard of Sturgis. It hosts one of the largest annual motorcycle events in the world. Luckily or unluckily, I’m still not sure which; I was about a month late. Sturgis is a small town with a run-down feeling. Most of the houses are old and dilapidated. The town feels like it was recently deserted, like a beach town after Labor Day. It would appear, from the outside looking in, that Sturgis’ economy thrives on the once-a-year motorcycle event. There is a “famous” biker bar / saloon on just about every street corner and a tattoo parlor either next door or across the street, almost all of them were closed. I wonder what people do here the other 51 weeks per year?

Next on the agenda was a stop in Spearfish. Spearfish was only about 25 miles from Sturgis but my first impression was strikingly different. Spearfish has a population of approximately 9,000, still small when compared to east coast standards. It got its name from the Native American Indians who used to spear fish the creek prior to the gold rush. Houses were well cared for and modernly updated. Main Street had lots of little shops and there were plenty of pedestrians out walking around. Tall mountains surrounded this small town. I liked it.

I drove the Spearfish Canyon scenic highway on my way to Lead. The canyon road is actually a 19 mile winding gorge with spectacular cliffs and ridge lines, and also the beginning of the Black Hills National Park, when driving from the North. My timing was just right to catch the season’s incredible changing of the leaves. Unfortunately, I didn’t take too many pictures because I used my new video camera to film the drive, now I just have to figure out how to cut and edit a movie file. Give me some time with that one. This was, by far, the most visually impressive part of my trip!

Lead was another small town (2 square miles) with about 3,000 inhabitants. It was founded in 1876 after gold was discovered and is home to the largest, deepest (8,240ft) and most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere before it closed in 2002. I stopped in at the Black Hills Mining Museum for a quick walk through and then headed another 4 miles to the town of Deadwood.

Deadwood was settled by the American people in 1870, although the legality of it is disputed due to the fact that the territory had been granted to the Natives in the 1868 Treaty of Laramie. In 1874, General George Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills and announced the abundance of gold, which led to the Gold Rush and gave rise to the lawless town of Deadwood. However, Deadwood is probably more famous for the characters that lived there. Names like Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Potato Creek Johnny, Poker Alice and Deadwood Dick. Wild Bill was gunned down in Saloon #10 while playing poker by Jack McCall, who claimed that Wild Bill killed is brother. His lifeless hands let fall onto the table, aces and eights, forever known as the “Dead Man’s Hand”. After visiting the various tourist sites and feeling like moving on, I meandered past Deadwood’s oldest bar “Buffalo”. I had just enough time for a quick pint of Phat Tire.

I left Deadwood around 4pm and figured I would head towards Mt. Rushmore. This was a nice, scenic drive and the only time that I lost cell coverage. I’m currently writing this blog entry from the “Grizzly Creek” Restaurant, while eating a Buffalo burger and sipping on a Burning Sky beer with Mt. Rushmore visible a few miles away.

You know, I poked fun about the laid back, slow moving people here in the Midwest. I won’t lie, it’s all true, but nowhere else will you find such friendly, open and genuine people. It’s uncommon to walk past someone on the street without an exchange of salutations. When is the last time you entered into a 15 minute conversation with someone while filling your car at a gas station?

Now I’m off to find a place to sleep for the night. I’m anxiously awaiting my first campfire.

I'm too tired to go out to my car to give the daily mileage count. From memory, it's a little over 2,000 miles. Instead of finishing off this post with an accurate mileage count and map update, I'm going to leave you all with a picture that makes all of this possible. I had to drive several miles before I could turn around to take this picture, I thought it was that important. Thank you to all of the people, past and present, that have fought to make this the greatest country on earth!

In closing, I highly recommend that everyone quit their job and drive across this beautiful country. You can, and will, thank me later!

Day 11 - South Dakota

September 21, 2010

I woke up at 7am, just in time to catch the sunrise coming up over the hill on the other side of the Missouri River. A flock of 11 wild turkeys were feeding about 15 yards away from me as I exited the tent and they quickly scattered when they detected my presence. The storm that was suppose to track its way through Chamberlain last night must have changed paths. I could hear a little bit of rain falling during the night, but that’s about it. I wasn’t so much worried about the rain, but the wind due to the short, aluminum tent stakes that I’m using and the soft ground they were inserted into. It was a calm morning with a light breeze coming from the water; I would guess the temperature to be about 55 degrees. I packed up the tent and the car, and after a quick shower I was back on the road again at 8:30am, CST.

I jumped back onto I-90W and got myself ready for another 300+ day. After about 70 miles of seeing billboards advertising “South Dakota’s Original 1880 Town and Longhorn Ranch”, I stopped in the town of Murdo to check it out. A $9.45 admission fee got me past the two old ladies working the counter. Without going into too much detail, it is a replication of an old western town using 30+ authentic buildings collected from various locations. Each building had its own function: a barbershop, post office, saloon, bank, jailhouse, blacksmith, etc. It was open to walk around the town and inside the different buildings. I spent about an hour there. I wouldn’t call it a “must see” attraction but I’m glad I stopped.

The drive was more of the same. Fields as far as the eye can see. I would imagine some people would get sick of the same scenery, mile after mile after mile. I suppose once you've seen one corn field, wheat field or cattle farm, you've seen them all? For some reason, I just can't get enough of it. There is something to be said of the vastness of this land. In the 1,000+ miles that I've driven through fields, I'm still in awe of corn planted into perfectly straight rows, fields of sunflowers, wheat, soybeans, hay rolled up into bundles; sometimes lined up into rows, stacked or just randomly laid to rest, or the simpleness and beauty of plain ol' prairie grasslands.

I crossed over into the Mountain Time Zone as I made my way on I-90W to my next stop, Badlands National Park. Admission for one adult was $15 but I decided to buy the yearly pass for $80 which is good for any National Park in the US. This was a beautiful drive and takes just about an hour to complete, if you don’t stop at any of the many scenic overlooks. Badlands covers 244,000 acres. It is the largest expanse of protected prairie ecosystem in the National Park system and is considered one of the world’s richest mammal fossil beds. If you ever get a chance to drive through, it will be well worth it.

Coming out of the Badlands, the town of Wall is only about 8 miles away. Wall is famous for the Wall Drug store, originating in 1931. To drum up business, they started attracting visitors with signs of free water and 5 cent coffee, and still do to this day. If you ever travel on I-90, you will become aware that there is a Wall Drug approaching as they have billboard advertisements stretching 500 miles, costing $400,000 each year. I went inside for my free bumper sticker, free ice water, a 5 cent coffee and a chocolate malt shake and I was on my way. There was something strange happening in Wall. I felt like I entered into a universe that could only run at half speed. I know that I am used to the Jersey hustle but this was too much. They walked slow, talked slow, drove slow and I even witnessed a little kid drop an ice cream cone onto the floor, it fell at 4.9m/s². Weird.

I was going to make my way to Mt. Rushmore but the miles have started to take a toll. I decided instead to drive to Sturgis and set up camp for the night. After a good night’s sleep, I should be ready to hit Rushmore and the Black Hills tomorrow.

I am staying at the Buffalo Chip campground in Sturgis, SD. I just caught the manager as she was closing shop and she guided me to a nice, secluded area with no one around. No utilities, no water, just a tent and a gas cook stove.

Time to make some dinner.

Total miles: 1,987.2

Day 10 - Minnesota to South Dakota

September 20, 2010

I left Minneapolis a little later than anticipated this morning. After a final round of goodbyes I made it out the door at 11:15am. I programmed the GPS to take me to the Black Hills in South Dakota. Since this was about 650 miles away, I decided to break it up into two days. My goal was to make it an hour or two west of Sioux Falls, somewhere around Mitchell, SD. This would leave me with a manageable drive tomorrow.

I headed south on US-169 leaving Chaska, MN and within the first 30 minutes the scenery quickly changed from residential neighborhoods to farm fields again. Yup, more farm fields. Driving through the rest of MN reminded me of the drive through WI, only there seemed to be more trees and rolling hills in WI. MN was, for the most part, flat. Of course there were trees in MN, they just mainly surrounded the farm houses that were scattered every few miles, rather than the random pockets of forests that seemed to frequent Wisconsin.

One thing that I wasn’t expecting was all of the wind farms that sprouted up in Minnesota over the past few years. There were hundreds of wind turbines off in the fields. I guess it’s a good place for them because the flat terrain and wide open fields allows the wind to blow without any hindrance. It was very windy today with gusts up to 40mph. With my two bikes and car top carrier on the roof I was just trying to keep it between the lines.

I took SR-60 heading southwest and made my first stop to get out and stretch my legs in the little town of Worthington, MN, just prior to getting onto I-90W which will take me the rest of the way to the Black Hills. The stop at Worthington consisted of a gas station, café and a general store. It was at this stop that I made several astute observations. I spotted my first set cowboy boots. Not only that, I noticed that people wearing cowboy boots actually outnumbered people not wearing them. I also saw my first gun rack, complete with rifle, in the back window of a pickup truck. Ya know yer a redneck if…..? Lastly, as I perused the three isles that comprised the general store, I noticed that almost an entire isle was dedicated to CB radio antennas and antenna accessories. My Birkenstocks and I began to feel strangely out of place. I quickly walked outside and back to my car. Yup, I’m in the country now!

I stopped in Sioux Falls to fill up with gas. Surprisingly, it was only $2.55 for 89 octane, certainly better than the $2.79 I’ve been becoming used to. I walked around a sporting goods store for a half hour to give myself another break from the car seat and then got on the way to Mitchell, home to the World’s only Corn Palace! It was closed by the time I got there at 6:15pm, but I wasn’t that disappointed. I’ve seen it before and it’s just as I remembered it to be.

I figured Mitchell would be a good halfway point to camp for the night so I stopped at the Cabellas in town and asked for some campground recommendations. The only one they knew of was an RV park right alongside the interstate. My other option was to keep driving another 65 miles to Chamberlain to a place called Cedar Shore, which happen to be right on the Missouri River. I wasn’t that tired yet, and what’s another 65 miles after driving 300? This last leg of the drive happened as the sun was setting. The sun set quickly over the prairie’s horizon but the orange glow seemed to last for almost an hour afterwards. I had some great views of the lightning storms out of my driver’s window just to the south.

I checked in at the campground just as they were closing and found out that the cool lightning storms that I saw are headed this way. I set up my tent in about 20 mph winds (not easy) right on the bank of the Missouri River. Tonight should be a good test of my tent. I’ll consider myself lucky if this is the worst weather I experience on this trip. The lightning show is nice and there are coyotes howling in the background to keep me company tonight. Can’t beat this!

Goodnight.

Total miles: 1,724.5