Divermarv

What a day. Leaving Devils Tower and its environs was a little emotional. What a wonderful visit there. I’ve already swooned over the tipi camping and the tower, so I’ll mind my keyboard usage.

But before I leave there — blog-wise — let me add one thing. Yesterday I did something I haven’t done in forever. Here’s a hint (and a pic of me from the 80s):

Yesterday I did a horseback trail ride. It was with Seven J Outfitters. And it was great. I did the two-hour ride, which was just about enough. Spoiler, my knees are still sore. I’m sure not that young fella in the pic above. But here’s a couple of pics of me in modern times. If you find yourself in the Sundance area, do yourself a favor. Pay Seven J a visit! Oh and interesting side note… Sundance Wyoming is where the Sundance Kid got his name. He was a guest of the city for a while, in a manner of speaking.

But that was yesterday. And today is a whole new day. And a whole new state. South Dakota! This is my first time in South Dakota, so I can mark that off the list. 12/48 contiguous U. S. States.

In South Dakota there was another new thing I saw. You know how you see the “Road Work Ahead” signs all the time? And it’s often one lane closed for some surfacing or folks with shovels filling potholes? Well not in South Dakota. At least today. This was truly road work!

Struggles with logistics

And my struggles have been, and are, many. This grand circuit of the west is my first to plan. Especially solo. Planning solo is easy in some ways… no one else to appease. But it’s hard in others. No one looking over my shoulder checking for plot holes. I need my writer’s critique group to check me out on this.

While planning I had visions of sugar plums in my head I’d guess. I extended my stays at some places and no extension at others. While planning I wasn’t a huge fan of Mount Rushmore, just a place to mark off a list really. I knew my visit would be quick. I guess that’s why I did only one day. But a full day.

Also I’ve never really driven a trip this long before. And when I did I used paper maps (see ‘80s trip eastward). Now I’m using my iPhone’s GPS and Apple Maps. Yeah, I’m using Apple Maps, so just hush. Anyway, I’ve never really used all the features of Apple Maps, like adding stops and all that. I’m getting pretty good at it now. Which is why…

Why am I writing all this? Well this morning when I left Devil’s Tower I had added a stop at Starbucks in Spearfish SD. Needed my fix. But I had also gotten some advice from the trail guide for my horseback ride. Go to Deadwood they said. When I mentioned this to Juliana of Devils Tower Tipi Camping they added: Go to Lead too! And so I had my maps trip all planned out. Well mostly. I had not added the Lead stop. So I did that while in Deadwood. Why Deadwood you ask? It’s a tourist trap, and apparently has been since 1865. But a cool one. I went to Mt. Moriah Cemetery to see Wild Bill Hickock’s grave. He’s just one of the many questionable heroes of the old west, but I’ve always been fascinated by his story. Here’s where he’s staying now.

And then there’s a compatriot alongside him now.

And some nice views of Deadwood

Interesting bits of history. History is often filled with much hurt and pain. Stories of the gold rushes sound alluring in a way, especially if you’ve ever read the poet Robert W. Service. His collection, songs of a sourdough containing The shooting of Dan Mcgrew, and The Cremation of Sam McGee, really spoke to me as a teenager. Loved them. The Spell of the Yukon.

Gold rush. The Dakota gold rush lead to Lead. (Don’t you just hate the English language sometimes?) Huge gold mine there. Now though it is being used for something much more elusive than gold. Neutrinos! The Sanford Underground Research Facility is there. Deep in the mine they have special detectors used to detect neutrinos. Very hard to detect. And if you can detect them they often get lost in the cosmic background radiation. But deep underground there is very little cosmic background radiation. Good place to scavenge for neutrinos. It’s a cool place. They weren’t giving tours when I visited, but I did buy some swag. As one does. Here’s a taste of their work.

I really enjoyed Deadwood and Lead. And now time to get to my campground. Oh did I mention that I hadn’t showered in four days? Which explains why everyone daintily took my card when paying. Didn’t want to get to close.

But glancing at the map, and considering my not so great desire to spend a lot of time at Mount Rushmore, one of those neutrinos sparked a neuron. A better perusal of the map and Rushmore was on the way to my campground. It was still early in the day, being only about 1pm. What the hell. Let’s do it. And we did. I used my newly honed skills at adding stops to my map route and voila. Let’s go to see some stones.

Getting to Rushmore was not a problem. Getting out was where the friction was. More on that later. Anyway, I paid my $5 to park and waited about ten minutes or so in line to get in. Odd that there were Secret Service screening people along with the NPS folks. Interesting. But I had my sights set on snapping some snappies and buying some swag. And I accomplished my tasks.

And then it was time to leave. I got out of the parking garage, and was the fourth car in line to get out on the main road. But NPS agents were blocking the exit. And then it happened. About a zillion SD State Troopers sped by. Followed by a half a zillion black SUVs. The caboose was a couple of emergency trucks (EMTs, etc). And then regular cars. Finally we were allowed to go. I knew it had to be a federal figure of some sort. High ranking too. Secret Service don’t go for your run of the mill gov figures.

Finally I made it to the campground. Nice place. I’m in a tent spot, but still sleeping in the car. But there is electric hookup. While going to buy some ice cream at the camp store I heard that the visitor in the parade of expensive cars was none other than the VP. (I’ll bit my tongue here.)

So. Now I have tomorrow free. I’m going to do laundry, and work on some other stuff. I need to go through and sort out my thoughts and what I’ve learned on this trip.

And speaking of trip. (Jeez Marv… another paragraph of crap?!) I have amended the end of my trip. I am ready to get home. The last significant thing I’m doing now is visiting the Ashfall Fossil Beds on Sunday, and then making a beeline for home.

Peace and love. Marv