Still Trippin'

Perhaps you’ve thought that I would spare you the details of the remainder of my road trip? No such luck. On the contrary, I’ve decided to post the memories at random, so that they spring upon one without warning.

Road Trip, Day Two

Location: Rapid City, South Dakota

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about the Rapid City area is that it is one of the rarest of places: a tourist Mecca that actually offers attractions of value. J and I launched our day at the IHOP (you KNOW you’re on vacation when you find yourself at an IHOP.) I have been led to believe (by the promotional materials found in the hotel room) that there is a downtown Rapid City that is filled with interesting culture and independent restaurants, but I have yet to see physical evidence of this claim.

Our first stop: The Reptile Gardens. My suggestion: GO THERE. This is an amazing place, despite what one would instinctively believe. Because it turned out to be so much more interesting than anticipated, we ended up spending much more time there than intended. Unfortunate, as it meant that we ended up at stop number two (Bear Country, USA) a trifle later than we might have liked. As you might have guessed, we were not consumed by bears. We did quite enjoy the Bear Country experience, although there was a ridiculously long delay as we sat in a long line of vehicles. As it turns out, drivers become even more inept when dealing with bears in the road than they are when dealing with other cars on the road.

We finally reached Mount Rushmore around noon. Here we took full advantage of our tourist status. After a lengthy tour, we proceeded to the cafeteria where we paid ridiculous amounts of money for such tasty items as Rushmore Water (no doubt a bottle of Aquafina with the label ripped off and replaced with a hasty rendition of the national monument in question.)

Perhaps the most interesting thing about our morning was this oddity: At two separate attractions, we accepted the offers of individuals offering their photo-taking services. In both situations, the aforementioned parties failed to capture the very large, very noticeable, and very-much-the-point-of-standing-there attractions directly behind us. (The first such occasion was in front of Maniac, the HUGE crocodile at Reptile Gardens. The second was at Mount Rushmore. How that gentleman could possible think that we wanted a picture of the two of us WITHOUT the monument behind us is beyond comprehension…)

Wyoming:

In order to reach Colorado, we drove through a corner of Wyoming. Did you know that Wyoming is the least populated state in the country? I think that’s enough said…




Colorado:

Ah, Colorado…. I quite, quite like it. And I quite like the residents of our target destination, as well... We arrived at the home of Scott and Anita late that evening, and were very well received. It had been quite a few hours of driving (many of them nearly coma-inducing…Wyoming…) but the end was well worth it. As late as it was, our adventures would have to be put off until the next day. I could make up all sorts of things to add a little adventure to this blog, but – in the spirit of honesty – I’ll confess that we actually ended up going to sleep with very little ado. More on the Colorado adventures later…

Reptile Gardens: http://www.reptile-gardens.com/