8 Aug 2008
How to make the most of 24 hours
First off, compliments to the chef and owner of this peaceful abode—the French Creek Ranch east of Custer, SD: This morning’s breakfast, we ate like gods. For our nectar, we could choose between strawberry-kiwi smoothie, tomato juice, or raspberry tea (or why not have all three?). Our ambrosia simply consisted of a cherry-filled crepe and a delightful main dish of mushrooms, eggs, and spinach poured over a sausage-stuffing base and then topped with salsa. Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, and yogurt finished out our feast. What a meal!
Otherwise, we’ve spent the morning re-organizing, re-laxing, and re-energizing. See, we’ve run out of “zing” and so we’ve needed to restock. Because yesterday was exhausting.
Practically speaking, we travelled to at least four separate planets yesterday without even leaving the southwestern section of South Dakota. We started early on a hike up the Saddle Pass Trail which opened up onto a desert plain from Venus or somewhere. Each of us armed with a Nikon camera, a Nalgene carabined to each of our belts, we marched off bravely into the unknown. Over the course of our five-mile hike, we passed a total of four people, ten patriotic butterflies (because they were sporting the national color, orange), two rabbits, one-hundred sixty-three sunflowers (or thereabouts), a couple of muddy puddles, innumerable rock formations, the skeleton of a tree that tried to survive all on its own (thus standing as a lesson to all those crazy non-comformists who think there’s no danger in striking out into the wild with no one else there for support), five or six small, feathery-tailed creatures looking like chipmunks but moving like squirrels and as cute as hamsters who’ve lost weight visiting Curves thrice a week, one picturesque power line, and zero rattlesnakes. Upon returning to the car, we celebrated by guzzling down an entire container of Berry Burst Twister and three 16.9 fl. oz. bottles of H2O. And by then, it was only noon.
We took the scenic route through the rest of the Badlands, stopping just two or three times to take pictures, but otherwise enjoying the curves of the road, the changing scenery, and the rolling hills. The o-so-tough-looking hordes of bikers enjoying the amazingly gorgeous day with us only added to the magnificent experience.
We popped out of the park on a dirt road south of Rapid City. The now familiar bundles of South Dakota wheat made me feel like I returned home or something.
From there, we headed to Sturgis, the center of the nation’s largest motorcycle rally. What an experience! It took me some time to adjust to the new surroundings, to understand the language and the culture… Without bikes, leather jackets, or tattoes, we stuck out like sore thumbs—or so it felt, at first—but the time there was well-spent. It reminded us a little of Creation, but with motorcycle riding rather than Christian music being the central focusing point.
Next up was a drive through the Black Hills, much like the forested moons of Endor with its tall, thin pines.
And finally (because this entry has become terribly long and unwieldly), we took a short evening tour of Custer State Park, saw a buffalo, and then dined at the Blue Bell Lodge (where Jared ate a buffalo), before returning to the French Creek B&B to hit the sack. Ours was the Cowboy Room.
Meeting Diane, two couples, and the kind lady who cleaned our sheets made our experience very pleasant. But now we’re off. Perhaps we’ll see Mt. Rushmore, something we failed to fit into our full schedule yesterday. But who knows?
