Cat dragging and biker dodging

Tuesday 8/8

Yesterday we left the seediest Day’s Inn (next to no wifi, dirty, dark carpets—only one washing machine, in use, that we did not wait up til 11pm to fill) We departed with our free breakfast and dirty clothes, spontaneously planning what sites to see in South Dakota.  First rest stop just happened to have a memorial to Lewis and Clark, with a little museum of their expedition and a massive 50’ outdoor statue of an Indian woman with the Missouri River in the background.  We assumed she was Sacajawea but the docent said her name was Dignity, representing all indigenous women. We took a little walk to overlook the river despite the warning signs to avoid poisonous snakes.

 Next stop was Badlands National Park.  Judd got to exercise his Geriatric Life Pass to National Parks, and it worked!  Free admission for the whole carload of passengers (i.e. Judd and me.) We kept stopping at the outlooks off the interior loop road to take pictures of the unusual, exotic rock formations. At the first stop, we were next to a car where the couple cooed at their cat.  The cat, in a little harness, joined them on the scenic overlook walk, if by joined them I mean dragged him on a leash while he mewed loudly and angrily. We saw license plates from such diverse places as New York, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa but we were the only Mainers that I’ve seen.

 Along the way, we kept seeing billboards that said Wall DRUG: “5 cent coffee” or  “Wall Drug 300 miles”  or “free Water Wall Drug 216 miles” or “fast Food Wall Drug 33 miles.”    Judd thought it was advertisement for some kind of weird drugs.  I thought it was a drugstore that wouldn’t pay for the last 5 letters on the sign.  Turns out the town is called Wall and the place started as a drugstore and has oozed into a soda fountain, restaurant, touristy trading post, art gallery. We got our free ice water, cheap coffee and a cafeteria lunch and got out.  There had been bikers going up and down the hills of the badlands and in this little town, the main street was LINED with bikers of all shapes and sizes.  I tried to google if this was some special biker day or if this was just normal town traffic.  I didn’t find out until dinnertime, but Kelcy commented on my snapchats about whether Dad and I joined a biker club.

After lunch we drove to Mount Rushmore via a little town called Keystone.  It, also inundated with bikers, was more like Dollywood or Gatlinburg, TN with all the sights, museums, historic buildings, shops, shops, shops. I’m assured that Gatlinburg has TWO Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museums. Many marquees and signs saying “Welcome Bikers” or “Watch out for Motorcycles”  or “Motorcycles: use left lane” made us think this was a special week, not business as usual.

Mount Rushmore is not actually a National Park (and did NOT accept Judd’s pass)  but is a National Memorial. They actually didn’t charge admission, only parking and we did get a geriatric rate of $5 AND it’s good for the entire year (in case we chose to drive 1200 miles back anytime this year.)  We were surprised to see tables in the entry hall where, in addition to large ice cream cones, you could purchase alcoholic beverages.

Judd had been in text touch with AT buddy Mav and we set up a rendezvous for about 5:30. That gave us time to follow bikers to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  This giant sculpture in the rocks is still in progress. The Indian museum was interesting and had poignant portraits of many warriors. We were saddened by the extremely embarrassing white man hx of the death of Crazy Horse—shot in the back by a  soldier while standing under a truce flag for negotiations.

We met up with Mav (Father Goose’s AT buddy and Birdie (Mav’s AT love—now living happily ever after) at a cute town square in Rapid City. I sat as the 4^th wheel (oh, that doesn’t make sense) while these 3 AT veterans listened to a guy on stage talk about “what I put in my pack” and then I listened to what and why Judd, Mav or Birdie did or didn’t put it in their pack. It was riveting. Birdie had gone to get each of us a raffle ticket for giveaways at the end. I did hold a winning raffle ticket and Judd got some fluorescent green equipment ties.  Birdie got a new mattress.

We had dinner at the Firetruck Brewery. We had seen roadside signs along the way with each billboard dangling above an actual old fire engine, one engine even on end. Plenty of bikers were still lined up on the streets and we finally heard we had come during the Sturgis’s biker something. Festival? Pow wow? Meeting? Conference? Rally!! And Mav and Birdie told us, there were “not that many bikers this year.”

Mav and Birdie now spend 2-3 months every year hiking. They have an inspirational poster within reading distance of their toilet listing all the national trails they aspire to do.  I think you could get the 2 page magazine-map from www.trails50.org          Judd got ideas.

Wednesday 8/9

We departed Piedmont, SD under an orange ball of sunrise. The Black Hills are the highest US mountains east of the Rockies. We drove past fields with no bison; over the Bighorn Mountains. At the end of the day, in Wyoming, some big mammal, bigger than a breadbox, scurried across the road in front of me. I thought it was an albino beaver but the tail was big and bushy. We later read about the yellow-belly marmots. If that wasn’t one, I’ll buy a breadbox.

As we decide to get to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons; we skipped Custer’s Last Stand. Arrived in Yellowstone as it began to rain. We were awed by the size of Yellowstone Lake way up there in the mountains. I was also awed by the ANIMALS ARE DANGEROUS—DON’T APPROACH THEM signs, although they probably mean the bison, bear and wolves not the marmots. The cabin at LakeView Lodge (elevation 7744’) was small and cozy, with a private hot shower and a heater that worked.  We took a short walk, past many cozy cottages and considerably fewer bikers, to the lodge where food, drink and the view awaited.

Today, it’s off to Old Faithful and the Grand Tetons.