Black Hills Revisit
It's hard to believe that next summer marks the ten year anniversary of : //www.randyejones.com/GoinWest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my first big trip since I moved to Iowa "four score and seven years ago." So, instead of making the Utah national parks trip I missed last summer, I've decided to retrace most of the route one of my nieces and I took to the Black Hills of South Dakota.
My hope is not only once again to see Mt. Rushmore, which I'd finally been able to strike off my bucket list, and Crazy Horse--and find out how much closer it is to being finished, but to take RB into the Badlands National Park and to see what we can see at Devil's Tower. Plus, there's now a new site, a sculpture entitled, "Dignity," that I'm looking forward to seeing. Besides, who can drive through South Dakota and resist a stop by Wall Drug? I'm always on the lookout for a great cowboy hat. Since I only have a week, I'm not adding more until I actually know how much time I have to take it in. For now, all I know is that I want to return using a route different than I've taken before.This is route as it currently stands:
: //singin1.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/aaa-triptik-travel-planner-maps-directions-guides-and-discounts.jpg" alt="AAA TripTik Travel Planner Maps Directions Guides and Discounts" width="764" height="393" />
BTW, this still allows me another week later in 2018 to visit Utah. Crossing my fingers!Readying for the Road (1 Week to Go)
My preparations are well underway. The Red Barron will be serviced on Tuesday, I’m going to clean her trunk out today to lighten the load as much as possible and save some gas. I’m grateful to see the gas prices dropping. As of today, the local price is $3.36/gal, down over 50 cents from its high about a month ago. The last time I went on an extended driving vacation, the prices were near or above $4.00/gal.!! Looking at my gas receipts afterwards, I decided not to total them up because I really didn’t want to cry. Speaking of that July 2008 trip, I put up a Web page about it shortly after it was done. Want to see it? Like the man for whom Grinnell is named, we were Goin’ West. However, we went to see Mount Rushmore–something I’d wanted to do ever since seeing the movie North by…