kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Still laughing. I've said that to myself more than a few times in my life.
Story Aunt Gus & Little Bear's Great Adventure Book 1 (Complete)
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
Still laughing. I've said that to myself more than a few times in my life.
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
Thank you so much! I am greatly enjoying this story!
Lake Lili
Veteran Member
'...They're coming to take me away ho ho hee hee ha haaa
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they're coming to take me away ha haaa
May 6 – 7: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Weather: A high of 70F one day and a high of 57F the next. Bismark was in the midst of a bipolar fit when we went through. Lows in the 30Fs both nights. They’ve got some crazy weather in the West.
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: mostly not bad but I suspect that may have been because of the cell signal booster. I’m glad Charles double checked my wifi permissions to lock it down as an encrypted, password protected signal. I heard more than one person complain that the only signal was Summer20 but it was locked. Good. Last thing I need is to get hacked.
May 6th
Drive from Voyageurs to Bismarck ND (8 hours)
You know what I said about driving less during a day? Yeah. Didn’t happen this time. We left International Falls right at 5 am. I put the hangtag and a thank you note in the drop box and away we went. I was even willing to stop for Paul Mendez, Border Guard Overachiever, to give me his card (for just in case), a map that he’d highlighted with known problem locations (OMG), and a relatively minor lecture on situational awareness. Oh geez, the guy was maybe twenty-five or six and he acted like Groucho’s Grandfather. Obviously he meant well but I had a hard time not laughing at how serious he was, especially about the map which I know must have taken him some time to work up; he must have gone through a box of highlighters.
I shouldn’t laugh. I know I shouldn’t. But really?! In a way he reminded me of Charles, the big anal goof. I’ve still got some of our crew maps in storage; they look like a football coach as marked them up with all these symbols and arrows on them.
Once we got to I94 we headed due west. A bit of a problem was that there were no boondocking sites or Harvest Host sites in or around Bismark. Then at a gas station I did a quick search – I don’t want to wallydock (stay in a Walmart parking lot overnight assuming it is allowed) but I found another website to add to the resource list.
Campendium has been around a while, and I pulled up a possible option before having to pray I could get a hotel room. McKenzie Slough State Game Area. The notes say it was a very small patch to camp in but it would hold maybe 4-5 RVs max. I was taking a chance that a slot would be there when we got there, and it was 20 miles due east of Bismark rather than in Bismark, but it was right off the interstate outside the town of McKenzie, a bucolic barely there dot on the map. I decided to take the chance. Benny wasn’t feeling good, the “gluten free” dinner roll I had tried at a gas station deli might not have been as gluten-free as they claimed. And I had a backlog of itinerary reviewing I needed to do. Just sitting still and doing nothing for the rest of the day and into the night didn’t seem a bad idea.
I managed to find the place right as the clock struck 3 pm and guess what. There was no one there. The only reason I knew I was where the map said we should go was signs that someone had put on a few fence posts.
I was wondering if I had lost my teeny tiny mind when two camper trucks pulled in and started setting up, only casually glancing our way. Then an RV and 5th-wheel squeezed their way in. And when I say squeeze, I mean just that. One or the other should have gone someplace else but they seemed pretty determined to park right there one way or the other. I was glad that I had backed in and had left myself some breathing room to exit because the last two in took up nearly all the breathing room that was left.
I put the screen in the windshield and closed all the privacy curtains. I decided to do set reps of push ups and sit ups, do a couple hours of work, and then we were going to sleep early … assuming the people sharing the space would let us. The kids were making a bunch of noise but not so much that Benny woke up. Poor kid, I have got to stop using fast food to cover up my poor planning. He woke up just enough to eat some Jell-O and then he went back to sleep. I wanted to follow him but … planning and reviewing and adulting oh my.
And it is a good thing that I checked my voice mails and emails. Groucho had a thing or three to say about it, but mostly he was laughing. I was wondering how he found out about the bear when I got an email from a friend saying someone had posted a vid to social media and had tagged it #AuntGusandLittleBear. There I was saying some stupid crap about the weight limit and that I wanted my ladder back when they were finished. Toward the end of the vid I was folding the ladder and said, “That’s the way you do it.” I was actually saying that to Momma Bear when she popped the cub on the backside but the vid made it sound like something else.
Bottom line is that the ladder manufacturer would like the rights to my appearance. They’ve already purchased the rights to the vid from the lady I gave the bug spray to. The vid will appear on their website. They offered me a thousand dollars. I said yeah even though it makes me look stupid. A thousand bucks is a thousand bucks and buys a little, painless humor at my expense. When I looked at the video I winced. I had a Sea Scout cap on to keep my hair out of my face and looked androgynous. Whatever. Like I said, a thousand bucks is a thousand bucks and groceries don’t come free.
I went back over our finances after that call and overall, I think we are doing pretty well. I could wish for cheaper fuel, but we’ve saved some money here and there on places to stay. Just need to watch the food budget a little more. And yeah, I know some people would say we are moving at a breakneck pace – and we do need to slow down at some point – but so far so good. It is the long driving days that kinda suck.
May 7th
Drive from Bismarck, ND to Theodore Roosevelt NP (2 hours)
We hopped in and out of the van so much today that I could have wished for one long hike instead of all the mini-hikes. In no particular order this is what we did today:
Skyline Vista (0.1-mile, easy): Was only a 10-minute stop to feel the wind in our hair atop Johnson's Plateau. This flat, paved nature trail is perfect for those who want to step out for just a moment and take a photo.
Boicourt Overlook Trail (0.2 miles, easy): One of the most beautiful South Unit overlooks is accessible by this easy nature trail that only has a slight grade. This overlook is a favorite for sunsets over the badlands.
Little Mo Trail (0.7 miles, easy): This river bottom habitat was a paved nature trail. There were brochures at the trailhead to explain the various points. If we had more room for that sort of thing I might have kept the brochure but instead we recycled it so someone else could use it.
Buck Hill (0.2 mile, easy): Easy trailed but it put us at the highest accessible point in the park. This is a short, but steep trail. The view from the top is worth every step. Marked “easy” it isn’t if you have any kind of balance or walking challenges.
Wind Canyon Trail (0.4 mile, easy): This nature trail is alongside a wind-sculpted canyon. You climb to the best view of the Little Missouri River the South Unit has to offer.
Ridgeline Trail (0.6 mile, easy to moderate): This trail was a little more challenging in places. It highlights the badlands environment along a nature trail with a few steep grades. There are also stairs.
Coal Vein Trail (0.6 mile, easy to moderate): Good trail to learn about badlands geology and ecology. Another with a few steep places with stairs.
Painted Canyon Nature Trail (0.9 miles, easy to moderate): The canyon looks amazing from the rim, but this trail give you a chance to hike down into it. Just remember, every step down means a step back up on the return. ROFL!
We switched from the South Unit over to the North Unit for our last three hikes.
Caprock Coulee Nature Trail (1.5- mile, North Unit area): Hike through badlands terrain and dry washes as you experience a variety of habitats. Can we say hot and dry?
Prairie Dog Town via the Buckhorn Trail (1.5 miles, North Unit area): Start at the Caprock Coulee Trailhead and follow the Buckhorn Trail to a prairie dog town. Oh my gosh it was hysterical. Benny kept trying to take a picture with the GoPro but he would no sooner see one out of the corner of his eye and turn as it would duck down and a different prairie dog would pop up in a different location. He was getting so frustrated. So I got him to step back and take a wide angle photo and said I would edit it so he could have close up shots of some of the “dogs.”
Sperati Point via the Achenbach Trail (1.5 miles, North Unit area): For this one you start at Oxbow Overlook. A gently rolling walk leads to an overlook of the Little Missouri River.
Made for a total of just over 8 miles but it was broken down into so many small bits and pieces that it didn’t feel like 8 miles. And the long time we spent at the Prairie Dog Town made it seem even shorter.
"I hiked eight miles Aunt Gus!”
“Sure did. Even after feeling yucky yesterday. I’m proud of you. Let’s make sure and tell the ranger when we get your Junior Ranger badge.”
“Yeah!” he exclaimed happily while doing his weird version of the Snoopy Dance. I am one really lucky aunt I gotta say. Little Bear is quite the adventurer. This trip could have been a disaster but this kid is making it fun for He wanted to do some longer hikes but after yesterday I didn’t want him to get too hot or worked up. He’s usually good within twenty-four hours when of having a GS episode but there’s been a few times it has lingered longer.
We camped at Cottonwood Campground in park $14/night (minus 50% discount). Glad I had opted to stay in the South Unit campground because the North Unit was partially closed due to a fire late last year. Apparently it damaged some of the infrastructure around the North Unit campground.
I played it safe and we had rice with some steamed veggies for dinner with one of the vegetables being “trees” … broccoli … which Benny loves. I had thought about making some cheese sauce but just used olive oil and salt and pepper until I know his stomach is one hundred percent.
We are only staying one night here because we are heading into South Dakota tomorrow for another look at the Badlands from a different perspective. Here’s hoping the weather holds. There’s some funky looking storm clouds on the horizon and to make myself feel better I put the cover over the solar panels. I might be over reacting, no one else seems to notice, but if I saw storm clouds like that in Florida I’d be thinking tropical storm type showers.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2095
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $709
Cumulative miles: 4927
Resources:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Kids & Youth - Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
South Unit Print Map - Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Weather: A high of 70F one day and a high of 57F the next. Bismark was in the midst of a bipolar fit when we went through. Lows in the 30Fs both nights. They’ve got some crazy weather in the West.
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: mostly not bad but I suspect that may have been because of the cell signal booster. I’m glad Charles double checked my wifi permissions to lock it down as an encrypted, password protected signal. I heard more than one person complain that the only signal was Summer20 but it was locked. Good. Last thing I need is to get hacked.
May 6th
Drive from Voyageurs to Bismarck ND (8 hours)
You know what I said about driving less during a day? Yeah. Didn’t happen this time. We left International Falls right at 5 am. I put the hangtag and a thank you note in the drop box and away we went. I was even willing to stop for Paul Mendez, Border Guard Overachiever, to give me his card (for just in case), a map that he’d highlighted with known problem locations (OMG), and a relatively minor lecture on situational awareness. Oh geez, the guy was maybe twenty-five or six and he acted like Groucho’s Grandfather. Obviously he meant well but I had a hard time not laughing at how serious he was, especially about the map which I know must have taken him some time to work up; he must have gone through a box of highlighters.
I shouldn’t laugh. I know I shouldn’t. But really?! In a way he reminded me of Charles, the big anal goof. I’ve still got some of our crew maps in storage; they look like a football coach as marked them up with all these symbols and arrows on them.
Once we got to I94 we headed due west. A bit of a problem was that there were no boondocking sites or Harvest Host sites in or around Bismark. Then at a gas station I did a quick search – I don’t want to wallydock (stay in a Walmart parking lot overnight assuming it is allowed) but I found another website to add to the resource list.
Campendium has been around a while, and I pulled up a possible option before having to pray I could get a hotel room. McKenzie Slough State Game Area. The notes say it was a very small patch to camp in but it would hold maybe 4-5 RVs max. I was taking a chance that a slot would be there when we got there, and it was 20 miles due east of Bismark rather than in Bismark, but it was right off the interstate outside the town of McKenzie, a bucolic barely there dot on the map. I decided to take the chance. Benny wasn’t feeling good, the “gluten free” dinner roll I had tried at a gas station deli might not have been as gluten-free as they claimed. And I had a backlog of itinerary reviewing I needed to do. Just sitting still and doing nothing for the rest of the day and into the night didn’t seem a bad idea.
I managed to find the place right as the clock struck 3 pm and guess what. There was no one there. The only reason I knew I was where the map said we should go was signs that someone had put on a few fence posts.
I was wondering if I had lost my teeny tiny mind when two camper trucks pulled in and started setting up, only casually glancing our way. Then an RV and 5th-wheel squeezed their way in. And when I say squeeze, I mean just that. One or the other should have gone someplace else but they seemed pretty determined to park right there one way or the other. I was glad that I had backed in and had left myself some breathing room to exit because the last two in took up nearly all the breathing room that was left.
I put the screen in the windshield and closed all the privacy curtains. I decided to do set reps of push ups and sit ups, do a couple hours of work, and then we were going to sleep early … assuming the people sharing the space would let us. The kids were making a bunch of noise but not so much that Benny woke up. Poor kid, I have got to stop using fast food to cover up my poor planning. He woke up just enough to eat some Jell-O and then he went back to sleep. I wanted to follow him but … planning and reviewing and adulting oh my.
And it is a good thing that I checked my voice mails and emails. Groucho had a thing or three to say about it, but mostly he was laughing. I was wondering how he found out about the bear when I got an email from a friend saying someone had posted a vid to social media and had tagged it #AuntGusandLittleBear. There I was saying some stupid crap about the weight limit and that I wanted my ladder back when they were finished. Toward the end of the vid I was folding the ladder and said, “That’s the way you do it.” I was actually saying that to Momma Bear when she popped the cub on the backside but the vid made it sound like something else.
Bottom line is that the ladder manufacturer would like the rights to my appearance. They’ve already purchased the rights to the vid from the lady I gave the bug spray to. The vid will appear on their website. They offered me a thousand dollars. I said yeah even though it makes me look stupid. A thousand bucks is a thousand bucks and buys a little, painless humor at my expense. When I looked at the video I winced. I had a Sea Scout cap on to keep my hair out of my face and looked androgynous. Whatever. Like I said, a thousand bucks is a thousand bucks and groceries don’t come free.
I went back over our finances after that call and overall, I think we are doing pretty well. I could wish for cheaper fuel, but we’ve saved some money here and there on places to stay. Just need to watch the food budget a little more. And yeah, I know some people would say we are moving at a breakneck pace – and we do need to slow down at some point – but so far so good. It is the long driving days that kinda suck.
May 7th
Drive from Bismarck, ND to Theodore Roosevelt NP (2 hours)
We hopped in and out of the van so much today that I could have wished for one long hike instead of all the mini-hikes. In no particular order this is what we did today:
Skyline Vista (0.1-mile, easy): Was only a 10-minute stop to feel the wind in our hair atop Johnson's Plateau. This flat, paved nature trail is perfect for those who want to step out for just a moment and take a photo.
Boicourt Overlook Trail (0.2 miles, easy): One of the most beautiful South Unit overlooks is accessible by this easy nature trail that only has a slight grade. This overlook is a favorite for sunsets over the badlands.
Little Mo Trail (0.7 miles, easy): This river bottom habitat was a paved nature trail. There were brochures at the trailhead to explain the various points. If we had more room for that sort of thing I might have kept the brochure but instead we recycled it so someone else could use it.
Buck Hill (0.2 mile, easy): Easy trailed but it put us at the highest accessible point in the park. This is a short, but steep trail. The view from the top is worth every step. Marked “easy” it isn’t if you have any kind of balance or walking challenges.
Wind Canyon Trail (0.4 mile, easy): This nature trail is alongside a wind-sculpted canyon. You climb to the best view of the Little Missouri River the South Unit has to offer.
Ridgeline Trail (0.6 mile, easy to moderate): This trail was a little more challenging in places. It highlights the badlands environment along a nature trail with a few steep grades. There are also stairs.
Coal Vein Trail (0.6 mile, easy to moderate): Good trail to learn about badlands geology and ecology. Another with a few steep places with stairs.
Painted Canyon Nature Trail (0.9 miles, easy to moderate): The canyon looks amazing from the rim, but this trail give you a chance to hike down into it. Just remember, every step down means a step back up on the return. ROFL!
We switched from the South Unit over to the North Unit for our last three hikes.
Caprock Coulee Nature Trail (1.5- mile, North Unit area): Hike through badlands terrain and dry washes as you experience a variety of habitats. Can we say hot and dry?
Prairie Dog Town via the Buckhorn Trail (1.5 miles, North Unit area): Start at the Caprock Coulee Trailhead and follow the Buckhorn Trail to a prairie dog town. Oh my gosh it was hysterical. Benny kept trying to take a picture with the GoPro but he would no sooner see one out of the corner of his eye and turn as it would duck down and a different prairie dog would pop up in a different location. He was getting so frustrated. So I got him to step back and take a wide angle photo and said I would edit it so he could have close up shots of some of the “dogs.”
Sperati Point via the Achenbach Trail (1.5 miles, North Unit area): For this one you start at Oxbow Overlook. A gently rolling walk leads to an overlook of the Little Missouri River.
Made for a total of just over 8 miles but it was broken down into so many small bits and pieces that it didn’t feel like 8 miles. And the long time we spent at the Prairie Dog Town made it seem even shorter.
"I hiked eight miles Aunt Gus!”
“Sure did. Even after feeling yucky yesterday. I’m proud of you. Let’s make sure and tell the ranger when we get your Junior Ranger badge.”
“Yeah!” he exclaimed happily while doing his weird version of the Snoopy Dance. I am one really lucky aunt I gotta say. Little Bear is quite the adventurer. This trip could have been a disaster but this kid is making it fun for He wanted to do some longer hikes but after yesterday I didn’t want him to get too hot or worked up. He’s usually good within twenty-four hours when of having a GS episode but there’s been a few times it has lingered longer.
We camped at Cottonwood Campground in park $14/night (minus 50% discount). Glad I had opted to stay in the South Unit campground because the North Unit was partially closed due to a fire late last year. Apparently it damaged some of the infrastructure around the North Unit campground.
I played it safe and we had rice with some steamed veggies for dinner with one of the vegetables being “trees” … broccoli … which Benny loves. I had thought about making some cheese sauce but just used olive oil and salt and pepper until I know his stomach is one hundred percent.
We are only staying one night here because we are heading into South Dakota tomorrow for another look at the Badlands from a different perspective. Here’s hoping the weather holds. There’s some funky looking storm clouds on the horizon and to make myself feel better I put the cover over the solar panels. I might be over reacting, no one else seems to notice, but if I saw storm clouds like that in Florida I’d be thinking tropical storm type showers.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2095
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $709
Cumulative miles: 4927
Resources:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Kids & Youth - Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
South Unit Print Map - Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
The park system reservation system double booked some campsites. Adult irritation and crankiness ensued. Certain personalities have entitlement issues. Adults can act like donkey butts and fight without paying attention to their surroundings. And CPO Gus Barrymore Jr. doesn't have much patience for those that threaten her nephew in any way, shape, or form.
Ahhhh I understand. Thanks.
Say, are Benny and Gus going to Big Bend? Been there twice on bikes. One's with motor's, not peddle power. ;-) Camped in the river remote area. Bunch of cottonwoods that great horned owls like. I think that's what the rangers said they were. Can't describe the sound of their wings when the take flight right after dark to hung. A BIG'OL WHOOOOOSH, WHOOOOOSH, WHOOOOSH. At the camp grounds in Chisos Moutain. Signs in the park, "Do not let children younger than 15 out of your sight when hiking. Keep all pet on a leash" Had a 13 year old girl attacked by a cougar in about 1982, the year before I was there. Daddy and family were thankfully about 50 yards behind her and heard her scream. "Don't leave boots and shoes outside your tent or camper as rattler's like to hide in them".
Say, are Benny and Gus going to Big Bend? Been there twice on bikes. One's with motor's, not peddle power. ;-) Camped in the river remote area. Bunch of cottonwoods that great horned owls like. I think that's what the rangers said they were. Can't describe the sound of their wings when the take flight right after dark to hung. A BIG'OL WHOOOOOSH, WHOOOOOSH, WHOOOOSH. At the camp grounds in Chisos Moutain. Signs in the park, "Do not let children younger than 15 out of your sight when hiking. Keep all pet on a leash" Had a 13 year old girl attacked by a cougar in about 1982, the year before I was there. Daddy and family were thankfully about 50 yards behind her and heard her scream. "Don't leave boots and shoes outside your tent or camper as rattler's like to hide in them".
Ooooh, what ever I did to deserve all these chapters in the last day or so, let me know so I can keep doin' it.
Well, except for that thing with the jell-o and the ducks and the raincoat and those... oh... uh... never mind, we'll forget about that part.
Anyway, thanks much.
Well, except for that thing with the jell-o and the ducks and the raincoat and those... oh... uh... never mind, we'll forget about that part.
Anyway, thanks much.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
I was never in the canoe club but know more than a few CPOs; none of them have much patience for stupidity or BS.
Last edited:
May 8: Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Weather: 60F/30F
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: Weak but available.
Well, well, well. I wasn’t so crazy after all. Something woke me about one in the morning and I felt like a long-haired cat with static electricity in my tail. Seems there was an early tornado to the east of the park. You know when I’ve talked to the imaginary Toto about not being in Kansas I didn’t really mean I wanted to experience a Wizard of Oz moment.
Weather like what nearly came through overnight is not something that I thought about. What on earth would I have done had the tornado been closer if not right in camp? In Florida I took tropical storms and hurricanes for granted. Plenty of time for prep for them too. They are just part of life. So are rivers, lakes, and ponds that flood. But tornados? I don’t know. It isn’t in my life experience.
Obviously I have things to think about. Does this mean any of my plans are changing? I can’t see how that would help. You can’t live in fear, that’s not living. But I definitely do have things to think about.
I might have been up for an hour during the night but that didn’t stop us from being out early. We weren’t the only ones. Most people I saw leaving were heading east, maybe because the weather was getting better or they were heading to their summer digs after spending the weather someplace else. Benny and I were heading south. Badlands National Park was our destination.
Five hours later we were pulling through the gates at the Pinnacles entrance station. It was just past ten in the morning and both Benny and I were ready and raring to go.
First stop was the Pinnacles Overlook. We were there on a fantastic day because we could see bison in the distance and we also saw some bighorn sheep with lambs! Guess what Benny added to his crew of stuffies? A bighorn sheep he named Bill. The crew grows.
Next stop was the Yellow Mounds Overlook. I couldn’t believe how colorful the geography was. Benny was fascinated. We have nothing like this in Florida, not even at the phosphate mines.
“I’m going to draw this tonight Aunt Gus.”
“Want me to take a picture for you to work from?”
“Please,” he said with his tongue between his teeth, concentrating like there was going to be a test on what he saw later.
Bigfoot Pass Overlook had a very interesting historical marker in the parking lot. And I quote: After the murder of Sitting Bull, approximately 200 Hunkpapa Lakota fled to join Chief Spotted Elk, also known as Big Foot, and his band of Miniconjou Lakota at the Cheyenne Reservation. This group departed for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, seeding refuse with Chief Red Cloud. Five days later, a detachment of the 7th Calvary met the traveling group and escorted them to Wound Knee Creek. The next day tensions rose and the 7th Calvary massacred an estimated 150-300 men, women, and children at wounded knee.
The story upset Benny and he wanted to know if things like that still happen. Was that the kinda war his daddy fought.
“Benny, your father was an honorable man that made it his duty in this life to protect people. I can’t tell you why things happened the way they did but we both need to grow up and do our best that the same mistakes don’t happen again.”
I could see that he was getting on a thought hamster wheel and needed a distraction and I found one at our next stop which was the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. We picked up a Junior Ranger booklet. To complete some of the activities we looked at the exhibits, used the restrooms, and got our passport books stamped. Benny reminded me, “Get your post cards Aunt Gus. We need to put them in the box tonight.”
One of the trails that we did today was Notch Trailhead, an extension of what is called the Door and Window Trails that was considerably easier that the second half. It was a 1.5-mile loop trail that climbed a log ladder and followed a ledge to “the Notch.” What an incredible view! I suppose my new gray hair is worth it as I was none-to-thrilled to have Benny so close to sheer drop offs.
From there we stopped at another Badlands Overlook and then decided to do a few more hikes. The Fossil Exhibit Trail (0.25 miles roundtrip, easy) is an accessible boardwalk that had fossil replicas and exhibits that were geared to kids. Adults would find them interesting as well but really it was more for the kids. The Cliff Shelf Trail (0.5 miles roundtrip, moderate) is a loop trail with boardwalks and stairs through a juniper forest. There’s also a small pond. Being the only one on the trail at the time we stopped short when we saw deer sipping from the pond. Benny said he had another picture to draw.
We headed back to camp for the night at Cedar Pass Campground Located near the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. Pretty nice campground, there were views of the badlands all around. I was hoping to have a campfire as a treat for Benny but whoops, there were signs up all over the place reminding campers that there were no fires in the campgrounds due to fire danger.
Well Aunt Gus decided to see if the solar oven worked. It does. And I have the blister to prove it. I threaded meatballs on a bamboo skewer and cooked them that way. We have left over riced that needed to be eaten before it dried out too much more and I made some of the gluten-free garlic gravy suggested back when I bought the garlic fresh. We stunk up our part of the campground but boy was it good.
I had everything cleaned up – with Benny’s help – just in time to grab a seat and watch the sun go down. It was gorgeous but I tell you as soon as the sun disappeared so did all of the warmth.
A ranger had told me about this evening’s program at the camp amphitheater. It was called “Enjoy the Night Sky” and at about an hour Benny was nodding off. I got up quietly and carried him back to the van, put him to bed, and I’ve been finishing up all the digital chores like the blog and this log.
I don’t feel all that rushed to get to bed early tonight even though I should take advantage of it. We have less than a two hour drive to get to our next location. I hope it is a fun surprise for Benny. I know I’m excited. Dad and I had always planned to go there. Dad and I had planned to do a lot of what I’m trying to do with Benny. Part of me gets sad when I think about that too much. Part of me is content to do it with Benny in a way nothing else has made me sense Lawrence left us.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2235
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $724
Cumulative miles: 5277
Resources:
Badlands National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Weather: 60F/30F
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: Weak but available.
Well, well, well. I wasn’t so crazy after all. Something woke me about one in the morning and I felt like a long-haired cat with static electricity in my tail. Seems there was an early tornado to the east of the park. You know when I’ve talked to the imaginary Toto about not being in Kansas I didn’t really mean I wanted to experience a Wizard of Oz moment.
Weather like what nearly came through overnight is not something that I thought about. What on earth would I have done had the tornado been closer if not right in camp? In Florida I took tropical storms and hurricanes for granted. Plenty of time for prep for them too. They are just part of life. So are rivers, lakes, and ponds that flood. But tornados? I don’t know. It isn’t in my life experience.
Obviously I have things to think about. Does this mean any of my plans are changing? I can’t see how that would help. You can’t live in fear, that’s not living. But I definitely do have things to think about.
I might have been up for an hour during the night but that didn’t stop us from being out early. We weren’t the only ones. Most people I saw leaving were heading east, maybe because the weather was getting better or they were heading to their summer digs after spending the weather someplace else. Benny and I were heading south. Badlands National Park was our destination.
Five hours later we were pulling through the gates at the Pinnacles entrance station. It was just past ten in the morning and both Benny and I were ready and raring to go.
First stop was the Pinnacles Overlook. We were there on a fantastic day because we could see bison in the distance and we also saw some bighorn sheep with lambs! Guess what Benny added to his crew of stuffies? A bighorn sheep he named Bill. The crew grows.
Next stop was the Yellow Mounds Overlook. I couldn’t believe how colorful the geography was. Benny was fascinated. We have nothing like this in Florida, not even at the phosphate mines.
“I’m going to draw this tonight Aunt Gus.”
“Want me to take a picture for you to work from?”
“Please,” he said with his tongue between his teeth, concentrating like there was going to be a test on what he saw later.
Bigfoot Pass Overlook had a very interesting historical marker in the parking lot. And I quote: After the murder of Sitting Bull, approximately 200 Hunkpapa Lakota fled to join Chief Spotted Elk, also known as Big Foot, and his band of Miniconjou Lakota at the Cheyenne Reservation. This group departed for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, seeding refuse with Chief Red Cloud. Five days later, a detachment of the 7th Calvary met the traveling group and escorted them to Wound Knee Creek. The next day tensions rose and the 7th Calvary massacred an estimated 150-300 men, women, and children at wounded knee.
The story upset Benny and he wanted to know if things like that still happen. Was that the kinda war his daddy fought.
“Benny, your father was an honorable man that made it his duty in this life to protect people. I can’t tell you why things happened the way they did but we both need to grow up and do our best that the same mistakes don’t happen again.”
I could see that he was getting on a thought hamster wheel and needed a distraction and I found one at our next stop which was the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. We picked up a Junior Ranger booklet. To complete some of the activities we looked at the exhibits, used the restrooms, and got our passport books stamped. Benny reminded me, “Get your post cards Aunt Gus. We need to put them in the box tonight.”
One of the trails that we did today was Notch Trailhead, an extension of what is called the Door and Window Trails that was considerably easier that the second half. It was a 1.5-mile loop trail that climbed a log ladder and followed a ledge to “the Notch.” What an incredible view! I suppose my new gray hair is worth it as I was none-to-thrilled to have Benny so close to sheer drop offs.
From there we stopped at another Badlands Overlook and then decided to do a few more hikes. The Fossil Exhibit Trail (0.25 miles roundtrip, easy) is an accessible boardwalk that had fossil replicas and exhibits that were geared to kids. Adults would find them interesting as well but really it was more for the kids. The Cliff Shelf Trail (0.5 miles roundtrip, moderate) is a loop trail with boardwalks and stairs through a juniper forest. There’s also a small pond. Being the only one on the trail at the time we stopped short when we saw deer sipping from the pond. Benny said he had another picture to draw.
We headed back to camp for the night at Cedar Pass Campground Located near the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. Pretty nice campground, there were views of the badlands all around. I was hoping to have a campfire as a treat for Benny but whoops, there were signs up all over the place reminding campers that there were no fires in the campgrounds due to fire danger.
Well Aunt Gus decided to see if the solar oven worked. It does. And I have the blister to prove it. I threaded meatballs on a bamboo skewer and cooked them that way. We have left over riced that needed to be eaten before it dried out too much more and I made some of the gluten-free garlic gravy suggested back when I bought the garlic fresh. We stunk up our part of the campground but boy was it good.
I had everything cleaned up – with Benny’s help – just in time to grab a seat and watch the sun go down. It was gorgeous but I tell you as soon as the sun disappeared so did all of the warmth.
A ranger had told me about this evening’s program at the camp amphitheater. It was called “Enjoy the Night Sky” and at about an hour Benny was nodding off. I got up quietly and carried him back to the van, put him to bed, and I’ve been finishing up all the digital chores like the blog and this log.
I don’t feel all that rushed to get to bed early tonight even though I should take advantage of it. We have less than a two hour drive to get to our next location. I hope it is a fun surprise for Benny. I know I’m excited. Dad and I had always planned to go there. Dad and I had planned to do a lot of what I’m trying to do with Benny. Part of me gets sad when I think about that too much. Part of me is content to do it with Benny in a way nothing else has made me sense Lawrence left us.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2235
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $724
Cumulative miles: 5277
Resources:
Badlands National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Yes, in due course. I was pregnant 29 years ago when we last camped at Big Bend. Nothing like trying to sit down to dinner at the picnic table only to have to hurry up and lift you feet as a veritable herd of javelinas run through, with no care that at 6 months pregnant I wasn't exactly moving fast. LOL
May 9: Mount Rushmore
Weather: 50F/27F
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: Not good on the road but decent in the RV park.
May 9th
Freaking freezing my flippers off! It is supposed to get down to 27F tonight! Are they kidding?! It wasn’t awful until the sun went down. I had acclimated. Seriously. I had. But this just takes the cake. It is supposed to be getting warmer, not colder. Man oh man.
Was a short drive to get where we planned to be, even got here before the gates opened to let people in. I used the time to try and find another camping spot. I had planned on boondocking but all the spots were already taken by people that had parked their campers or RVs and were using plain ol’ vehicles to get around.
Finally found an RV park with full hook up that had a vacancy. Expensive compared to the national parks and boondocking, but we needed to refill the freshwater tank and all the other yada yada of van life. Water was free and so was the wifi and the signal wasn’t bad, was certainly better than the phone signal I was just barely getting.
I must have gotten smart by trying to book so early in the day because I heard other people complaining how they couldn’t find a place to camp in the area and had a hard time finding a hotel. Could have also been because of the stupid protestors that tried to make their presence known. We were walking up to the entrance when I had one woman try to force me to sign some sort of petition but all I told her when she got obnoxious was, “You don’t want to scare my kid so back the frick out of our space.” She called me some nasty names while we walked away but I ignored it until Benny said, “That lady was weird.”
"Takes all kinds Little Bear.”
“But she said there are too many people. That we are a affection.”
“Infection. Like a disease. And I said it takes all kinds. Some of the kinds just happen to be know-nothing crazy people.” That made him laugh and then he was distracted further when I told him that we needed to get his Junior Ranger booklet.
Instead of a booklet (they were out of the ones for his age group) we downloaded the Junior Ranger Quest, an app designed by the Mount Rushmore Society that has won all sorts of digital awards. There are sixteen challenges that you complete as you go from point to point on the self-guided tour. If you complete at least twelve of the challenges, you earn your Junior Ranger badge. Well Benny was all over that.
First point of interest was the Avenue of Flags. It is based on a request by a visitor in 1976 as part of the bicentennial celebration. The flags represent the states, DC district, territories, and commonwealths of the USA. Pretty impressive and they are arranged alphabetically rather than by the date they entered the union.
At the end of the Avenue of Flags is the Grand View Terrace. Wow. Mt. Rushmore is one of the most impressive manmade things I’ve ever seen. You just stare and … the sensation is hard to describe. I know that some Native American peoples feel like the monument doesn’t belong there but I have trouble seeing it that way. They certainly go out of their way at the park to highlight the tribes that call/called the area home. And they do try and honor those peoples. On the other hand I suppose that since I’m not Native American I might not really get it.
We walked the Presidential Trail (0.6 miles, rated easy & challenging) – The first 0.2 mile is the easiest as it is set up to be accessible. After that point the trail becomes challenging with 422 stairs through ponderosa pines to get various views of Rushmore. Takes about 45 minutes if you take your time.
While on the trail there is a youth exploration area and the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota Heritage Village. Very interesting though it was crowded. Took about thirty minutes or so to go through each area.
The Sculptors Studio is where Guzton Borglum worked from 1939 to 1941. We stopped for the 15-minute ranger program to learn about the tools and techniques used in carving Rushmore. We also took in the views from the Borglum View Terrace.
The Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center is worth at least thirty minutes of your time as well as you look at the various exhibits. It is also where we got our passports stamped.
There was a Nature Trail that took us back to the parking lot but we didn’t do that until we were ready to leave.
Back at the Avenue of Flags where we went to finish one of Benny’s Junior Ranger activities, I just happened to be lucky enough to catch a guy – turned out to be one of the protestors pretending he was a tourist – pull a long string of black cats out of his pocket and was about to set them off. He wasn’t the only one. I gave a piercing whistle and yelled, “Black cats at two o’clock!!” I know that sounds weird but most everyone knows what you mean if you yell it out.
Security grabbed that guy while I put the wuss I had grabbed into a headlock and threatened to body slam him if he didn’t stop wiggling like a little girl. I didn’t have to follow through on that threat because security came and took him into custody while others ran after some more peckerwoods that had taken off towards the exit gates.
It’s been a thing for a few years for protestors to try and make people think guns are being shot by setting off various kinds of noise makers. Fireworks are their favorite tool. It got to the point that you couldn’t buy black cats at all, and some states had completely outlawed any kind of fireworks. The ones these idiots had looked homemade and overstuffed. I shoulda let him blow his own fool hand off, and would have if Benny hadn’t been so close by.
Speaking of Benny, he stayed close but gave me room to fight, following the rules that I’d given him when I had learned I was going to have to deal with Mizzou and her friends in less than gentle fashion.
“Good job Little Bear,” I told him as I bent down to check him over.
“Why do people have to always spoil things?” he complained.
“What’s spoiled? I don’t see anything spoiled.”
“But …”
“But is that thing you sit on. And those idiots are buttheads. However, I refuse to allow them to ruin our fun. They can keep their jerkitude, I don’t want it.”
Slowly he giggled and whispered, “You said butt.”
“I did didn’t I. Hmmm. Did I earn some demerits?”
He just kept giggling. Thank you Creator for the resilience of five-year-old boys.
I picked him up and he giggled even more. I looked over to one of the rangers that looked in charge and asked, “Do you need me for anything?”
“No ma’am. Just watch yourself in the parking lot … just in case.”
I snorted and pointed. “Looks like your people caught Hewey, Dewey, and Louie. But thanks. I’ll still stay smart.”
To Benny I said, “Now wasn’t there something about finishing a Junior Ranger program?” His smile could have made a stone Lincoln grin.
I was trying to piece out all the activities because I wanted to stay for the evening program. The problem was that as the day wore on it was getting cooler. I decided to get Benny out of the breeze and we shuffled into the gift shop. I’m not a big shopper except out of necessity and the truth was it was getting necessary. Benny and I needed a couple of additional pieces of clothing so laundry wouldn’t be such a pain and so that all of the pieces of our wardrobe would last longer.
I may not really appreciate shopping the way some people do, but I definitely know how to do it. First thing I did was look to see if they had a clearance area. Not all park stores do from what I’m seeing but Mt. Rushmore did. Selection wasn’t great but I’m not trying to enter a beauty contest. I wasn’t wearing the pepto-bismol pink monstrosity which was the first thing in my size, but they did have a couple of other things that fit the bill. One was a navy-colored, long-sleeve, unisex, wicking t-shirt. I had to look twice to figure out why it was on clearance and it was because the logo on the back was a little off-center. Big whoop. I got that one and a short sleeve by the same company in green khaki that looked like last-one rather than a damaged-one. I almost walked away from a long-sleeved hooded t-shirt because it was in sunshine yellow loud enough it could be seen in a dense fog, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I got Benny a long-sleeve hooded t-shirt too, thankfully in gray because he definitely has an opinion of what he will wear and what he won’t. And he can’t stand tags in his clothes but luckily this one didn’t have any. There was a tye-dye t-shirt his size done in primary colors and he looks at me and says, “No thank you.” Alrighty then. Next. And next wound up being a stuffie of the mountain goat shape. This one got named Merl … as in Merl Haggard. Groucho was a fan. Me not so much but the man’s music kinda grows on you so I said so long as Merl didn’t sing in the shower we’d get along.
Benny laughed. “Merl isn’t the one that sings in the shower. You do.”
I opened my mouth to deny it but couldn’t lie. “Fine. You got me. But no competition. Got it?”
Luckily Benny likes my comedy routines and laughed. I’m going to have to find another container for the stuffies eventually. Little Bear and Gus the Pelican are still his favorites, and the ones that he sometimes requests to take on hikes, but the others are his “crew” and I wouldn’t one to accidentally go missing, even if just in the van.
The last purchase was that I got Benny a Dover Coloring Book of the National Parks. Grandfather Barry would get me those kinds of coloring and paper doll books as a treat for a job well done or something like that. He didn’t mind those but he “abhorred” the cartoonish ones. He thought they were only for very small children. The Dover coloring books often came with stories and lessons. I still have the entire collection of them in a box in the storage area with the other things from my life before moving in with Lawrence. Or at least I think they are there. I know I packed them up. It makes me wonder if Lawrence kept everything or trashed some of the stuff without telling me. He checked on the storage locker every couple of months when he wasn’t deployed but rarely took me with him. I only went after he left us and the thought of going through that stuff was so overwhelming I just did what he did which was open the door to make sure everything looked okay and then locked it again. Or put more stuff in there. Geez, it is probably worse that someone’s attic that hasn’t been cleaned out in a couple of generations. When I find us a place to live I have got to do something about that stuff. At the very least I need to get my kayak out and make sure nothing is dry rotting in there.
I was about to walk to the register when I spotted another clearance item. Honey. No, I’m not kidding. It looked like they were clearing out last year’s items to make way for this year’s. It was five 12 oz. bottles of flavored, locally produced honey. I checked the ingredients – honey, natural flavoring – so gluten-free it was. I go through a lot of honey and my last bottle is less than half full, so it isn’t like I was buying stupid stuff.
Finally get to the register and found out that our Gold Star Family designation got us a small discount. Some is better than none and it even covered the clearance items. When Benny and I walked outside the cold air caught me by surprise with how sharp it was. I walked towards the amphitheater only to find out that the evening program has been cancelled. I’m not sure whether due to the temperature or the protestors but either way … rats!
I was debating whether to go back and see how much the digital version of the program was in the gift shop but then decided to just to wait until I could find something free online, maybe a documentary or similar. Rather than be disappointed I decided since I was paying a premium for a spot in an RV park, we might as well take full advantage. Turns out that was a great choice.
I checked around the van for any damage and to check for booby traps. I mean you just never know with the various protest groups. Some of them are real butt wipes. Not seeing anything we got on the road and it turns out that the RV park was super close, so close you could even see Mt Rushmore from their parking lot.
First thing I did was use the dump station since there was a possible freeze. I also got rid of what little bit of trash we had since the dumpster was right there. Our site would have been tight if we were a full blown RV or trailer but since we were actually a van we had plenty of room to maneuver. I connected the hook ups (electric and water) and then put a blanket on our freshwater tank after filling it up. Just to be on the safe side I disconnected the water after also running some water to wash and cook with.
Instead of waiting until after dinner I had Benny and I use the on-site showers while there was still daylight and threw a load of dirties in the laundry while we were in there. When we got out, smelling fresh but freezing, I tossed the now clean clothes into a dryer and walked Benny back to the van and got him settled in, introducing the newest crew member around. I knew the dryer would be finished by then and the van was within sight as I hustled over, grabbed the now clean and dry clothes and hustled back. Benny wasn’t the only one starving by this point.
I decided there was time and the laundromat wasn’t busy so I stripped the beds and ran the sheets and covers through the washing machine. I made a quick chicken-fried steak out of some minute steaks I’d taken out to thaw and then stir-fried the fresh vegetables that looked closest to going over. Then I ran back and switched the bedding to the dryers.
Food was really yum. I’m getting better at cooking on the road. I knew the bedding would be dry so made another run to the laundromat and back. I didn’t like leaving Benny in the van but it was better than getting him out in the cold.
I put the beds back together as quickly as I could. I know that when Benny got his belly full he went and laid down in his fresh bed. One minute he’s talking to his crew and the next he is out like a light.
Now that all of my chores are finished I’m going to hit the hay as well. Tomorrow is another checkmark on the bucket list in Dad’s honor.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2265
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $780
Cumulative miles: 5352
Resources:
Mount Rushmore National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Mount Rushmore Tour | Self Guided Tours | Mount Rushmore (mountrushmoresociety.com)
MORU-parkmap-2018-marketplace.jpg (1133×1515) (nps.gov)
Weather: 50F/27F
Driving Route:
Wifi/Cell Signal: Not good on the road but decent in the RV park.
May 9th
Freaking freezing my flippers off! It is supposed to get down to 27F tonight! Are they kidding?! It wasn’t awful until the sun went down. I had acclimated. Seriously. I had. But this just takes the cake. It is supposed to be getting warmer, not colder. Man oh man.
Was a short drive to get where we planned to be, even got here before the gates opened to let people in. I used the time to try and find another camping spot. I had planned on boondocking but all the spots were already taken by people that had parked their campers or RVs and were using plain ol’ vehicles to get around.
Finally found an RV park with full hook up that had a vacancy. Expensive compared to the national parks and boondocking, but we needed to refill the freshwater tank and all the other yada yada of van life. Water was free and so was the wifi and the signal wasn’t bad, was certainly better than the phone signal I was just barely getting.
I must have gotten smart by trying to book so early in the day because I heard other people complaining how they couldn’t find a place to camp in the area and had a hard time finding a hotel. Could have also been because of the stupid protestors that tried to make their presence known. We were walking up to the entrance when I had one woman try to force me to sign some sort of petition but all I told her when she got obnoxious was, “You don’t want to scare my kid so back the frick out of our space.” She called me some nasty names while we walked away but I ignored it until Benny said, “That lady was weird.”
"Takes all kinds Little Bear.”
“But she said there are too many people. That we are a affection.”
“Infection. Like a disease. And I said it takes all kinds. Some of the kinds just happen to be know-nothing crazy people.” That made him laugh and then he was distracted further when I told him that we needed to get his Junior Ranger booklet.
Instead of a booklet (they were out of the ones for his age group) we downloaded the Junior Ranger Quest, an app designed by the Mount Rushmore Society that has won all sorts of digital awards. There are sixteen challenges that you complete as you go from point to point on the self-guided tour. If you complete at least twelve of the challenges, you earn your Junior Ranger badge. Well Benny was all over that.
First point of interest was the Avenue of Flags. It is based on a request by a visitor in 1976 as part of the bicentennial celebration. The flags represent the states, DC district, territories, and commonwealths of the USA. Pretty impressive and they are arranged alphabetically rather than by the date they entered the union.
At the end of the Avenue of Flags is the Grand View Terrace. Wow. Mt. Rushmore is one of the most impressive manmade things I’ve ever seen. You just stare and … the sensation is hard to describe. I know that some Native American peoples feel like the monument doesn’t belong there but I have trouble seeing it that way. They certainly go out of their way at the park to highlight the tribes that call/called the area home. And they do try and honor those peoples. On the other hand I suppose that since I’m not Native American I might not really get it.
We walked the Presidential Trail (0.6 miles, rated easy & challenging) – The first 0.2 mile is the easiest as it is set up to be accessible. After that point the trail becomes challenging with 422 stairs through ponderosa pines to get various views of Rushmore. Takes about 45 minutes if you take your time.
While on the trail there is a youth exploration area and the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota Heritage Village. Very interesting though it was crowded. Took about thirty minutes or so to go through each area.
The Sculptors Studio is where Guzton Borglum worked from 1939 to 1941. We stopped for the 15-minute ranger program to learn about the tools and techniques used in carving Rushmore. We also took in the views from the Borglum View Terrace.
The Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center is worth at least thirty minutes of your time as well as you look at the various exhibits. It is also where we got our passports stamped.
There was a Nature Trail that took us back to the parking lot but we didn’t do that until we were ready to leave.
Back at the Avenue of Flags where we went to finish one of Benny’s Junior Ranger activities, I just happened to be lucky enough to catch a guy – turned out to be one of the protestors pretending he was a tourist – pull a long string of black cats out of his pocket and was about to set them off. He wasn’t the only one. I gave a piercing whistle and yelled, “Black cats at two o’clock!!” I know that sounds weird but most everyone knows what you mean if you yell it out.
Security grabbed that guy while I put the wuss I had grabbed into a headlock and threatened to body slam him if he didn’t stop wiggling like a little girl. I didn’t have to follow through on that threat because security came and took him into custody while others ran after some more peckerwoods that had taken off towards the exit gates.
It’s been a thing for a few years for protestors to try and make people think guns are being shot by setting off various kinds of noise makers. Fireworks are their favorite tool. It got to the point that you couldn’t buy black cats at all, and some states had completely outlawed any kind of fireworks. The ones these idiots had looked homemade and overstuffed. I shoulda let him blow his own fool hand off, and would have if Benny hadn’t been so close by.
Speaking of Benny, he stayed close but gave me room to fight, following the rules that I’d given him when I had learned I was going to have to deal with Mizzou and her friends in less than gentle fashion.
“Good job Little Bear,” I told him as I bent down to check him over.
“Why do people have to always spoil things?” he complained.
“What’s spoiled? I don’t see anything spoiled.”
“But …”
“But is that thing you sit on. And those idiots are buttheads. However, I refuse to allow them to ruin our fun. They can keep their jerkitude, I don’t want it.”
Slowly he giggled and whispered, “You said butt.”
“I did didn’t I. Hmmm. Did I earn some demerits?”
He just kept giggling. Thank you Creator for the resilience of five-year-old boys.
I picked him up and he giggled even more. I looked over to one of the rangers that looked in charge and asked, “Do you need me for anything?”
“No ma’am. Just watch yourself in the parking lot … just in case.”
I snorted and pointed. “Looks like your people caught Hewey, Dewey, and Louie. But thanks. I’ll still stay smart.”
To Benny I said, “Now wasn’t there something about finishing a Junior Ranger program?” His smile could have made a stone Lincoln grin.
I was trying to piece out all the activities because I wanted to stay for the evening program. The problem was that as the day wore on it was getting cooler. I decided to get Benny out of the breeze and we shuffled into the gift shop. I’m not a big shopper except out of necessity and the truth was it was getting necessary. Benny and I needed a couple of additional pieces of clothing so laundry wouldn’t be such a pain and so that all of the pieces of our wardrobe would last longer.
I may not really appreciate shopping the way some people do, but I definitely know how to do it. First thing I did was look to see if they had a clearance area. Not all park stores do from what I’m seeing but Mt. Rushmore did. Selection wasn’t great but I’m not trying to enter a beauty contest. I wasn’t wearing the pepto-bismol pink monstrosity which was the first thing in my size, but they did have a couple of other things that fit the bill. One was a navy-colored, long-sleeve, unisex, wicking t-shirt. I had to look twice to figure out why it was on clearance and it was because the logo on the back was a little off-center. Big whoop. I got that one and a short sleeve by the same company in green khaki that looked like last-one rather than a damaged-one. I almost walked away from a long-sleeved hooded t-shirt because it was in sunshine yellow loud enough it could be seen in a dense fog, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I got Benny a long-sleeve hooded t-shirt too, thankfully in gray because he definitely has an opinion of what he will wear and what he won’t. And he can’t stand tags in his clothes but luckily this one didn’t have any. There was a tye-dye t-shirt his size done in primary colors and he looks at me and says, “No thank you.” Alrighty then. Next. And next wound up being a stuffie of the mountain goat shape. This one got named Merl … as in Merl Haggard. Groucho was a fan. Me not so much but the man’s music kinda grows on you so I said so long as Merl didn’t sing in the shower we’d get along.
Benny laughed. “Merl isn’t the one that sings in the shower. You do.”
I opened my mouth to deny it but couldn’t lie. “Fine. You got me. But no competition. Got it?”
Luckily Benny likes my comedy routines and laughed. I’m going to have to find another container for the stuffies eventually. Little Bear and Gus the Pelican are still his favorites, and the ones that he sometimes requests to take on hikes, but the others are his “crew” and I wouldn’t one to accidentally go missing, even if just in the van.
The last purchase was that I got Benny a Dover Coloring Book of the National Parks. Grandfather Barry would get me those kinds of coloring and paper doll books as a treat for a job well done or something like that. He didn’t mind those but he “abhorred” the cartoonish ones. He thought they were only for very small children. The Dover coloring books often came with stories and lessons. I still have the entire collection of them in a box in the storage area with the other things from my life before moving in with Lawrence. Or at least I think they are there. I know I packed them up. It makes me wonder if Lawrence kept everything or trashed some of the stuff without telling me. He checked on the storage locker every couple of months when he wasn’t deployed but rarely took me with him. I only went after he left us and the thought of going through that stuff was so overwhelming I just did what he did which was open the door to make sure everything looked okay and then locked it again. Or put more stuff in there. Geez, it is probably worse that someone’s attic that hasn’t been cleaned out in a couple of generations. When I find us a place to live I have got to do something about that stuff. At the very least I need to get my kayak out and make sure nothing is dry rotting in there.
I was about to walk to the register when I spotted another clearance item. Honey. No, I’m not kidding. It looked like they were clearing out last year’s items to make way for this year’s. It was five 12 oz. bottles of flavored, locally produced honey. I checked the ingredients – honey, natural flavoring – so gluten-free it was. I go through a lot of honey and my last bottle is less than half full, so it isn’t like I was buying stupid stuff.
Finally get to the register and found out that our Gold Star Family designation got us a small discount. Some is better than none and it even covered the clearance items. When Benny and I walked outside the cold air caught me by surprise with how sharp it was. I walked towards the amphitheater only to find out that the evening program has been cancelled. I’m not sure whether due to the temperature or the protestors but either way … rats!
I was debating whether to go back and see how much the digital version of the program was in the gift shop but then decided to just to wait until I could find something free online, maybe a documentary or similar. Rather than be disappointed I decided since I was paying a premium for a spot in an RV park, we might as well take full advantage. Turns out that was a great choice.
I checked around the van for any damage and to check for booby traps. I mean you just never know with the various protest groups. Some of them are real butt wipes. Not seeing anything we got on the road and it turns out that the RV park was super close, so close you could even see Mt Rushmore from their parking lot.
First thing I did was use the dump station since there was a possible freeze. I also got rid of what little bit of trash we had since the dumpster was right there. Our site would have been tight if we were a full blown RV or trailer but since we were actually a van we had plenty of room to maneuver. I connected the hook ups (electric and water) and then put a blanket on our freshwater tank after filling it up. Just to be on the safe side I disconnected the water after also running some water to wash and cook with.
Instead of waiting until after dinner I had Benny and I use the on-site showers while there was still daylight and threw a load of dirties in the laundry while we were in there. When we got out, smelling fresh but freezing, I tossed the now clean clothes into a dryer and walked Benny back to the van and got him settled in, introducing the newest crew member around. I knew the dryer would be finished by then and the van was within sight as I hustled over, grabbed the now clean and dry clothes and hustled back. Benny wasn’t the only one starving by this point.
I decided there was time and the laundromat wasn’t busy so I stripped the beds and ran the sheets and covers through the washing machine. I made a quick chicken-fried steak out of some minute steaks I’d taken out to thaw and then stir-fried the fresh vegetables that looked closest to going over. Then I ran back and switched the bedding to the dryers.
Food was really yum. I’m getting better at cooking on the road. I knew the bedding would be dry so made another run to the laundromat and back. I didn’t like leaving Benny in the van but it was better than getting him out in the cold.
I put the beds back together as quickly as I could. I know that when Benny got his belly full he went and laid down in his fresh bed. One minute he’s talking to his crew and the next he is out like a light.
Now that all of my chores are finished I’m going to hit the hay as well. Tomorrow is another checkmark on the bucket list in Dad’s honor.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2265
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $780
Cumulative miles: 5352
Resources:
Mount Rushmore National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Mount Rushmore Tour | Self Guided Tours | Mount Rushmore (mountrushmoresociety.com)
MORU-parkmap-2018-marketplace.jpg (1133×1515) (nps.gov)
Just a note, that one is coming around, they just get to it in a bit. And yes, a bit of autobiography here and there. When the kids were younger our main vacations used the national park system as part of the framework. My husband would also take one or two of the older kids on vacation while I stayed home with the youngest, or he would take the youngest and go adventuring while I minded the businesses for a week or two. Good times.
Crazy that someone could look at a big pile of rocks that big and think, "Hummmm? I think I'll do a little carving here. Someone might be interested in it someday". LOL
Looking forward to Gus' experience at Chief Crazy Horse's.
NOW that's impressive. And spiritual.
Will Gus have to KAATN there also? ;-)
Thanks Kathy.
Looking forward to Gus' experience at Chief Crazy Horse's.
NOW that's impressive. And spiritual.
Will Gus have to KAATN there also? ;-)
Thanks Kathy.
That is Chief Crazy Horse. The first time I was there you could barely tell what it was. IIRC that was 1997 or so. Last time I was there I was impressed on how much progress they'd made. They said you could fit 9 D-9 Cat's under the Chief's arm stacked one on top of the other. A D-9 is a B-I-G machine.
May 10: Devil’s Tower National Monument >> Jewel Cave National Monument
Driving Route:
On the road by 5:30 am because I prepped and packed up the night before. Drove to Devil’s tower in a little over two hours.
Going through the gate the ranger saw Benny and told us that the Junior Ranger program booklet for Devils Tower National Monument could be picked up at the visitor center free of charge. Yep, another check on Benny’s list of things that make him happy.
We didn’t plan on being there all day so the first thing we did was head to the Tower Trail. Due to the popularity of this trail and the limited parking capacity, I learned online that the trail was best attempted before 10 am or after 3 pm. It is a paved, 1.3-mile trail that across the parking area from the visitor center. A short, steep section leads to you a junction that you can take either way to walk around the base of the Tower.
The trail has some very particular rules. There are cloths or small bundles attached to the trees. These are Native American prayer cloths and represent the some of the spiritual practices and connection many tribes have to the Tower. There are signs before, during, and after the trail that states to please not touch, disturb or remove these prayer cloths. Some even consider it culturally insensitive to photograph these prayer cloths.
The other trail we did in this park is called Amphitheater Circuit. It is a 1.5-mile, counter-clockwise loop of Valley View, Red Beds, and South Side trails. From the amphitheater, turn right to follow Valley View Trail until you reach the junction with Red Beds Trail (0.6-mile). Turn left and walk along Red Beds Trail until you reach the junction with South Side Trail (0.3-mile). Turn left again and follow South Side Trail back to amphitheater. In this direction, the steep elevation change is going downhill. You could hike the loop clockwise, starting on South Side Trail, if you wanted to climb the steep portion up to Red Beds. Nope, not interested.
The trail was visually interesting but I’ll admit, the main reason I picked that one was so that Benny could get a view of another prairie dog town while I could get different view of the Tower and the Belle Fourche River valley.
As soon as Benny finished the last of the junior ranger activities we headed to the welcome center and did all of the yada, yada we needed to. I just barely remembered to get our passport books stamped because I had taken them out of my backpack to clean it out. Need to update my morning checklist.
We weren’t rushing when we left but I didn’t want to waste any time either. We drove an hour and three-quarters to Jewel Cave National Monument Visitor Center
I hadn’t had much phone signal up to that point, and beyond that point I had none until we reached the Jewel Cave National Monument visitor center. And yes, there was a Junior Ranger program there as well. Benny loves the programs but I’m getting a little “meh” on some of them. I’ve found similar questions in almost every booklet. For instance, who can answer questions at the park? Why a national park ranger of course.
Sorry for the snark but I guess I’m just tired. Or maybe it is looking at the budget. Or actually, probably what it is is monitoring some of the comments that people want to post to the blog. It isn’t the spam because frankly that’s just part of life these days. It isn’t even the people that post long winded lectures on the best this, that’s, or the others. No, what I’m getting tired of are the people that insinuate that I am ruining Benny for life.
I remember Dad saying once that the reason kids come in such small packages is because they need to bounce and forgive all of the mistakes that their adults make trying to raise them. But what if I am … maybe not ruining Benny for life … but not doing him the justice he deserves. I’m not his mother. I don’t even know what that looks like since I never had one of my own and Penny was such a mess. But I bet, if Benny could bring himself to say it, that he’d have her back in a heartbeat. Because, Penny was his mom. I don’t know. I know not to listen to idiots but some of these people don’t sound stupid. One of them even claimed to be a child psychologist.
Well, we are on this path and Benny seems to be enjoying it. Me being the adult is a little more stressful than I counted on, especially being the lone adult in the equation. I just don’t want to ruin Benny. He’s a great kid.
And speaking of great kid, he was extra good this afternoon and I really appreciated it. It can’t be easy on him, all the time in the van, but he was a trooper as we left Devil’s Tower and headed to Jewel Cave’s visitor center. I’d printed the Junior Ranger booklet back in Key West and glad I was because the line to get a booklet on site was really long because there were a lot of families there for some kind of Family Reunion Road Trip. Those kids were way on overload.
What Benny wanted to earn was the embroidered patch for completing more pages in the activity booklet than just for the badge, not that he would turn his nose up at the badge alone. I’ve mentioned more than a few times that Benny got the same competitive gene that Lawrence had … and that I have.
The other thing that I was thankful for is that I booked our tour of Jewel Cave well in advance. It meant not competing for space with the Family Reunion who thankfully was taken the tour after ours.
The Scenic Tour is the most popular tour of Jewel Cave. Before we were allowed to start our footgear had to be inspected. Closed-toed tennis shoes, sneakers, or hiking boots only. We were set but one lady wasn’t and got mad because she wasn’t allowed to go anyway. All her partner said was, “Next time listen.” She went one way in a huff and he went with the tour without a qualm.
The route we took provided an opportunity to visit various chambers and passages decorated with calcite crystals and other speleothems. Yes, that was a new word and I don’t know who had more trouble saying it, Benny or me.
The tour enters and leaves the cave by an elevator located in the Visitor Center and is listed as moderately strenuous. I don’t know if that is because of all the ducking and weaving you have to do in a couple of places. The stairs. Or the fact that it lasts almost an hour and a half. Of course it could be the 734 stairs that go both up and down along a half-mile loop. Our guide told us it was equivalent to forty flights of stairs. My calves told me it was closer to eighty but who is counting?
During the tour we saw two types of calcite crystals known as nailhead spar and dogtooth spar, which are the "jewels" of Jewel Cave. In addition, we got to see boxwork, cave popcorn (Benny thought that was hilarious), flowstone, stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, and a long ribbon drapery called the cave bacon (something else that elicited plenty of snickers).
A lot cooler than I expected so I was glad that I followed the suggestion of bringing a light jacket. Above ground or below ground, 49F is more than just a little chilly. Before we started a ranger made a suggested to switch to the Discovery Tour as it might be better for Benny. But it turned out it wasn’t an issue of content but concern that he wouldn’t be able to manage all of the stairs. I flipped out my phone and showed them Little Bear in action.
“Wait, you two are Aunt Gus and Little Bear?”
“Er …”
“Hi! It’s nice to meet you in person. Your blog got mentioned on the office intranet.”
“Oh … uh … really? Is that good or bad?”
“Certainly not bad. People are getting a kick out of him earning all the Junior Ranger certificates and showing he can do all of the activities and hiking. Way too many kids only want to do the minimum to get the badge. And personally? Thank you for not putting his face all over everything. My husband is a sheriff and he noticed how careful you are not to put any identifying photos of him up. Seriously. He was impressed, and he doesn’t impress easily. Social media is complicating law enforcement efforts to stop the identity theft of young kids.”
She had to turn away to answer another question, but it gave me a few things to think about. First, nice or not, it just reinforced my determination to keep Benny’s face off the internet. Second … identity theft of kids?! Bad enough when that creepoid friend of Mizzou’s did it to me. Not something I want Benny to have to deal with at his age.
Something else I learned after the tour? All visitors exiting Jewel Cave are required to walk across a decontamination mat to prevent the spread of the bat disease called White Nose Syndrome (WNS). Also, all shoes, clothes, or gear worn in Jewel Cave may not be allowed in any other caves or mines. This includes private caves and mines within South Dakota and around the world. Furthermore, clothing and footwear used in Jewel Cave will NOT be allowed on the Candlelight Tour or the Wild Cave Tour at nearby Wind Cave National Park. Yowzer.
I found out washing our clothes and jackets with detergent will be sufficient but since we can’t wash our hikers just yet, I spritzed the soles with peroxide and then sprayed the uppers with athlete’s foot spray and put them in Ziploc bags since White Nose is a fungus.
There was still time after the cave tour so we did two trails that would help Benny earn the patch. First was called the Roof Trail. It was only a quarter mile loop trail that began on the south side of the visitor center. The trail meandered through a ponderosa pine forest, circling the visitor center and returning to the parking lot. There were some really nice wildflowers on the trail but we didn’t see any wildlife.
The other one, Canyons Trail, was longer. It was a three and a half mile loop and we kinda lollygagged so it took us three hours to do. The trail began along the Roof Trail so was convenient. I liked not having to drive to find it. What made this trail a little different was that it went from easy to moderate with steep inclines at different points along the path as it wound through Lithograph and Hell Canyons into open meadows surrounded by cliffs and rocky outcroppings. The open meadow is a favorite haunt of birdwatchers and I gotta admit there were more than a few feathery critters flitting across the surface of the grass and plants. We heard a ranger that was leading another group say that you don’t see many trees on the trail because of the Jasper Fire that took place in 2000.
Might not have been any trees but we saw plenty of red noses and cheeks. Glad I thought to have us wear hats and put zinc oxide on our noses. I’ve burnt my nose enough while out on the water that I’m going to have to watch for skin cancers as I get older. It’s one of the reasons I put a really high SPF on Benny … especially his ears, neck, and face. He doesn’t always appreciate it, but I hope he does as he gets older.
There is NO camping in park so where are we staying? Drove into the Black Hills National Forest. It is further down the road we will need to go tomorrow so saved some miles. The campground is quiet, not too busy but steady with campers. Typical pit toilets and clean area. The biggest complaint I heard was that it needs serious leveling and gravel to brought in. Yay for the 4x4 feature and high clearance of the van.
The host is awesome and very friendly and check in was very simple. There is zero cell coverage even with the signal booster so all I’ve been able to do it write things up and get them ready for posting tomorrow or the next day. It was only $16/night, with 33 sites and reservations recommended but I got lucky by calling the day before when the boondock site I had originally meant to use had changed hands and the owner no longer allowed camping. Glad I checked. Wish I had checked sooner.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2367
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $796
Cumulative miles: 5607
Resources:
JECA-Junior-Ranger-Activity-Booklet-Grayscale-Pages-508-April-2020.pdf (nps.gov)
White Nose Syndrome – America's National Parks Podcast (nationalparkpodcast.com)
Driving Route:
On the road by 5:30 am because I prepped and packed up the night before. Drove to Devil’s tower in a little over two hours.
Going through the gate the ranger saw Benny and told us that the Junior Ranger program booklet for Devils Tower National Monument could be picked up at the visitor center free of charge. Yep, another check on Benny’s list of things that make him happy.
We didn’t plan on being there all day so the first thing we did was head to the Tower Trail. Due to the popularity of this trail and the limited parking capacity, I learned online that the trail was best attempted before 10 am or after 3 pm. It is a paved, 1.3-mile trail that across the parking area from the visitor center. A short, steep section leads to you a junction that you can take either way to walk around the base of the Tower.
The trail has some very particular rules. There are cloths or small bundles attached to the trees. These are Native American prayer cloths and represent the some of the spiritual practices and connection many tribes have to the Tower. There are signs before, during, and after the trail that states to please not touch, disturb or remove these prayer cloths. Some even consider it culturally insensitive to photograph these prayer cloths.
The other trail we did in this park is called Amphitheater Circuit. It is a 1.5-mile, counter-clockwise loop of Valley View, Red Beds, and South Side trails. From the amphitheater, turn right to follow Valley View Trail until you reach the junction with Red Beds Trail (0.6-mile). Turn left and walk along Red Beds Trail until you reach the junction with South Side Trail (0.3-mile). Turn left again and follow South Side Trail back to amphitheater. In this direction, the steep elevation change is going downhill. You could hike the loop clockwise, starting on South Side Trail, if you wanted to climb the steep portion up to Red Beds. Nope, not interested.
The trail was visually interesting but I’ll admit, the main reason I picked that one was so that Benny could get a view of another prairie dog town while I could get different view of the Tower and the Belle Fourche River valley.
As soon as Benny finished the last of the junior ranger activities we headed to the welcome center and did all of the yada, yada we needed to. I just barely remembered to get our passport books stamped because I had taken them out of my backpack to clean it out. Need to update my morning checklist.
We weren’t rushing when we left but I didn’t want to waste any time either. We drove an hour and three-quarters to Jewel Cave National Monument Visitor Center
I hadn’t had much phone signal up to that point, and beyond that point I had none until we reached the Jewel Cave National Monument visitor center. And yes, there was a Junior Ranger program there as well. Benny loves the programs but I’m getting a little “meh” on some of them. I’ve found similar questions in almost every booklet. For instance, who can answer questions at the park? Why a national park ranger of course.
Sorry for the snark but I guess I’m just tired. Or maybe it is looking at the budget. Or actually, probably what it is is monitoring some of the comments that people want to post to the blog. It isn’t the spam because frankly that’s just part of life these days. It isn’t even the people that post long winded lectures on the best this, that’s, or the others. No, what I’m getting tired of are the people that insinuate that I am ruining Benny for life.
I remember Dad saying once that the reason kids come in such small packages is because they need to bounce and forgive all of the mistakes that their adults make trying to raise them. But what if I am … maybe not ruining Benny for life … but not doing him the justice he deserves. I’m not his mother. I don’t even know what that looks like since I never had one of my own and Penny was such a mess. But I bet, if Benny could bring himself to say it, that he’d have her back in a heartbeat. Because, Penny was his mom. I don’t know. I know not to listen to idiots but some of these people don’t sound stupid. One of them even claimed to be a child psychologist.
Well, we are on this path and Benny seems to be enjoying it. Me being the adult is a little more stressful than I counted on, especially being the lone adult in the equation. I just don’t want to ruin Benny. He’s a great kid.
And speaking of great kid, he was extra good this afternoon and I really appreciated it. It can’t be easy on him, all the time in the van, but he was a trooper as we left Devil’s Tower and headed to Jewel Cave’s visitor center. I’d printed the Junior Ranger booklet back in Key West and glad I was because the line to get a booklet on site was really long because there were a lot of families there for some kind of Family Reunion Road Trip. Those kids were way on overload.
What Benny wanted to earn was the embroidered patch for completing more pages in the activity booklet than just for the badge, not that he would turn his nose up at the badge alone. I’ve mentioned more than a few times that Benny got the same competitive gene that Lawrence had … and that I have.
The other thing that I was thankful for is that I booked our tour of Jewel Cave well in advance. It meant not competing for space with the Family Reunion who thankfully was taken the tour after ours.
The Scenic Tour is the most popular tour of Jewel Cave. Before we were allowed to start our footgear had to be inspected. Closed-toed tennis shoes, sneakers, or hiking boots only. We were set but one lady wasn’t and got mad because she wasn’t allowed to go anyway. All her partner said was, “Next time listen.” She went one way in a huff and he went with the tour without a qualm.
The route we took provided an opportunity to visit various chambers and passages decorated with calcite crystals and other speleothems. Yes, that was a new word and I don’t know who had more trouble saying it, Benny or me.
The tour enters and leaves the cave by an elevator located in the Visitor Center and is listed as moderately strenuous. I don’t know if that is because of all the ducking and weaving you have to do in a couple of places. The stairs. Or the fact that it lasts almost an hour and a half. Of course it could be the 734 stairs that go both up and down along a half-mile loop. Our guide told us it was equivalent to forty flights of stairs. My calves told me it was closer to eighty but who is counting?
During the tour we saw two types of calcite crystals known as nailhead spar and dogtooth spar, which are the "jewels" of Jewel Cave. In addition, we got to see boxwork, cave popcorn (Benny thought that was hilarious), flowstone, stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, and a long ribbon drapery called the cave bacon (something else that elicited plenty of snickers).
A lot cooler than I expected so I was glad that I followed the suggestion of bringing a light jacket. Above ground or below ground, 49F is more than just a little chilly. Before we started a ranger made a suggested to switch to the Discovery Tour as it might be better for Benny. But it turned out it wasn’t an issue of content but concern that he wouldn’t be able to manage all of the stairs. I flipped out my phone and showed them Little Bear in action.
“Wait, you two are Aunt Gus and Little Bear?”
“Er …”
“Hi! It’s nice to meet you in person. Your blog got mentioned on the office intranet.”
“Oh … uh … really? Is that good or bad?”
“Certainly not bad. People are getting a kick out of him earning all the Junior Ranger certificates and showing he can do all of the activities and hiking. Way too many kids only want to do the minimum to get the badge. And personally? Thank you for not putting his face all over everything. My husband is a sheriff and he noticed how careful you are not to put any identifying photos of him up. Seriously. He was impressed, and he doesn’t impress easily. Social media is complicating law enforcement efforts to stop the identity theft of young kids.”
She had to turn away to answer another question, but it gave me a few things to think about. First, nice or not, it just reinforced my determination to keep Benny’s face off the internet. Second … identity theft of kids?! Bad enough when that creepoid friend of Mizzou’s did it to me. Not something I want Benny to have to deal with at his age.
Something else I learned after the tour? All visitors exiting Jewel Cave are required to walk across a decontamination mat to prevent the spread of the bat disease called White Nose Syndrome (WNS). Also, all shoes, clothes, or gear worn in Jewel Cave may not be allowed in any other caves or mines. This includes private caves and mines within South Dakota and around the world. Furthermore, clothing and footwear used in Jewel Cave will NOT be allowed on the Candlelight Tour or the Wild Cave Tour at nearby Wind Cave National Park. Yowzer.
I found out washing our clothes and jackets with detergent will be sufficient but since we can’t wash our hikers just yet, I spritzed the soles with peroxide and then sprayed the uppers with athlete’s foot spray and put them in Ziploc bags since White Nose is a fungus.
There was still time after the cave tour so we did two trails that would help Benny earn the patch. First was called the Roof Trail. It was only a quarter mile loop trail that began on the south side of the visitor center. The trail meandered through a ponderosa pine forest, circling the visitor center and returning to the parking lot. There were some really nice wildflowers on the trail but we didn’t see any wildlife.
The other one, Canyons Trail, was longer. It was a three and a half mile loop and we kinda lollygagged so it took us three hours to do. The trail began along the Roof Trail so was convenient. I liked not having to drive to find it. What made this trail a little different was that it went from easy to moderate with steep inclines at different points along the path as it wound through Lithograph and Hell Canyons into open meadows surrounded by cliffs and rocky outcroppings. The open meadow is a favorite haunt of birdwatchers and I gotta admit there were more than a few feathery critters flitting across the surface of the grass and plants. We heard a ranger that was leading another group say that you don’t see many trees on the trail because of the Jasper Fire that took place in 2000.
Might not have been any trees but we saw plenty of red noses and cheeks. Glad I thought to have us wear hats and put zinc oxide on our noses. I’ve burnt my nose enough while out on the water that I’m going to have to watch for skin cancers as I get older. It’s one of the reasons I put a really high SPF on Benny … especially his ears, neck, and face. He doesn’t always appreciate it, but I hope he does as he gets older.
There is NO camping in park so where are we staying? Drove into the Black Hills National Forest. It is further down the road we will need to go tomorrow so saved some miles. The campground is quiet, not too busy but steady with campers. Typical pit toilets and clean area. The biggest complaint I heard was that it needs serious leveling and gravel to brought in. Yay for the 4x4 feature and high clearance of the van.
The host is awesome and very friendly and check in was very simple. There is zero cell coverage even with the signal booster so all I’ve been able to do it write things up and get them ready for posting tomorrow or the next day. It was only $16/night, with 33 sites and reservations recommended but I got lucky by calling the day before when the boondock site I had originally meant to use had changed hands and the owner no longer allowed camping. Glad I checked. Wish I had checked sooner.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2367
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $796
Cumulative miles: 5607
Resources:
JECA-Junior-Ranger-Activity-Booklet-Grayscale-Pages-508-April-2020.pdf (nps.gov)
White Nose Syndrome – America's National Parks Podcast (nationalparkpodcast.com)
DD and her husband went to Devils Tower on their honeymoon.. Set the tent up at night (they were running late) and she had no clue where they were in relation to the tower. Woke up the next morning, and it was right outside their tent flap.
Thank you so much for your 'tour of national parks'. Love this!
Thank you so much for your 'tour of national parks'. Love this!
May 11 – 12: Minute Man Missile National Historic Site >> Custer State Park >> Chief Crazy Horse Memorial >> Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
Weather: 30F/26F
Wifi/Cell Signal: It sucked until Wind Cave
May 11th
Holy crap I kid you not, it never got above freezing today. Mother Nature is freaking having a break down. Benny and I managed to make it fun and funny today but I was ever so glad to have that little space heater. I’m also glad that we have the van to camp in. No tents. No pop ups. All hotels in the area are swamped. They said that last week they were up in the 60s and then it dropped down into the 50s. Next week they are predicted to be in the 70s and possibly even his 80F. So what the heck happened this week?
The day didn’t start that insane, at least not as far as weather is concerned.
I keep saying I am going to watch how much driving I try to fit in, or that is necessary each day. I’m not following through. Everything is so freakin’ big out here. To go what seems a small distance takes a lot longer than you would think. Florida is not a small state but out here the sky seems so big. Not even being out in the Atlantic or Gulf gave me this perception. It is almost like the horizon is an optical illusion and what you are actually looking at is a piece of infinity. And map and driving directions are very deceptive.
Up early from the national forest we headed first to the Chief Crazy Horse Memorial by way of Custer, SD. There was plenty of parking but very few people. I thought I had missed a closed sign or something. It was $24 for Benny and I and it would have been nice if they had told us most of the facility was closed. When I said something after only being able to view the carving they did refund Benny’s $12 but only did so grudgingly. The only disparaging thing that was said was I heard two staff members say, “Dumb white girl.”
"You sure she's white?"
"Hell, I'm not sure she's a girl."
A guy wandering around that looked like he was in charge knew I had heard the conversation, but didn’t say anything ... to me or them. I’m not in the mood for Benny to learn that kind of behavior doesn’t come with consequences so I looked straight at the guy and said, “Nice people you have around here. I’ll be sure and spread the word.”
I know that was snarky but I never allowed any of my ship or cadet-mates to spew that kind of crap while we were in uniform. Their time was their time and they could do with it whatever. Work time was my responsibility to make sure things ran smoothly and honorably. If you have a business that is sustained only by admissions and private donations like the Chief Crazy Horse memorial you would think you’d want to put a good face on things. In hindsight, yeah, I showed a gross amount of inexperience with Western weather. They could have taken a moment to enlighten me or keep their opinion to themselves; either or. But that’s not what happened. If they could have an opinion, then so can I. Up to that point I’d been taking it all in and trying to explain the historic significance to Benny, the best of my ability. Chief Crazy Horse is a hero and role model for his people. Afterwards? All I could think of was how the behavior of both guys didn’t exactly conform to the example set by Chief Crazy Horse. Didn’t have a thing to do with me being “white” or a “female.” Had a lot to do with the fact they were as prejudice and ill-mannered as the people like them would have squealed about had they been on the receiving end of those types of comments. Yet another example of hypocrisy.
I felt a little bad about snapping back the way I did but at the same time people complain about something then they should set the example, not just be they same as those that complain about. After my temper had cooled I explained that to Benny. I hope I got through to him and set a better example.
I tried to get a signal on the radio, the computer, and phone to check the weather but no luck. I gave it up. Besides, there wasn’t a lot of time to wallow in guilt as our next place was the Minute Man Missile National Historic Site. It was a little warmer as we traveled so I thought it was just a blurp on the radar. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha …
For nearly three decades Minuteman Missile field personnel protected and defended our nation. And some time after that they turned the missile site into a national historic site to teach people why Minuteman Missiles were so important during the Cold War and still are today, and how the Air Force personnel lived and worked at Minuteman sites.
I had ordered our tour tickets as soon as I had locked down our schedule and the online site had made it seem like Benny and I were lucky to get a space. Got there and there were only a few vehicles in the visitor lot. Hmmm. Yes, I was getting concerned but the rangers urging us in so we could start the tour didn’t seem like anything was out of the ordinary so I temporarily avoided worrying.
The Delta-01 tour was very interesting. Our guide explained how US Air Force personnel secured and maintained a missile field at the ready inside the very facility we were touring. This would have been an extremely restricted space during what was called the Cold War. We walked through the grounds and topside support building with the guide pointing things out and explaining them. To protect the historic facilities each tour is limited to six participants and a guide, normally a park ranger, and lasts forty-five minutes. We were warned that the tour was moderately strenuous despite it only being a quarter mile round trip walk.
There was also the missile silo and launch facility that from 1963 until the early 1990s, contained a fully operational Minuteman Missile, bearing a 1.2 megaton nuclear warhead which was one of 150 spread across western South Dakota. There were a total of one thousand missiles spread across the country during that same time period. The launch facility consists of a silo 12 feet in diameter and 80 feet deep made of reinforced concrete with a steel-plate liner. The door to the silo has been welded and fitted with a glass roof, and an unarmed missile placed inside.
The visitor center was our last point rather than our first simply because of the tour time. Benny completed his Junior Ranger activities, proudly took the Junior Ranger oath for the umpteenth time, and then I finally got up the nerve to ask if anything was going on.
Weather. Not pirates, space invaders, terrorists, or out of control riots. Just weather. I should have asked sooner as my anxiety would have been relieved. The ranger suggested I call ahead to make sure the campground was still open that I planned to stop in but there was no signal. The ranger behind the gift shop counter did it by landline for me and confirmed they were open though they were turning away tent campers.
“No tent for us. Van.”
“Then you should be fine unless there is wind in this. Just make sure to wrap your freshwater tank if you have one, or any other liquids that might freeze. Might want to do it now.”
I took their advice and before getting back on the road, put a space blanket and then an insulated blanket on the freshwater tank. But seriously. Freeze?!
From there we basically returned the way we had come, driving again through Custer State Park to Wind Cave National Park. The campground just started requiring reservations recently as opposed to it used to be first come first serve for years before. Read a couple of very disgruntled reviews on the topic in some of the forums.
We just barely made the last cave tour at 2:30 pm. The reason why we were able to go despite being five minutes late is because so few people showed up. I had reserved ahead of time – finding out that is the best way to do everything even if it makes our schedule less flexible.
Out tour was called the Fairgrounds Tour. It lasted an hour and a half, covered two-thirds of a mile, and had a total of 450 stairs. I was a little worried when they explained that it was a strenuous tour but turns out, only for your average couch potato. The paths are uneven, and the stairs are steep. There was some bending and stooping required. To me the worst part was where you had to climb 89 stairs up at once but that’s because in places I had to stoop. Being a tall woman isn’t always all it is cracked up to be.
We saw similar things to Jewel Cave - boxwork, frostwork and cave popcorn – and yet it was felt quite different from the other cave. Benny was free so yahoo, but my ticket cost $12, making me glad that I had skipped eating out despite the cost already in the budget and paid for .
Benny was a tired Little Bear by the time we set up camp that night at Elk Mountain Campground inside the national park. He may have been tired but he was still determined to hang on for a while longer. The Camp Monitor had told him that the night’s show at the amphitheater was for Junior Ranger program. Benny loved it in spite of the cold. I was surprised they had it but one of the rangers said that the shape of the amphitheater meant that attendees were protected and it was an hour earlier than usual because it was geared towards the younger crowd.
As soon as the show was over I informed Benny it was time for him to hit the hay so that Aunt Gus could do some surprise cooking … after we did camp s’mores. I used the Bio-Lite stove and not long after that Benny carb-crashed so hard and fast I barely got him ready for bed before he was giving little boy snores.
As for me? I was tired and cold but determined to get a little bit of meal prep accomplished so that I wouldn’t feel so much pressure and rushed over the next couple of days. Unless I was reading the map wrong – and it is possible since I’ve never been in this area of the country – there is going to be more “backcountry” than “front country” for the next week or so. And I need to have a better plan to stock up somewhere along the way.
A ranger was coming around checking everyone and saw the Bio-Lite. Him coming over to check it out seemed to give the green light for a couple of other people to do the same. One woman was even so bold as to ask me if I would heat some water for her. [insert silent shrug here] Apparently there was something wrong with their propane hose and she just wanted enough to make a thermos of coffee for her partner.
I only had a small camp oven and it grew colder the longer the sun was down so I only fixed a few meals in advance but I did manage to do some other meal prep and that is just going to have to be good enough. My fingers were freezing by the time I got everything cleaned up and if I hadn’t wanted to save our propane I would have cooked inside the van. But honestly? I bought the doggone thing, it is time that I use it for more than just taking up space and looking nifty.
May 12th
Wow, was a lot warmer today. Yep, little sarcasm there. It was up in the 40s today which did feel warmer than yesterday but lets just say it isn’t the weather that I am used to in May. We remained in Windcave National Park today and except for a little driving to get from trailhead to trailhead it was very nice. A few more people in the park but that all that many.
First thing is we hit Wind Cave Visitor Center to check on trail conditions and to complete a few Junior Ranger activities. Here’s a funny that I saw today. At the visitor center there is a sign warning people to not use your GPS to find the visitor center - you will get lost. Let that sink in. You are already at the visitor center yet … ? ROFL. I suppose you had to be there but I thought it was funny.
Mostly what we did today was hike. Lots of short and very short hikes but Benny and I appreciated any time outside the van we could get.
Wind Cave Canyon trail (3.5 miles roundtrip, easy) was a road in a former life and follows Wind Cave Canyon to the park boundary. Limestone cliffs provide nesting areas for cliff swallows, canyon wrens, and great horned owls. The brochure I had said to look for Red-headed and Lewis’s woodpeckers among the snag trees of forested hillsides. Look for? How about listen for. Wow could those guys peck loudly.
Cold Brook Canyon trail (2.8 miles roundtrip, moderate) winds through Cold Brook Canyon to the park boundary. As in most everything stops at the park boundary. Along the way a ponderosa forest gives way to the open prairie and crosses a prairie dog town which Benny once again had a good laugh at. It is also a good trail to see prairie falcons and other raptors.
Lookout Point trail (4.5 mile loop) follows the rolling hills of the prairie across Lookout Point to Beaver Creek (no beavers unfortunately). A side trip up Lookout Point offers views of the American Elk Prescribed Fire from 2010.
Rankin Ridge Nature Trail (less than one mile) provides spectacular views from the highest point in the park.
Elk Mountain Nature Trail (less than one mile) is through an area where both grassland and forest meet. It was the last hike of the day since it was around the campground.
After we got back to the campground and settled in, I fixed a dinner of red beans and rice with corn muffins. Not fancy but Benny and I both chowed down to appease our appetites. Benny’s additional motivation to clean his plate was the amphitheater show. Tonight’s show was an hour long program that explored various topics about Wind Cave's cultural and natural history. There was a pretty slick slide show to go with it which was a good thing as we weren’t the only people bundled up in extra blankets.
Benny is snuggled up in his bed with extra covers and I’ve been going over emails, etc since my signal booster must be pulling from the visitor center’s signal and I’ve got four bars. Change of plans, instead of camping, boondocking, or anything else, we are going to grab a hotel for tomorrow night. I’m going to spend the day after we get into Estes Park shopping and cleaning and doing all of the mechanical checking that Groucho says needs doing. He especially wants a report on the tires and brakes complete with pictures to prove all the above has been accomplished. Aye, aye Captain Bligh. He isn’t normally this grumpy with me so something else is going on. I’m going to see if it is any of my business when I have more time to talk tomorrow.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2393
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $826
Cumulative miles: 5922
Resources:
Wind Cave National Park (pdf)
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins - Confessions of a Fit Foodie
Meal Prep Gingerbread Oatmeal Cups | The Girl on Bloor
45 Gluten-Free Freezer Meals I Taste of Home
Weather: 30F/26F
Wifi/Cell Signal: It sucked until Wind Cave
May 11th
Holy crap I kid you not, it never got above freezing today. Mother Nature is freaking having a break down. Benny and I managed to make it fun and funny today but I was ever so glad to have that little space heater. I’m also glad that we have the van to camp in. No tents. No pop ups. All hotels in the area are swamped. They said that last week they were up in the 60s and then it dropped down into the 50s. Next week they are predicted to be in the 70s and possibly even his 80F. So what the heck happened this week?
The day didn’t start that insane, at least not as far as weather is concerned.
I keep saying I am going to watch how much driving I try to fit in, or that is necessary each day. I’m not following through. Everything is so freakin’ big out here. To go what seems a small distance takes a lot longer than you would think. Florida is not a small state but out here the sky seems so big. Not even being out in the Atlantic or Gulf gave me this perception. It is almost like the horizon is an optical illusion and what you are actually looking at is a piece of infinity. And map and driving directions are very deceptive.
Up early from the national forest we headed first to the Chief Crazy Horse Memorial by way of Custer, SD. There was plenty of parking but very few people. I thought I had missed a closed sign or something. It was $24 for Benny and I and it would have been nice if they had told us most of the facility was closed. When I said something after only being able to view the carving they did refund Benny’s $12 but only did so grudgingly. The only disparaging thing that was said was I heard two staff members say, “Dumb white girl.”
"You sure she's white?"
"Hell, I'm not sure she's a girl."
A guy wandering around that looked like he was in charge knew I had heard the conversation, but didn’t say anything ... to me or them. I’m not in the mood for Benny to learn that kind of behavior doesn’t come with consequences so I looked straight at the guy and said, “Nice people you have around here. I’ll be sure and spread the word.”
I know that was snarky but I never allowed any of my ship or cadet-mates to spew that kind of crap while we were in uniform. Their time was their time and they could do with it whatever. Work time was my responsibility to make sure things ran smoothly and honorably. If you have a business that is sustained only by admissions and private donations like the Chief Crazy Horse memorial you would think you’d want to put a good face on things. In hindsight, yeah, I showed a gross amount of inexperience with Western weather. They could have taken a moment to enlighten me or keep their opinion to themselves; either or. But that’s not what happened. If they could have an opinion, then so can I. Up to that point I’d been taking it all in and trying to explain the historic significance to Benny, the best of my ability. Chief Crazy Horse is a hero and role model for his people. Afterwards? All I could think of was how the behavior of both guys didn’t exactly conform to the example set by Chief Crazy Horse. Didn’t have a thing to do with me being “white” or a “female.” Had a lot to do with the fact they were as prejudice and ill-mannered as the people like them would have squealed about had they been on the receiving end of those types of comments. Yet another example of hypocrisy.
I felt a little bad about snapping back the way I did but at the same time people complain about something then they should set the example, not just be they same as those that complain about. After my temper had cooled I explained that to Benny. I hope I got through to him and set a better example.
I tried to get a signal on the radio, the computer, and phone to check the weather but no luck. I gave it up. Besides, there wasn’t a lot of time to wallow in guilt as our next place was the Minute Man Missile National Historic Site. It was a little warmer as we traveled so I thought it was just a blurp on the radar. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha …
For nearly three decades Minuteman Missile field personnel protected and defended our nation. And some time after that they turned the missile site into a national historic site to teach people why Minuteman Missiles were so important during the Cold War and still are today, and how the Air Force personnel lived and worked at Minuteman sites.
I had ordered our tour tickets as soon as I had locked down our schedule and the online site had made it seem like Benny and I were lucky to get a space. Got there and there were only a few vehicles in the visitor lot. Hmmm. Yes, I was getting concerned but the rangers urging us in so we could start the tour didn’t seem like anything was out of the ordinary so I temporarily avoided worrying.
The Delta-01 tour was very interesting. Our guide explained how US Air Force personnel secured and maintained a missile field at the ready inside the very facility we were touring. This would have been an extremely restricted space during what was called the Cold War. We walked through the grounds and topside support building with the guide pointing things out and explaining them. To protect the historic facilities each tour is limited to six participants and a guide, normally a park ranger, and lasts forty-five minutes. We were warned that the tour was moderately strenuous despite it only being a quarter mile round trip walk.
There was also the missile silo and launch facility that from 1963 until the early 1990s, contained a fully operational Minuteman Missile, bearing a 1.2 megaton nuclear warhead which was one of 150 spread across western South Dakota. There were a total of one thousand missiles spread across the country during that same time period. The launch facility consists of a silo 12 feet in diameter and 80 feet deep made of reinforced concrete with a steel-plate liner. The door to the silo has been welded and fitted with a glass roof, and an unarmed missile placed inside.
The visitor center was our last point rather than our first simply because of the tour time. Benny completed his Junior Ranger activities, proudly took the Junior Ranger oath for the umpteenth time, and then I finally got up the nerve to ask if anything was going on.
Weather. Not pirates, space invaders, terrorists, or out of control riots. Just weather. I should have asked sooner as my anxiety would have been relieved. The ranger suggested I call ahead to make sure the campground was still open that I planned to stop in but there was no signal. The ranger behind the gift shop counter did it by landline for me and confirmed they were open though they were turning away tent campers.
“No tent for us. Van.”
“Then you should be fine unless there is wind in this. Just make sure to wrap your freshwater tank if you have one, or any other liquids that might freeze. Might want to do it now.”
I took their advice and before getting back on the road, put a space blanket and then an insulated blanket on the freshwater tank. But seriously. Freeze?!
From there we basically returned the way we had come, driving again through Custer State Park to Wind Cave National Park. The campground just started requiring reservations recently as opposed to it used to be first come first serve for years before. Read a couple of very disgruntled reviews on the topic in some of the forums.
We just barely made the last cave tour at 2:30 pm. The reason why we were able to go despite being five minutes late is because so few people showed up. I had reserved ahead of time – finding out that is the best way to do everything even if it makes our schedule less flexible.
Out tour was called the Fairgrounds Tour. It lasted an hour and a half, covered two-thirds of a mile, and had a total of 450 stairs. I was a little worried when they explained that it was a strenuous tour but turns out, only for your average couch potato. The paths are uneven, and the stairs are steep. There was some bending and stooping required. To me the worst part was where you had to climb 89 stairs up at once but that’s because in places I had to stoop. Being a tall woman isn’t always all it is cracked up to be.
We saw similar things to Jewel Cave - boxwork, frostwork and cave popcorn – and yet it was felt quite different from the other cave. Benny was free so yahoo, but my ticket cost $12, making me glad that I had skipped eating out despite the cost already in the budget and paid for .
Benny was a tired Little Bear by the time we set up camp that night at Elk Mountain Campground inside the national park. He may have been tired but he was still determined to hang on for a while longer. The Camp Monitor had told him that the night’s show at the amphitheater was for Junior Ranger program. Benny loved it in spite of the cold. I was surprised they had it but one of the rangers said that the shape of the amphitheater meant that attendees were protected and it was an hour earlier than usual because it was geared towards the younger crowd.
As soon as the show was over I informed Benny it was time for him to hit the hay so that Aunt Gus could do some surprise cooking … after we did camp s’mores. I used the Bio-Lite stove and not long after that Benny carb-crashed so hard and fast I barely got him ready for bed before he was giving little boy snores.
As for me? I was tired and cold but determined to get a little bit of meal prep accomplished so that I wouldn’t feel so much pressure and rushed over the next couple of days. Unless I was reading the map wrong – and it is possible since I’ve never been in this area of the country – there is going to be more “backcountry” than “front country” for the next week or so. And I need to have a better plan to stock up somewhere along the way.
A ranger was coming around checking everyone and saw the Bio-Lite. Him coming over to check it out seemed to give the green light for a couple of other people to do the same. One woman was even so bold as to ask me if I would heat some water for her. [insert silent shrug here] Apparently there was something wrong with their propane hose and she just wanted enough to make a thermos of coffee for her partner.
I only had a small camp oven and it grew colder the longer the sun was down so I only fixed a few meals in advance but I did manage to do some other meal prep and that is just going to have to be good enough. My fingers were freezing by the time I got everything cleaned up and if I hadn’t wanted to save our propane I would have cooked inside the van. But honestly? I bought the doggone thing, it is time that I use it for more than just taking up space and looking nifty.
May 12th
Wow, was a lot warmer today. Yep, little sarcasm there. It was up in the 40s today which did feel warmer than yesterday but lets just say it isn’t the weather that I am used to in May. We remained in Windcave National Park today and except for a little driving to get from trailhead to trailhead it was very nice. A few more people in the park but that all that many.
First thing is we hit Wind Cave Visitor Center to check on trail conditions and to complete a few Junior Ranger activities. Here’s a funny that I saw today. At the visitor center there is a sign warning people to not use your GPS to find the visitor center - you will get lost. Let that sink in. You are already at the visitor center yet … ? ROFL. I suppose you had to be there but I thought it was funny.
Mostly what we did today was hike. Lots of short and very short hikes but Benny and I appreciated any time outside the van we could get.
Wind Cave Canyon trail (3.5 miles roundtrip, easy) was a road in a former life and follows Wind Cave Canyon to the park boundary. Limestone cliffs provide nesting areas for cliff swallows, canyon wrens, and great horned owls. The brochure I had said to look for Red-headed and Lewis’s woodpeckers among the snag trees of forested hillsides. Look for? How about listen for. Wow could those guys peck loudly.
Cold Brook Canyon trail (2.8 miles roundtrip, moderate) winds through Cold Brook Canyon to the park boundary. As in most everything stops at the park boundary. Along the way a ponderosa forest gives way to the open prairie and crosses a prairie dog town which Benny once again had a good laugh at. It is also a good trail to see prairie falcons and other raptors.
Lookout Point trail (4.5 mile loop) follows the rolling hills of the prairie across Lookout Point to Beaver Creek (no beavers unfortunately). A side trip up Lookout Point offers views of the American Elk Prescribed Fire from 2010.
Rankin Ridge Nature Trail (less than one mile) provides spectacular views from the highest point in the park.
Elk Mountain Nature Trail (less than one mile) is through an area where both grassland and forest meet. It was the last hike of the day since it was around the campground.
After we got back to the campground and settled in, I fixed a dinner of red beans and rice with corn muffins. Not fancy but Benny and I both chowed down to appease our appetites. Benny’s additional motivation to clean his plate was the amphitheater show. Tonight’s show was an hour long program that explored various topics about Wind Cave's cultural and natural history. There was a pretty slick slide show to go with it which was a good thing as we weren’t the only people bundled up in extra blankets.
Benny is snuggled up in his bed with extra covers and I’ve been going over emails, etc since my signal booster must be pulling from the visitor center’s signal and I’ve got four bars. Change of plans, instead of camping, boondocking, or anything else, we are going to grab a hotel for tomorrow night. I’m going to spend the day after we get into Estes Park shopping and cleaning and doing all of the mechanical checking that Groucho says needs doing. He especially wants a report on the tires and brakes complete with pictures to prove all the above has been accomplished. Aye, aye Captain Bligh. He isn’t normally this grumpy with me so something else is going on. I’m going to see if it is any of my business when I have more time to talk tomorrow.
Cumulative Fuel Expense: $2393
Cumulative Accommodation Expense: $826
Cumulative miles: 5922
Resources:
Wind Cave National Park (pdf)
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins - Confessions of a Fit Foodie
Meal Prep Gingerbread Oatmeal Cups | The Girl on Bloor
45 Gluten-Free Freezer Meals I Taste of Home
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
When we went to the Chief Crazy Horse Memorial we had really great time. I use to teach on a reservation and I was able to find some really cool items to share with my class. There was an employee there who was from our local tribe and she and I chatted and it was great to name drop her aunties and cousins names. I ended up getting a wee bit of a teacher discount.
Places can be great. It is the human element that is often the problem. And the human element can then taint the place.
I've experienced the "prejudice of the west" and was called a stupid white woman by some 20-somethings of Native American ancestry. Maybe they had an off day. Maybe they were angry. Maybe they had a legitimate grief that was on their mind. Doesn't matter. They were in "uniform" and working. I asked for clarification of something that was on a obscured sign that wasn't very legible. Sucked to be them if a million people asked the same question every day. Get a new sign, don't take it out on customers and visitors. They were working, that was their job.
Doesn't matter if the customer is purple with green pokadots, or if you are, if you are working then you behave civilly and with manners regardless.
Lake Lili
Veteran Member
Having worked customer service in various industries (both front line and management) for more than 30-years, most places would have at the very least called their employees on the carpet. Equally though, I have seen some truly horrendous attitude/behaviour from customers - a lot of it from teens but equally from their parents, which tells you just how much these behaviours are learned, and encouraged, at home. Unfortunately, many of those kids will go into customer service position and take all that attitude with them.
True story. First job was when I was 17 at Busch Garden and just out of high school. I was always on time. Great with customers. Whole nine yards. They promoted me to work "the line" and running the register at the restaurant I was working in at the time. I'm also line manager and taking care of customer service. I'm tooling along, fast, courteous, correct change .... calm, cool, collected ... handling all the crap being dished out by both customers and employees ... until ....
I get a call from the girl currently on register. She's having trouble with a biligerant customer.
"Hi! Something I can do to help?" in my perkiest, friendliest voice.
The customer growls at me and says, "I wanna fok."
"Pardon me?" I ask 'cause you know what I was thinking and even then my Southern Momma would have set me back on my heels for being rude to someone.
"I wanna fok," the guys says again, grinding his teeth.
"Uh ... I'm ... sorry?"
"A fok. A wanna FOK!" I'm still just staring, not sure I'm believing what this guy was saying. I mean he was my dad's age. Finally the guy says in exasperation, "You know knife, spoon, FOK!"
Oh ... my ... Lord. He was from up north somewhere and ... anyway ...
I begged a favor from someone to give me a bathroom break. I must have looked pretty sick (not in a good way) as I left to go hide in one of the stalls for a moment to try and gather some composure. Lead Manager came looking for me and caught me washing my teary face. I was scared to death I was going to lose my job and I'd just gotten a 10 cents an hour raise and needed it. I tremulously explained that I might have insulted a customer, but it wasn't on purpose. Honest.
She has me explain again with a strange look on her face and then says, "Honey, don't worry about it." And she said something that I have repeated for almost 40 years on a very regular basis. "It takes all kinds."
I later found out that the manager and the area managers were overheard nearly passing out from laughter. Geez I was so naïve but really, what are you going to do? Especially when you are one of those kinds it takes. ROFL!!
Sammy55
Veteran Member
Oh, my, am I running behind!!! I'm waaaaayyyyyyy back at Colonial Williamsburg yet!!
And, boy, did I get a kick our of Dobbin! I bet he's just preening his....well....whatever horses preen! LOL!!
I'll catch up sooner (hopefully) than later. But just letting you know, Kathy, that I'm finally back on track and LOVING this story!!
Our son had problem saying the "tr" in truck.
RememberGoliad
Veteran Member
Not quite as risque, but had a friend whose daughter couldn't pronounce our cat Fluffy's name. So we have a cat who answers to this day, 15 years later, to Puppy.
We also have a 13 year old dog who's afraid of everything including his own shadow. Howls like he's being beaten if you brush up against him and surprise him. That friend observed that we SHOULD have a puppy cat since we have a pussy dog.
We also have a 13 year old dog who's afraid of everything including his own shadow. Howls like he's being beaten if you brush up against him and surprise him. That friend observed that we SHOULD have a puppy cat since we have a pussy dog.
I might take the weekend off, not sure, depends on how I feel. First of the month for the business so "taking the weekend off" is all relative. Having parental units and friends of theirs over for the 4th.
Wishing everyone a happy and productive 4th and I'll do my best to get more posted as soon as my brain resolidifies.
Wishing everyone a happy and productive 4th and I'll do my best to get more posted as soon as my brain resolidifies.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Lets see, multiple story projects on several different platforms, simultaneously. Extended family, a very much hands-on business, month-end/new month and arguably the most important National holiday in the US. Did I leave anything out? Vehicle maintenance? Rebuilding the lawn mower? Sunday services?
Relative? Oh yeah .....
Not the car, that's my son's thing. But I did have to clean my dryer vent and unclog the vacuum cleaner. Does that count? LOL