In The Black Hills

The pine forests and granite peaks of the Black Hills of South Dakota are rich with Old West history, and despite the breathtaking natural beauty it's impossible to ignore the legacy of greed when you visit. These hills used to be rich with gold and freely roamed by a large community of America's native people. Now Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore stand at odds, representing two very different versions of our shared American history. One side is told by the federal government, the other is remembered by the Lakota Nation. 

These photos are from a camping trip to Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. Though small (and man-made) this lake was truly an oasis in the vast grasslands of Wyoming and southwestern South Dakota. 

Camping = Roughing it

Well, not exactly!

This cup made the trip all of the way from this event last year. Remember?

One morning, we hiked a riverside trail into Sunday Gulch. The scenery was gorgeous and the air was fresh and filled with the scent of ponderosa pine trees. 

We drove to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial but didn't feel like paying entrance fees of $11 and $20, respectively. These are sculptures of mammoth proportions, and you don't exactly have to be up close and personal to see them and appreciate their scale. I don't have a picture of Crazy Horse, which is in the early stages of its construction, but to give you an idea of the scale and proportion: Mount Rushmore is 60 feet tall; the Crazy Horse Memorial will be 560 feet tall.

Weekend Getaway: The Badlands

I haven't yet mentioned on the blog that I'm officially living in Boulder now. In the past four weeks I've moved into a new apartment in a seriously convenient location and transitioned into working a new job.  It's been busy and exciting! I've put a lot of energy into filling the apartment with furniture, decking the walls with maps and artwork, and familiarizing myself with the neighborhood. I've also become part of a new team, sharing the vision of two endearingly quirky women and their stylish minions as we work together on a new boutique project.  

In the hustle and confusion of the move, the excitement of a new job, and the joy of living with my love, I lost weeks on end to non-stop action. Until last weekend, that is, when Marc and I roadtripped to South Dakota, of all places. 

We had four days not otherwise spoken for by work, climbing trips, and other obligations, and those four days were staring us down, demanding that we pick a new and interesting area to explore. Lots of ideas were thrown around, but in the end too many of them required a flight or would take us south into triple digit heat. The Black Hills and the Badlands beckoned. 

For two and a half days we car camped in Custer State Park in the Black Hills (post to come). On the third night, we drove further west to a small town called Wall. I'll say that although the Wall Drug Store draws lots of tourists, the main attraction of staying in Wall was its proximity to Badlands National Park.

The first (and only) thing we did in the park was the Badlands Loop, which takes you on an hour-long drive with plenty of stops for panoramic views, fossil replicas under glass, and poorly marked mini hiking trails. Peering out over the jagged and jutting formations in oppressive heat with the earth crumbling beneath our feet if we got too close to the edge - that was an experience that helped us to understand the term "Badlands," which comes from Native American and French names for the area, which translated describe the land as being bad to cross. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Music City

I wrote this months ago but never posted it. Tomorrow is Marc's birthday, which got me thinking about some of our adventures. Our first stop in the southeast immediately popped into my mind...
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Well, my road trip posts have been out of order but I'm finally getting around to posting about one of the first stops Marc and I made on the route from Philadelphia to Boulder. Here's a quick recap of our 12 Hours in Nashville, which really were a testament to how quickly and easily one can plan a trip on-the-go using the internet.

Using my iPhone, we were able to locate a hotel within our budget, decide on a restaurant for lunch, and learn the history of certain areas of downtown Nashville as we walked.

We arrived in Nashville around midday and checked into a hotel on Broadway. After lunch at Fido we drove downtown to enjoy the perfect Saturday afternoon. Nashville was full of life. We passed lots of musical street acts and heard live music bursting from every bar. We stopped in the park and shopped for cowboy boots (but didn't commit to any) before choosing a place to settle down. From our third-level balcony spot at the Whiskey Bent Saloon we could see a bike-and-beer tour taking off and a parade of wild costumes occasioned by a novelty 4K.

We ended the day at Zanies Comedy Club where Rob Schneider was performing. Rob is shorter in person than you'd expect - hence this funny anecdote that he opened with:

Rob was recognized by a group of older black women on the street one day. One of the ladies accosted him saying: "Hey, where do I know you from?" Rob replied that he was Rob Schneider, the actor, and she probably recognized him from one of his movies. She laughed and replied: "Uh-uh. Rob Schneider ain't no midget, baby."

The next morning it was on to Memphis bright and early.

In the Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods is a national natural landmark and public park outside of Colorado Springs. It is free and open to the public; visitors and local families alike come to walk on a gentle slope through gorgeous red sandstone formations up to 300 feet high. When I visited, I met a couple of friendly blue Western Scrub Jays, too.  

According to the park website, the name was given to the park in 1859 by two surveyors. One remarked that it would be "a capitol place for a beer garden," to which the other replied: "Beer Garden! Why it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." 

We're still waiting for the beer garden... 

Encounters with Wild Animals

Fearless or Reckless?

You decide.

An elk approaches our group on horseback...

My dad approaches bison in Yellowstone National Park...

I mistakenly assume that this is the baby bear and allow it to approach me... it's not. 

Meet Mama Brown Bear! When I noticed her cub, which was about the size of a labrador puppy, scaling a nearby tree, I held my breath and slowly... backed... away... 

These photos were taken in Yellowstone National Park and its environs. Of course we saw many more beautiful animals - animals by the flock and herd in one of the most majestic settings on Earth. These photos just demonstrate our close encounters with, uhh, nature. Not included: the snake I almost stepped on by the Yellowstone River. 

Before You Go Cross Country...

...There are 3 things you need to know. Learn them. Accept them. Move forward. 

1. You will lose things.   This can encompass many variations on loss: something is lost, or stolen, due to absentmindedness, forgetfulness, or relying on others. The quick fix: Keep copies, and don't bring anything you can't live without.

2. You will get lost.   And that's okay. Some of the best memories and funniest stories come from tales of getting lost. Organization is key, but that can only take you so far. Spontaneity is a big part of the excitement of travel.

3. You will get tired.   No matter how jazzed up you are about your trip, after several days - or maybe at some point every day - you will get tired. You are still excited about your trip, but that level of energy and excitement is unsustainable in the long run. As quickly as you may recognize this statement to be fact now, it is surprising how often people forget or choose not to plan "days off." Don't skip out on these days off. You won't just power through it and come out on top. If you skip the rest you need one day, it will come back later. And although you might be in the car most of the day, that still saps energy! The concentration needed to stay between two lines on a road, to avoid traffic and bad drivers... these things are mentally exhausting. Bottom line: There will come a time when you will need a vacation from your vacation. Plan for it.

So excited to be in Pisa!

RECAP

1. You will lose things. 
2. You will get lost. 
3. You will get tired. 

WHAT TO DO

1. Get organized. 
2. Stay organized. 
3. Plan days off. 

Dog Days of Summer

Why did I choose to spend the dog days of summer in hot and humid central Florida?

POOLS NEXT TO LAKES AT ROLLINS COLLEGE

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO

MARGARITAVILLE

SCRABBLE?

SPEEDBOATS

DOWNTOWN DISNEY

Oh, yeah... That's why. 

And apparently I got out in the nick of time (yesterday). To those in the path of Tropical Storm Isaac, my thoughts are with you. My heart goes out to my fellow Americans who are acutely aware of the devastation these natural disasters may bring. My thoughts are with you. For what it's worth. 

Memphis

BLUES CITY CAFE

After a three and a half hour drive from Nashville, our bodies were telling us that we needed food, hearty food, and quickly. Memphis answered with a half rack of ribs, fried catfish, french fries, cole slaw, baked beans, Texas toast, and chicken fingers with barbecue sauce. And then, that city decided to show off by giving us the whole meal, including our two sixteen-ounce beers, for around $30.

It was called the “Best Meal on Beale,” and I’d be scared if it wasn’t, because honestly, find food any better than this and I’d refuse to get in the car to Oklahoma City. We're talking about barbecue sauce so good I was dipping my fingers into it by the end. The fries were just a vehicle for the sauce. We're talking ribs that fall off the bone so easily a day-old baby could separate the meat from the bone with it’s chubby, newborn fingers. Really, the perfection of that barbecue made knives in general seem obsolete…

[Visit the Blues City Café at the corner of 2nd Street and Beale]

BEALE STREET

It was Elvis Week in Memphis, uh huh. This is a statue of the King on Beale Street. Ahh, Beale Street. That's a fun place. Only a 10 to 15 minute walk from our hotel (the Comfort Inn on Front Street, which I recommend) depending on whether we wanted to walk through town or along the Mississippi River.

The $5, 32 oz. beers on Beale! Marc was psyched. 

GIBSON GUITAR FACTORY TOUR

Gibson: American Made, World Played. The factory in Memphis is the third Gibson factory, the first being in Bozeman, Montana (acoustic guitars) and the second in Nashville (electric guitars, including the famous Les Paul model, and custom-made guitars). For $10, you can take a 45 minutes guided tour of the factory in Memphis, which was specifically designed to accommodate tours. We donned the mandatory safety goggles and entered the factory. 

Walking between the yellow lines on a sawdust-covered factory floor, we saw men sanding wooden guitar parts by hand, airbrush painters, wiring experts, and the sound check station. We saw Gibson guitars in every stage of assembly, which was especially interesting for the guitar-player and aspiring guitar-builder among us (Marc). I was just as fascinated, even though I am simply a music lover. 

After a great couple of days in Memphis, it was finally time to make a big push westward. In one day, we blew through Arkansas and the majority of Oklahoma. In Clinton we rested for the night before making the final leg of our journey, past mounds of rust red soil in east Oklahoma, through the northern handle of Texas and the northwest corner of New Mexico, before arriving in Colorado Springs on Day 5.

I'll leave you with a song by Fleet Foxes, a small part of our road trip playlist. 

"... to the Blue Ridge Mountains, over near Tennessee..."