Friday, July 20, 2007
Corn and sleep
This morning we visited the Mitchell Corn Palace, a big auditorium in downtown Mitchell, SD with murals covering all of the walls inside and out, and all of the murals are made out of corn. Pretty cool. And they love dogs there. After that we went to the Enchanted World Doll Museum (totally crazy) across the street, and they loved the shit out of me there. I could really be happy in South Dakota.
After we left Mitchell, not much happened. T&T finally made me spot in the back seat where I could spread out and really relax, which I did as we drove through the rest of South Dakota and the entirety of southern Minnesota. Not much going on there, mostly corn. Corn and sleep.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
South Dakota totally kicks ass
Today we took one last train ride around Bedrock and said goodbye to the Flintstones. I hope they'll keep in touch.
We finally got to see Mt. Rushmore. Pretty cool, I guess. After that we drove a couple of hours to Wall, SD. That’s when things got interesting. There’s a place there called Wall Drug. They’ve got giant rabbits, buffalo, more jackalopes (!), cowboys, indians, old-timey prostitutes, a gorilla playing a piano, another Mt. Rushmore (better than the other one), and free ice water. Pretty much everything you’d want. Across the street was the Wild West Wax Museum, and unlike the National Presidential Wax Museum, this one welcomed dogs. Not really sure what was going on in there, but I was proud to be a part of it.
After going to see a big statue of a dinosaur, we drove into Badlands National Park, or, as I call it, Bad-ass-lands National Park. It was like being on Mars. You should go there.
We drove a few more hours to Mitchell, SD. We were going to see something called the Corn Palace, but we got there too late, so we checked into a Best Western and kicked back. It was a great day. South Dakota totally kicks ass.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
You know what they say about the weather
So last night a huge storm came through while we were camping. T&T said it was the craziest storm they’d ever been in that wasn’t a hurricane. I’ve never really been in a storm before at all – we didn’t really have them in Oakland. Know this: I don’t like it.
By morning it was all clear. Trevor got up early and dried our stuff out (sort of, he didn’t do a very good job) and made some breakfast. The bacon was excellent as usual.
Our plan for the day was to drive to the National Presidential Wax Museum in Keystone and then go check out Mt. Rushmore. When we got to the wax museum they said that I couldn’t go in because I was a dog, so Trevor went in by himself and I waited in the car with Tonya.
By the time he got out it was raining again. We drove toward Mt. Rushmore, hoping it would let up. It didn’t. It started raining harder, then hailing. T&T, geniuses that they are, left the flaps open on the tent, so we started back to the Flintstones’ to try to beat the storm from soaking all of our stuff. We did it, thankfully. We rode out the storm in the Flintstones’ movie theater.
When it stopped raining we went back to camp. T&T made dinner and did some laundry, but I stayed in the tent, just in case. You know what they say about the weather.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
I am having a gay old time
Last night we stayed in Hot Springs, SD, in a motel next to a river that runs through the middle of town. We had a nice walk in the morning, then moved on.
By about 11 in the morning we’d arrived at our destination, a campground operated by a family called the Flintstones. Nice people. We set up camp, then drove up to the Crazy Horse Monument. While we were there we saw guys in feathers and bells having some kind of dance party. Good times.
We went back to the Flintstones’ and checked out their little town for a while. Everybody there lives in concrete houses. And they all walk around barefoot. Hippies, I guess. Good people regardless. There was an old man driving a train around and I got to ride it.
I couldn’t be happier here. The Flintstones have really made us feel at home. I am having a gay old time.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Thanks, Nebraska. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
After a few days in Denver I’d kind of made myself at home, so it was a shock to the system when we packed up again this morning and got back in the car. We had breakfast at Davie’s Chuck Wagon Diner, then drove up to the top of Lookout Mountain to visit the grave of Buffalo Bill. No idea who that is.
We drove back through Denver for a bit of thrift store shopping and then got back on I-25 toward Cheyenne, WY. In Cheyenne we took a right and headed into Nebraska. We stopped in at the Nebraska Welcome Station, and the guy there “welcomed” me by making me get off the grass. Not a great first impression, Nebraska.
We were going to camp at this place called the Pioneer Something Something in Nebraska, but when we got there we realized that it was kind of a shithole, so we moved on. We stopped at a rest area soon thereafter because Tonya had to go to the bathroom. She went in to the ladies room, then came running out screaming. There was a big snake in there. Hilarious.
A little further up the road we discovered Carhenge, which is exactly what it sounds like, Stonehenge made out of cars. Pretty sweet. Having been pretty much living out of a car for the past week, the magic of Carhenge was particularly effective. I could really feel the power.
But Carhenge wasn’t enough to keep us in Nebraska. Not much going on there -- lots of corn, and then a bunch of nothing, and then corn again. We drove into South Dakota and never looked back. Thanks, Nebraska. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
I'm beginning to suspect that this whole trip
is an enormous con
Pretty much all I've done since we got to Denver is sit around Steve's apartment. T&T have been out having a great time and I'm stuck here. We went to another park today -- big deal, it wasn't even that cool. They all went to Lakeside Amusement Park later on and came back talking about how sweet it was. Yeah, I bet -- thanks a lot, jerk.
I'm beginning to suspect that this whole trip is an enormous con.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
We are riding toward a golden city on the horizon
It was a big day for T&T, and a lazy day for me. They went to the wedding of our friend Mary K, who we know from San Francisco. Our friends Brian and Denise Notz and their girls were there. It sounded lovely. They came home and we went to the park and ran around for a while, which was awesome as usual. Then Steve and T&T went to Casa Bonita, which from what I can tell is some kind of magic castle with a waterfall in it, and also a Mexican restaurant.
I spent the day relaxing in Steve’s sweet bachelor pad. I considered our adventures so far – we’re one week in. What else awaits me down the road? What strange creatures will I encounter? I drifted off to sleep …
Suddenly I find myself riding a flying unicorn over a rainbow. A jackalope army marches below me across the wide-open prarie. I slowly come to understand that I am their leader. We are riding toward a golden city on the horizon.
