Letters from Base Camp 19
18th, 19th and 20th July
2007
Day 10 - Wednesday 18th
"Oh take me back to the Black Hills, the Black Hills of Dakotaaaa, to the something something country that I love la la la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
This had been such an amazing morning, driving through the Black Hills to Mount Rushmore. I think this is my favourite bit so far, (and we drove through the Rockies earlier, or something similar, we couldn't really work it out where they start and end!) but this was really spectacular, and unique. And in Deadwood there were cowboys wandering the streets with big guns when we drove back through. Put 'em up! It's a stick up! Aaaargh! Was, of course, a bit toursty, but it still had real charm a 'feel' to it.
We had this great little booklet all about North and South Dakota with loads of stories and facts, which I insisted on bugging Pete with the whole way as it made me sound intelligent. Like how and why Mount Rushmore came about (Did you know... It took 14 years to make and only cost a million dollars!), Crazy Horse (which is the new, even bigger, statue that's in progress. Did you know... all 4 heads of Mt. Rushmore fit inside Crazy Horse? Oh, you did. Ahem.), Wild Bill (Did you know... The only time he ever sat with his back to the door, he got shot in the back of the head! Now that's bad luck. Or a set up. The moral of that story is never give in to peer pressure!) & Calamity Jane (Did you know... The only time she was ever in a church was at her own funeral!). See, how interesting? ;)
We stopped off for breakfast on the way, at this great little authentic 50's diner. 'Boondock's Rock n Roll Diner'. More like a tiny tin trailer, with no air-con, just a fan and lots of flies. But we loved it cos it added to the feel of what it must have been like in the 50's! And there were loads of great pics and memorabilia all around. I had Frankie's foot-long hot dog (yes another one, yes I ate it all, and yes i'm getting quite fat!) and Pete had Marilyn Monroe. I won't elaborate, it spoils the illusion.
Today we've been through Aladdin, Deadwood, Spearfish, Custer, Bear Butte, Nemo, Rapid City, Owanka, Wasta, Wall Drugs, Kadoka, Okaton, Plankinton, and we stoppped In Mitchell for the night. Did you know... they wanted something to be famous for so they decided to put corn on the map! They even have a corn palace! Shame we couldn't stay longer and check that out. Oh, such a shame... moving on...
The best bit... we passed a sign today saying 'Abstinence Builds Character'. I really don't know what to say! Except, I expect there's a lot of very frustrated 'characters' in Dakota!
Day 11 - Thursday 19th
We drove for an hour through gorgeous corn fields, greenery and lakes, most both sides of the road (in many other places the landscape has been totally different on either side). Not completely natural maybe, but still beautiful. There were loads of Pelicans and Egrets everywhere. So pretty. We stopped to get a closer look. Was great to get to see a Pelican properly! (We had spotted a couple when we were on the boat at Alcatraz but couldn't get a proper look). Then we found, yet another, 50's diner, where we met a very friendly and funny waitress. I only managed to eat half a pancake! Shock horror! It was a big one tho ;)
We pass through Volga, Bruce and Badger. Just missing out on Epiphany and Roswell... would have been cool! We get to our first destination of the day, Lake Norden, where we find the Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame (more like 2 rooms of people we've never heard of!) but I still liked it cos it showed the passion people had for the game and what it means to such a small town to carry on the tradition. Was actually quite lovely. And we met a lovely woman, who was very friendly and enthusiastic about Pete's trip in the local Post Office :)
On the road again and we pass by Watertown, Summit, Peever, Hammer, New Effington, Sisseton, Victor, Great Bend, Hickson, Oxbow, Wild Rice!, Horace, Frontier and Prarie Rose (another good name for my first child!)
We stay in Fargo for the night, where we meet this great waiter at the nearby Greek/Italian place up the road. If I'm Grace (from Will & Grace) then he's my American version of Will! (I already have an English version aka. Davey Baby:) Made for a ve-ery funny and sarcastic (our kind of humour!) evening. Was a real laugh, great fun :)
Day 12 - Friday 20th
Lazy start to the day. Pootled round the local Mall, West Acres, where we found the 'Roger Maris Museum'. Which again, was just a room. But it was still lovely. Now, me not being a huge baseball fan, I had no idea who he was. But the thing about this trip is the more I learn about the sport and the players, the more into it I get. I can always appreciate an heroic person and he was just that. A very shy, reserved, unintentional hero, who, arguably, broke Babe Ruth's home-run record, and died very young. It actually brought a tear to my eye. Very moving.
After a lovely Cajun lunch Pete left me to do some well overdue shopping. Very wise! He knows not to come between a girl and a sale. I certainly made up for lost time! Bargains galore! The shop assistants are so lovely and helpful here, you don't have to carry all your stuff round with you and they even pass you stuff in the changing rooms. Luckily I only had a couple of hours or I could have got really carried away!
After a quick cat nap (man, shopping is tiring!) we head out to this evening's game. It's a Minor League game, The Moorhead Redhawks vs. Winnepeg Goldeyes, but the park is quite full, adding to the atmosphere. The Redhawks score 7 runs in the first inning, which was very exciting! But that was about it for the rest of the game. There were lots of games and entertainment through-out, lots with little kids and at one point all the staff had to dance to the 'Macarena'! Em-bar-ras-sing. Was funny to watch though! I had yet another yummy hot-dog and some infamous 'crackerjacks', which are my second favourite ball park treat :) The final score, 10-1 to the Redhawks. Yay!
An early-ish night as we're off to Mineapolis tomorrow woo hoo!
The great-tit signing out x |
