When I woke up this morning, it sounded at first like it was raining. And, I wasn't feeling too good; the pulled pork sandwich from Piggy's was apparently a bad idea for someone who works in a kosher food pantry. So, we hung out for a while at the hotel since the water parks didn't open until 10, I took some drugs & we waited to see how my stomach was going to be. After 30-45 minutes, I was feeling better, so we decided to go for it. There are lots of water parks here, some inside & some outside. We decided that as long as we were going to go, we'd chance the gray skies & go to an outdoor park. We decided on one called Noah's Ark.
It's still off-season & it was cloudy, so the park was almost empty. This was a good thing. We didn't have to wait at all on most of the slides, and Lacey only had to wait a little bit on the few that I refused to go on. The ones we did early on were good, but then, we went into some 4D movie which was lame, and it periodically shook the seats & blew wind & water at us. It was rather unpleasant & all it accomplished was making us cold. We really wished it had been warmer -- or at least sunny -- outside.
After that, I was really cold, so we went back to the chairs where we'd left our stuff so I could wrap up for a bit. (Lacey went to the wave pool so she didn't dry off too much while I was warming up.) We then went on a few more rides -- a couple of which I fell off of at the end, & my knee got scraped up pretty badly.Still, Lacey convinced me to go on 3 more slides, & I kind of grudgingly went along. (I was really tired of walking all those stairs!)
After our really fun day, we decided to drive, taking the scenic route while it was light out. We stopped at a little cheese store because I wanted to find out what these cheese curds that are so famous are. Frankly, we couldn't see what all the excitement's about; the cheese is good, but curds seem to be basically what happens when I freeze a brick of cheese & then take it out & defrost it & it crumbles as I start to cut it.
Tomorrow will be a long day of driving back to Michigan. We're going to go through the Upper Peninsula & see if there's anything worth stopping for along the way.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
So much to do, so little time
THURSDAY
Busy, busy day. We got up early again and headed to Mt. Rushmore, going through some really neat old towns. Mt. Rushmore is a national park-type place, but we couldn't use the annual pass that Lacey got because the $11 fee was for parking, not park admission, and apparently, that's a separate kind of thing that they're allowed to get away with. We sighed and paid it, trying to convince ourselves that vacation money is not the same as real money.
The carvings on the mountain were impressive. You can even see the difference in the eyes & expressions of the presidents. There was a rather extensive exhibit inside that explained how the sculptor wanted to capture different things about each president to display on the sculptures. (I will admit that I only quickly skimmed them.) The also had videos where some of the workers talked about their experience. It was hard, grueling work, and they had to walk 700 stairs to the top -- on their own time and before 7:00 am!
After Mt. Rushmore, we went to the Wind Cave national park. Again, the annual pass did us no good; there wasn't admission to the area, but there was a fee to go on the cave tour. So far, we're not impressed by having the annual pass.
However, the caves were really cool. Having absolutely no confidence in my physical abilities, I was a bit nervous about it, as they described it as moderately strenuous. It actually wasn't too bad, although some of the steps were steep & uneven. I was very glad for handrails, as they'd made a point of telling us not to touch the walls of the cave.
This was the first cave I've been in, but apparently it's different from most; Lacey's been to caves before and said that they're usually rather damp, but this one had almost no moisture at all, except in one area. I've since forgotten the reason for that.
We were both rather amused that, at no point during the tour, did I ever have to duck. It was one of the very few and far between times when being short worked to my advantage.
After we left the cave, we realized that we really needed to put some effort into actually travelling. So, we got on the road and decided to take the long, scenic route through the Badlands. There was almost nobody out there (we probably passed less than a dozen cars!) but the scenery was beautiful. And at one point, I commented that the road we turned onto looked like a Microsoft Windows wallpaper scene, with just the perfect background and colors. We got out a couple times just to take pictures and admire the incredibly amazing area that we were in.
Lacey wanted to go to a town called Wall, SD. She said that "everyone" has heard of it & was surprised that I hadn't. http://walldrug.com/ Wall Drug's claim to fame is that a young couple, Ted & Dorothy moved to the desolate little town & bought a drug store in December, 1931. They got very little business. One hot summer day, Dorothy got the idea to give free ice water to travelers who were passing through the Badlands & their store. She got Ted to post signs on the road -- Burma Shave style, with little sayings and so forth on each one -- about the free ice water, and the number of miles it was to the store. Word spread about that, and it became the place to stop. Eventually, business in their tiny store started to boom, and people started placing signs of their own saying how far it was from random places to Wall Drug. These signs are apparently all over the world, as soldiers had them overseas!
Because of Wall Drug, Wall has become a rather tacky tourist area, but fun. As we overheard a man say as we walked in, "This is kitsch hell!" And, it kind is. There are all kinds of different shops that sell all kinds of junk -- mostly souvenirs and so forth, but there is also a sizeable drug store. We were commenting that we couldn't imagine how any of the stores across the street stay in business, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're all owned by the same people.
FRIDAY
Once again, we got up very early. It took me a very, very long time to wake up & I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going. Lacey had a plan but she said it was a surprise. Well, she took me to the corn palace! http://cornpalace.org/ It really is an amazing place; every year, they plant different varieties of corn and use it to make mosaic murals on the outside of the building. Birds can and do come by to eat it. Inside, there are more murals and pictures of of previous murals. I think my favorite one was the replica of Mt. Rushmore -- mostly because we'd just seen the real thing.
After that, we decided that we really just needed to make some time, so we spent the day driving through the rest of South Dakota, through a bit of Minnesota and into Wisconsin. The plan for tomorrow is to go to the Wisconsin Dells & spend some time at a water park before heading to northern Michigan.
Busy, busy day. We got up early again and headed to Mt. Rushmore, going through some really neat old towns. Mt. Rushmore is a national park-type place, but we couldn't use the annual pass that Lacey got because the $11 fee was for parking, not park admission, and apparently, that's a separate kind of thing that they're allowed to get away with. We sighed and paid it, trying to convince ourselves that vacation money is not the same as real money.
The carvings on the mountain were impressive. You can even see the difference in the eyes & expressions of the presidents. There was a rather extensive exhibit inside that explained how the sculptor wanted to capture different things about each president to display on the sculptures. (I will admit that I only quickly skimmed them.) The also had videos where some of the workers talked about their experience. It was hard, grueling work, and they had to walk 700 stairs to the top -- on their own time and before 7:00 am!
After Mt. Rushmore, we went to the Wind Cave national park. Again, the annual pass did us no good; there wasn't admission to the area, but there was a fee to go on the cave tour. So far, we're not impressed by having the annual pass.
However, the caves were really cool. Having absolutely no confidence in my physical abilities, I was a bit nervous about it, as they described it as moderately strenuous. It actually wasn't too bad, although some of the steps were steep & uneven. I was very glad for handrails, as they'd made a point of telling us not to touch the walls of the cave.
This was the first cave I've been in, but apparently it's different from most; Lacey's been to caves before and said that they're usually rather damp, but this one had almost no moisture at all, except in one area. I've since forgotten the reason for that.
We were both rather amused that, at no point during the tour, did I ever have to duck. It was one of the very few and far between times when being short worked to my advantage.
After we left the cave, we realized that we really needed to put some effort into actually travelling. So, we got on the road and decided to take the long, scenic route through the Badlands. There was almost nobody out there (we probably passed less than a dozen cars!) but the scenery was beautiful. And at one point, I commented that the road we turned onto looked like a Microsoft Windows wallpaper scene, with just the perfect background and colors. We got out a couple times just to take pictures and admire the incredibly amazing area that we were in.
Lacey wanted to go to a town called Wall, SD. She said that "everyone" has heard of it & was surprised that I hadn't. http://walldrug.com/ Wall Drug's claim to fame is that a young couple, Ted & Dorothy moved to the desolate little town & bought a drug store in December, 1931. They got very little business. One hot summer day, Dorothy got the idea to give free ice water to travelers who were passing through the Badlands & their store. She got Ted to post signs on the road -- Burma Shave style, with little sayings and so forth on each one -- about the free ice water, and the number of miles it was to the store. Word spread about that, and it became the place to stop. Eventually, business in their tiny store started to boom, and people started placing signs of their own saying how far it was from random places to Wall Drug. These signs are apparently all over the world, as soldiers had them overseas!
Because of Wall Drug, Wall has become a rather tacky tourist area, but fun. As we overheard a man say as we walked in, "This is kitsch hell!" And, it kind is. There are all kinds of different shops that sell all kinds of junk -- mostly souvenirs and so forth, but there is also a sizeable drug store. We were commenting that we couldn't imagine how any of the stores across the street stay in business, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're all owned by the same people.
FRIDAY
Once again, we got up very early. It took me a very, very long time to wake up & I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going. Lacey had a plan but she said it was a surprise. Well, she took me to the corn palace! http://cornpalace.org/ It really is an amazing place; every year, they plant different varieties of corn and use it to make mosaic murals on the outside of the building. Birds can and do come by to eat it. Inside, there are more murals and pictures of of previous murals. I think my favorite one was the replica of Mt. Rushmore -- mostly because we'd just seen the real thing.
After that, we decided that we really just needed to make some time, so we spent the day driving through the rest of South Dakota, through a bit of Minnesota and into Wisconsin. The plan for tomorrow is to go to the Wisconsin Dells & spend some time at a water park before heading to northern Michigan.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Revisiting the past
Well, when Lacey says she wants to get an early start, she MEANS it! Lol. We were up and out of the hotel by 5:30 AM. Unfortunately, the office wasn't open and there was no dropbox for the keys, so we had to slide the key cards under the door. I'd kept my envelope so I was able to write a little note on the outside.
We drove for about 2 hours and then stopped for gas and breakfast. There was a 4 Bs restaurant, which brought back memories of when we were in Montana when I was a kid and our car broke down in Butte. We had to stay at the Rose Motel and the only restaurant within walking distance was the 4 Bs. I told Lacey that story, so we decided to eat there. It was ok, and obviously not the exact same restaurant, but it was good for a nostalgic stop.
We then headed to another place I'd seen as a kid: Medora, ND. I don't remember the town at all from then, but we drove around it and it was really cute. They had all kinds of little stores and restaurants. But, we were in search of sandwiches to take out to the park area so we could eat outside. We found a little store that had a make your own sandwich bar, which turned out to be really good & just what we wanted. We headed back to the car and went to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The drive around it was just beautiful & not at all what I remembered. (Of course, all I really remembered was the patriotic show & poodles dressed in costumes.) We took a short but steep walk up some rocks and had a most beautiful view by which to eat our lunch.
As we were driving around the park after our little hike, we saw a couple herds of wild horses. The first group ran, then stopped and seemed to split into 2 groups. They turned, stopped and look up the hill. After a few minutes, those groups ran off. Then, another group of horses came from where the first one had come from. It was so cool to see so many horses just running free!
We continued on but had to stop....because there was a BUFFALO in the road! We weren't sure of what to do, so we sat and waited for it to do something. And it did: it rolled over like it was scratching its back, but then got up again. And stood. And stood. And stood. And we still waited. Another car pulled up behind us and also saw it and also waited. And then a motorcycle came along as well. Finally, a 4th, braver car came and we all made a little parade & drove slowly past the buffalo and down the hills....til we were stopped by a park ranger who told us that a pilot car would be by in 15 minutes to lead us the rest of the way. (They were doing major construction in the park.) It was closer to 20 or 25 minutes, and we were getting antsy to get going, as we were way behind schedule since we'd stayed in Billings instead of getting started.
Lacey wanted to go to Sturgis, which is the place that all the motorcycle afficionados gather for summer festivities. We weren't sure how far we were going to go tonight, but when Lacey got tired of driving, I said that I could drive & we decided to continue on to Sturgis tonight instead of heading there in the morning.
We drove around the cute little town and ended up at a kind of biker bar that claims that it's known for its steak tips. So, Lacey had the steak tip dinner & I had a steak tips salad. The steak was ok, but too peppery for her & too salty for me. I guess "world famous" doesn't necessarily mean "world's best". Lol.
We drove for about 2 hours and then stopped for gas and breakfast. There was a 4 Bs restaurant, which brought back memories of when we were in Montana when I was a kid and our car broke down in Butte. We had to stay at the Rose Motel and the only restaurant within walking distance was the 4 Bs. I told Lacey that story, so we decided to eat there. It was ok, and obviously not the exact same restaurant, but it was good for a nostalgic stop.
We then headed to another place I'd seen as a kid: Medora, ND. I don't remember the town at all from then, but we drove around it and it was really cute. They had all kinds of little stores and restaurants. But, we were in search of sandwiches to take out to the park area so we could eat outside. We found a little store that had a make your own sandwich bar, which turned out to be really good & just what we wanted. We headed back to the car and went to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The drive around it was just beautiful & not at all what I remembered. (Of course, all I really remembered was the patriotic show & poodles dressed in costumes.) We took a short but steep walk up some rocks and had a most beautiful view by which to eat our lunch.
As we were driving around the park after our little hike, we saw a couple herds of wild horses. The first group ran, then stopped and seemed to split into 2 groups. They turned, stopped and look up the hill. After a few minutes, those groups ran off. Then, another group of horses came from where the first one had come from. It was so cool to see so many horses just running free!
We continued on but had to stop....because there was a BUFFALO in the road! We weren't sure of what to do, so we sat and waited for it to do something. And it did: it rolled over like it was scratching its back, but then got up again. And stood. And stood. And stood. And we still waited. Another car pulled up behind us and also saw it and also waited. And then a motorcycle came along as well. Finally, a 4th, braver car came and we all made a little parade & drove slowly past the buffalo and down the hills....til we were stopped by a park ranger who told us that a pilot car would be by in 15 minutes to lead us the rest of the way. (They were doing major construction in the park.) It was closer to 20 or 25 minutes, and we were getting antsy to get going, as we were way behind schedule since we'd stayed in Billings instead of getting started.
Lacey wanted to go to Sturgis, which is the place that all the motorcycle afficionados gather for summer festivities. We weren't sure how far we were going to go tonight, but when Lacey got tired of driving, I said that I could drive & we decided to continue on to Sturgis tonight instead of heading there in the morning.
We drove around the cute little town and ended up at a kind of biker bar that claims that it's known for its steak tips. So, Lacey had the steak tip dinner & I had a steak tips salad. The steak was ok, but too peppery for her & too salty for me. I guess "world famous" doesn't necessarily mean "world's best". Lol.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
In March, Lacey asked me to go along with her on another road trip. I was really excited; since our first one was so much fun, I'd been hoping that we'd get to do a trip like that again.
This time, the plan was for me to fly out to Montana and for her to meet me there, and we would head East.
The flights were pretty easy. I was smart enough to buy a carry-on size suitcase so that I didn't have to pay the stupid $25 baggage fee. However, I was NOT smart enough to pack light. I don't know why I always feel the need to take everything I might possibly want with me. My bag was pretty heavy and the overhead bins are pretty high for a person my height. I did manage to get it in by myself on the first flight, but, my kind fellow passengers helped me get it down from that flight & put it in & back down again on my 2nd flight.
I had my beloved window seat from MI to MN, and there was even an empty space between me & the other person in my row. It was a very quiet flight -- not much talking at all. And we actually arrived in MN a few minutes early.
The MN airport (the
new part, anyhow) is lovely. There was a cafe that had i-PAD-like things
where you can enter your flight info & it lets you know the status
of the flight & then goes to a menu. I didn't eat there, but it
looked neat. After walking out of that area, you walk into a lovely
marketplace that has all kinds of things like a salad bar, frozen yogurt
bar, produce stand & some other restaurants. I wasn't hungry,
though, so I didn't partake.
The
Billings airport, however, looks like something out
of a sitcom. The whole thing might be as big as a couple of the moving
sidewalk areas in Detroit. Maybe. It's tiny. I was sitting in the one
cafeteria place (didn't smell so good) overlooking the security area--
where they had 9 TSA agents for 1 passenger. This is apparently not a
popular airport. Kind of like the old "Wings" show, except that larger
airlines fly here.
That flight was on time as well, and I arrived in Billings at 12:30. But unfortunately, the radiator in Lacey's car cracked, so she took it to a shop
before 9 this morning & they said they'd have it done around 5, but it's a 2 hour drive from where she was to the airport, so she suggested I get a
shuttle to a hotel
& she'd meet me here.
I was a little out of sorts due to lack of sleep, so I didn't explore the options; I just took the first website that Lacey gave me. I called them, (yay! my phone worked out of state! But I'm not looking forward to the bill for that) and they said that they had a room & could have the shuttle there within 15 minutes
of when I made the reservation. As I slowed down and thought about it, I decided that that plan was actually better than the original one of her picking me up at the airport & driving 4 hours to the first planned stop because, as it turned out, I was really tired.
Lacey finally made it there around 8. I hadn't eaten much (just a pb&j sandwich, and late in the day, the cookies & pretzels from the airplane), so I really wanted to eat when she got there. We asked the desk people about restaurants, and headed where they said. Well, EVERYTHING was closed. Many things closed by 8, but some -- including the Wendy's -- closed at 4. We walked around a lot but couldn't find a single place open. When we got back to the hotel, the desk people asked us if we enjoyed dinner. We told them that nothing was open and they were very surprised. Then, someone else there told us about a Denny's, a bit further down and to the left of where we were. Thankfully, they were, indeed, open -- and there were also a few fast food places there as well. The food wasn't great, but it was there, and it was cheap -- $6 for BOTH of us!
We walked back to the hotel and went back to our room, exhausted but excited. We kept talking about how we needed to go to sleep so we could get a VERY early start. But, of course, we ended up talking until sleep overtook us. Well, it overtook Lacey first. Took a while to visit me.
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