Saturday, May 26, 2012

Recently, we excepted an invite from our good friends Bob and Noreen to head to the Black Hills and stay at a vacation home near Mt. Rushmore that belongs to some friends of theirs who live abroad. The owners had expressed the wish that the cabin be used, and we were happy to oblige.   As these things evolve, we soon had plans to extend the trip to Denver and visit friends and family there.  Originally, David was hoping to grab an opportunity to have another motorcycle trip, but eventually we decided that weather was going to be too unpredictable and the amount of stuff we were taking precluded that possibility. 

Some trips just fall together and this one fell together so quickly and easily that you know you have to do it. So here we are on the road, but I can already tell this trip is going to be completely different, as well it should be, or else why would you want to go?  What I loved about taking the motorcycle, was that you literally are in the environment you are traveling through: no safe and insulating glass and metal structure separating you from the road and the wind and the view.  I love the relative 'quiet' of riding on the back of the bike, just watching the world go by, observing and thinking....or not thinking, just being.  Well, a car can not provide any of those sensations.  The car seems to be merely a means of getting somewhere and the motorcycle is 'somewhere' all the time. I expect I will learn a thing or two this time around from the road. 

Lake Okabena, Worthington, MN

Auspiciously, as with last time, we hit the road in a rainstorm, but unlike last time, the rain and gloom lasted all day, and we congratulated ourselves for the decision to take the car.  We headed south on 169 and SW on 60 to Worthington, MN where we stopped for a chilly, but dry, picnic lunch by Lake Okabena.  It's pretty windy in this part of Minnesota and this lake has been the site of National Wind Surfing competitions.  There are also a lot of giant windmills punctuating the landscape.

Porter Sculpture Park

We headed west on I 90 and about a half an hour past              
Sioux Falls near Montrose we stopped at Porter Sculpture 
Park. On our last trip through South Dakota I had spotted many of these enormous whimsical sculptures that dot the landscape along the road and so I really wanted to stop and check some of them out. From the freeway we spotted an enormous bull's head sculpture and signs for the park and pulled off to take a look.
The sculptor was there with his dog and told us that the ideas for the sculptures were all the dog's, he just builds them since the dog lacks opposable thumbs.  The bull's head is 60 feet tall and made of railroad tie plates.  There is a door set into the back of it so you can step inside and the light coming through the metal plates shines like stars in the night sky.  All the sculptures in the park reflect the artist's whimsical sense of humor and they are situated on a rolling grassy landscape with an extended view of the prairie giving them room to breathe  and affords the viewer the opportunity to get a little welcome exercise after a long stretch in the car.  A little fresh air and fresh art revive the spirit.

Al's Oasis, Chamberlain, SD

At Chamberlain we stopped at Al's Oasis for some dinner.
Noreen's father was an artist and had done some work at the Lewis and Clark rest stop here, and I wanted to stop and see it but failed to realize that it was on the east side of the river and and we had missed it.  Perhaps we'll see it when we return, but generally we take a different route home so I guess we have to save it for the next road trip.  
We decided to power through and drive all the way to Rapid City.  Sometimes, especially when the weather is iffy, it's best just to 'get there.' We drove through mist and fog all the way from Al's to Rapid City, arriving just as it was getting dark.  

A toast to Happy Trails

We had expected to camp at a KOA we stayed at on our last trip,
but decided the weather was a little too wet for camping, consequently we didn't have any hotel reservations. We stopped at the first hotel we came to and they told us that there was a a girl's state track meet and a fat tire bike competition going on, and of course the holiday weekend which had filled every available room in the city.  They thought the Cambria Suites across the way might have one room left so we drove over there and grabbed it.  It's a new facility so the rooms were very nice and we were happy to get it and not have to drive all over town.  We settled in and went down to the lobby to have a glass of wine to celebrate our first day on the road before turning in. 

Thought for the day:

An appropriate message for the day