Stage Four: Rapid City, South Dakota

Depart: Residence in by Marriott, Fort Collins, Colorado

Arrive: Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Rapid City, South Dakota

Miles Traveled: 355.2

The scenery may not been as breathtaking as driving through the Rockies, but there is a lot to be said for the nice, flat, four-lane (i.e. two in each direction) highways of the plains. Indeed the most noteworthy moment of the drive occurred while we stopped to pick up refreshments (no sense in courting trouble by not feeding Christine).

While traversing Wyoming (Dick Cheyney country) we stopped at a store off Route 25. We placed our items on the counter. Christine pulled out money to pay at which point the clerk, a man in his mid-thirties, turned to me and said "what, you're not paying?"

I told him simply that I was driving (the inference being that Christine should pay given all the work I was doing) to which he responded "I can't get used to all these new gender roles."

Women paying for diet coke and Twizzlers ~ what has happened to the America we all used to know?

In planning this part of the trip Christine and I decided to visit Mt. Rushmore before going to the hotel, thereby allowing us the opportunity to remain out of the car, and by the pool, for the majority of our one full day in Rapid City, and it was a plan that worked out very well for all concerned.

The visit to Mt. Rushmore was wonderful; though despite standing as close as we did to the the carved images they simply did not seem real. Despite having allowed the battery on my camera to die (a problem that I was able to rectify since I had the charger with me, and there was an electrical outlet near the men's room by the bookstore) I was able to capture some nice, if not creative, images. Here are a few:




We arrived in Rapid City without further controversy, and checked-in to the hotel which, as many of you have already heard, is attached to the largest indoor water park in the Dakotas. Christine theorized that it might be the only indoor water park in the Dakotas, but as we were heading out to dinner Monday evening (we went upscale ~ TGIF) we saw two other hotels that also featured indoor water parks; albeit embarrassingly small compared to "ours."

(One other item worth mentioning ~ the GPS stopped working shortly after our arrival at the hotel. It was the longest ninety minutes I have had in quite awhile, during which time thoughts of having the car shipped home and booking a flight from the Rapid City airport to John Wayne Airport received serious consideration, at least momentarily. Once it came back to life ~ we are assuming that the battery had run out ~ the sense of relief we all felt (with Christine and the kids relieved that a major meltdown on my part had been averted) was palpable).

Christine, Joseph, and I spent several hours in or near the water on Monday (actually Christine and Joseph spent the better part of seven hours there), while Erin ~ thanks to her Mother's heroics earlier in the trip, stayed in the room to text her friends, watch television, and read the novel "Willow." What fifteen year-old wouldn't want to do that especially when they could have the hotel suite to themselves?

Tuesday we hit the road again. This time we have a stop at Devils Tower (fans of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" may find it familiar), and then on to Billings, Montana and a long overdue to visit to Little Bighorn.

Thank you for keeping tabs on us, and your comments are always appreciated!