Our trip isn't totally over, and as I sit here at my in-laws place in Indianapolis I am relishing in the fact that I will not spend a moment behind a steering wheel but saddened that most of the the trip is only memories in our minds. I don't want to go through the whole reflection piece of this trip and what it has meant to each of us, rather I'd just like to sum up the last couple of days and then enjoy some more time just lying on a couch and watching television.
I was getting more and more tired of traveling and when we sat down and figured out the calendar we realized that we had to make a full day of activities while still in Western South Dakota.We had spent the night before at a campground surrounded by very well behaved bikers. One of them, an older guy from Tennessee, said he was packing up and heading home. He had been riding around Sturgis for the last fifteen days, all camped in the same spot away from most resources, and said he would never be coming back. Neither would I, at least not during Bike Week.
Rushmore was not far away at all, and we were there before most of the bikers and the kids were probably the first junior rangers sworn in for the day less than an hour later. We decided to skip the uncompleted Crazy Horse Monument, not wanting to spend the time nor money there, but did get a little glimpse of the sculpture from the highway. All without being run down by any Harley's.
There are many parks around this area of South Dakota and we decided to visit one that was different than anything else we had done on this trip. The Wind Cave National Park looked very similar on the outside to the plains landscape but the uniqueness of the area is of course underground. There are supposed to be some bison above ground, which we did not see but already had our fill, so we weren't disappointed. A ranger lead a group of about twenty through the underground caverns along a lighted path for a little over an hour. Quinn liked it the best, especially when all the lights got turned off for a moment and it was without doubt the darkest place I have ever been.
While the kids worked on their second ranger badge of the day, I spoke with another ranger. He told me the park is usually much busier but the bikers keep average vacationers away, and although there was plenty of chrome sparkling in the sunlight, most bikers did not travel this way. Sadly, he also informed me that he heard there had already been eight deaths on the road that week. It was Thursday. We were outta there.
Really we had to head back north to get to Route 90 and head east and when I didn't see two wheels go flying past us, I was treated to billboards directing us toward Wall Drug. I had to stop the bus at this famous armpit, I mean road side attraction as we were heading to the Black Hills National Park off the same exit. Bikers lined the road and tacky trinkets filled the store but since we stopped we got the kids ice cream and headed toward the park before I bought a crazy tiger 3D placemat or fuzzy key chain.
Our third park of the day and of course we got junior ranger program stuff as we entered the park. We only made a couple stops along the twenty four mile drive to the east side of the park. Bikers filled up most of the scenic spots so we pushed on in order to complete the ranger requirements before the visitor center closed. We were determined for Maggie and Quinn to get that third badge of the day, and their last of the trip.
It was hard to pass up not walking into the multi-colored hills after the kids were sworn in, but it was six and we had no place to sleep and wanted to get as far East as possible. At this point, we knew we were really done with adventure for this trip. Sure, there are probably some adventures left on our journey home but not ones that we will be actively seeking.
After a crappy dinner at Taco John's, yes Taco John's. Not Taco Bell nor Papa John's Pizza, but Taco John's of which we had seen many and finally broke down to try somewhere in the middle of South Dakota. We decided to pull into a rest area for the night as lightning was flashing in the sky and we had just lost an hour crossing into a new time zone. One would think a rest area in the middle of South Dakota would be rather quiet, but between diesel engines running in the lot, Harleys traveling either to or away from Sturgis all night, it was a really awful night of sleep. We were a little bummed to be staying there hoping for at least one good night of star gazing away from lights, but there were once again too many clouds.
At one point in the night, I was woken by some extremely loud squealing noises and was afraid some unknown beast was dismembering a trucker. I had been warned back in Washington that bigfoot still exists but no one ever told me about the Dakota Demon. It wasn't until the morning when I saw in a nearby trailer a number of hogs, not the ones with chromes, probably taking their final ride of their lives. Either they were screaming in fear that night or just having a really good time before they become chops or bacon.
We did have a destination in mind that morning, not one very adventurous but one we promised the kids. Mo had read them all the Little House on the Prairie books and we found out one of the towns she lived in has recreated some of the structures and elements of living on the prairie back in 1880. A little out of our way but easy driving and we got to DeSemet before the crowds. Well not really crowds but with a small staff and slow moving activities such as riding a wagon, washing clothes, attending a one room school house and making a corn cob doll, we were glad not to have to sit and wait our turn at any activity. The kids knew the stories all really well and Maggie got the biggest kick of all and we concluded that if she ever has trouble finding a job she can always move to South Dakota to work at this recreated homestead.
Although that stop took up a few hours of the day, the rest of it was spent riding in the bus. Our sights were set upon making it to Wisconsin as Mo has a friend in Madison who agreed to let us park in his driveway for the night. I allowed Mo to do most of the driving as I was pretty spent and navigating was easy, get back to route 90 and head east. Mo's friend, Mike Turner and his girlfriend Nichole were already hosting some friends for the night to attend a beer festival the next day.
We arrived in Madison after dark, and after a late lunch/early dinner stop in Minnesota. Another new state for me and the kids and happy to add Wisconsin to the list as well. I was a little worried about blue laws when we arrived in Madison, and when we stopped at a convenience store just after nine, I was bummed to find locks on the beer coolers. UGH! It took a little effort to find Mike's house as few houses had numbers in a dark neighborhood. Very safe one indeed, and Mo was a little worried someone might actually call the police on us, driving around and stopping and leering at houses. We took a chance that we had the right house, knowing Mike and guests were all out for the night,and we opened the door after knocking and were met by two black labs. Very friendly, but one promptly threw up on just after I found a magazine on the floor with Mike's address on it. We called Mike to let him know we arrived and he told us to help ourselves to beer in the fridge and just do our best to clean up after his dog who was prone to regurgitate.
In the morning we all met up back inside after a very good night sleep in the driveway. No Madison Monsters to wake me in the night. One of Mike's guests, Emily, was very jealous that Maggie got to Desmet as she was, and still is a huge Laura Ingalls fan. We had a nice breakfast out with Mike, who so sweetly gave our kids a couple of books and it was hard to get Maggie to eat as she was ingesting more words than calories. We dropped Mike off close to downtown and headed to the Chicago area to meet up with more of Mo's friends.
I have been very surprised to enter a new state and find that it is really different than the previous one You'd think that the lines on the map were just lines but to see different and greater power lines along the Illinois highways meant that now Wisconsin was just also a memory of our journey.
Sweetly Mo's friend Bridget O'Meara hosted us for lunch at her house in a suburb outside of Chicago. Her husband Brian and three boys were all very sweet to us although I had to spend more time defending Tom Brady. We were also joined by another of Mo's friends who lives just a couple blocks away, Ann Connally and her husband Mike and their son Rory. We stayed only a couple of hours but were very anxious to get back on the road as Indiana was only a few hours away.
Yup, just a few hours later we were in Indianapolis as we were lucky with traffic around Chicago and were constantly on the move eastward. It felt so relieving to pull the bus into my in-laws driveway knowing that I had a bed waiting for us and did not need to drive again for a number of days.
As I said earlier, I will talk more later on reflection and thoughts of this trip. Right now we are all happy to be with family here in Indiana. Of course that means that I have to defend Tom Brady's honor more than ever, but Maggie seems much more passionate than I in defense. We are still all family and this is still all one country and it is amazing that we can all live in peace and our only squabbles are about things ridiculous as air pressure in a football. God Bless America.
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