Home, Home from the Range
The night’s storm died away, but that Tuesday morning afterwards began still cloudy and was the coolest of the extended holiday weekend. Fortunately, it wasn’t so cool that I changed my mind about visiting Evans Plunge Mineral Springs in Hot Springs. I entered the small town around 7:30 a.m. and was able to get enough of a Wi-fi signal from my phone to find the direct route to the facilities. My timing was perfect because there weren’t many people there. I actually had the sauna to myself for several minutes. There were also few swimmers using the indoor swimming pool as I approached. I again reminded myself as I slowly walked down the steps into the shallow end that it had been decades since I swam, and what my body could do then was not the same as where things stood now. Those words of warning faded as…
A Day in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Memorial Day started partly sunny and cooler after the heavy thunderstorms of the night before. The forecast was for more stormy weather; the question was whether it would come during the day or later in the evening. The down side of a mostly outdoors activity is that one is affected by weather conditions. Fortunately, the sun came out, and daylight hours warmed up enough where folks were able to shed their jackets by mid-morning. My niece and I went on this same bus tour ten years ago. I wanted to go again because I’d very much enjoyed the tour and appreciated not having to drive myself from one stop to another. The Fort Hays Mount Rushmore Sightseeing Tour began with breakfast of pancakes and sausage, wound through the mountainous roadways of the Black Hills from Mount Rushmore to Crazy Horse. Most of my pictures are, as usual, available on my…
Oh, the Rocks and the Mountains
Ten years ago, I decided to bypass the Badlands National Park. Bad decision, but fortunately, I had the opportunity to see it this time. The route along I-90 regularly passes by several South Dakota historical sites. I made a quick drive through of this one: I got off to an early Sunday morning start because I know popular national parks fill quickly, especially during holiday weekends. Although I had about a half tank of gas, I also had learned from past experience that stations were rarely available once one entered the park. So when I saw a sign reminding me of this, I decided to stop at the station and add more gas to RB’s tank. (BTW, gas prices are, not surprisingly, higher because of the station’s isolated location, so fill up beforehand.) For a second day, the weather was wonderful, cooler than yesterday, although I wasn’t sure it would…
… And We’re Off!
First of all, let me say that the weather was gorgeous! I’d been looking at the forecast all week, but I’ve been in the Midwest long enough now to not completely trust it to match up with reality. The reality, as it worked out, was even warmer than I expected for Memorial Day weekend, almost like the weather I’d expect at home. One of the things I appreciate about driving solo is that I can leave when I’m durn well ready to go and take as much sh** as I want without being concerned about handling it or paying extra for it. I didn’t say, however, there weren’t potential consequences to this. RB and I didn’t hit the road until early Saturday afternoon. The holiday weekend traffic was, unsurprisingly, rather heavy for Iowa and didn’t really lighten until we reached the South Dakota side of I-29. The timing worked because…