The Western Trail: Sturgis or Bust! And the Road to Buffalo Bill

Day 6: Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

Aunt Anita and I woke up to a beautiful brisk morning, with wild turkeys and deer in the front yard, and much happier dispositions after a full night's sleep. There's something to be said for staying in one place for more than 8 hours. After breakfast and a kitchen remodel design session (on Aunt Anita's part), we decided it was time to hit the road. (Uncle Jim spoiled me by removing the bug guts from my windows before we left.)

First stop on today's agenda is Sturgis, SD. Sturgis is the home of an annual motorcycle rally that attracts motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world. I first learned about the rally from American Pickers, a television show about finding "rusty gold" pieces of history, cleaning them up, and reselling the treasures. The two main characters are Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, both of whom are motorcycle fans, and have taken me to Sturgis through a couple episodes of their show.

It was actually Aunt Anita's idea to make a stop in Sturgis as the rally was only a few days away, and there were sure to be vendors and participants there early to enjoy the festivities. The rally technically lasts one week and there are typically 500,000 extra people that flood the area to enjoy the week long party. Yesterday we definitely noticed an increase in the number of motorcyclists on the road, and as there's not too much traffic and lots of sites to see, I can definitely appreciate how nice of a ride it would be. We stopped at one of the t-shirt vendors for souvenirs and found out that some people ride into town while others ship their bike. It is slightly looked down upon to ship your bike, but I can imagine a ride from Florida on a motorcycle would get tiring after a while. Honestly, I felt a little out of place driving into town in my Toyota Camry, so after the requisite pictures it was time to move on to the next stop of our adventure.

From Sturgis, we continued west into Wyoming to Devil's Tower. The Native American legend of Devil's Tower is that a group of seven girls were playing and chased by some bears. jumping on top of a rock they prayed that the rock would grow and take them out of harm's way. The rock began to grow under their feet and took them high into the sky. As the bears tried to jump at them they scratched the rock and slid back to the ground. The seven girls were taken so high that they became seven stars known as the pleiades. I am also informed that it is a popular rock climbing site. As I am terrified of heights, this fact did not really appeal to be, but I can definitely see the excitement for others. One again this was primarily a photo-op of a national landmark, and considering that this formation seems to rise out of the ground independent of any another mountains, it's definitely a site to see. For those of you that have seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I'm sure you're familiar with the site.

The plan for the rest of the day was to drive and get as close as possible to Yellowstone without getting into the park as nighttime is most definitely not the best hours for sightseeing, as we learned from our Carhenge experience.

Much to my surprise, Wyoming is beautiful, and by far my favorite state to drive through on the trip. We were headed toward the east entrance of Yellowstone, and our course took us on some winding roads through Bighorn National Forest. This mountain range amazed me because the eastern side of the mountains are lush with evergreen trees. The western side of the mountains are desert-like. While cruising up one of the mountains, we stopped at a "scenic overlook" to view some waterfalls. On one path we even encountered a snake! The ranger station/information kiosk was closed by the time we got there, but it turns out all of the bathroom facilities and drinking fountains we contaminated with e. coli, so perhaps the station wasn't open at all that day. Aunt Anita and I got back in the car, lathered up with some hand sanitizer and continued on our journey.

The Desert and the Forest

Shell Falls, Bighorn National Forest

A hummingbird feeder at Shell Falls

As an aside to or perhaps in conjunction with this entry I would like to take the time to make a recommendation to the US government. Now as I previously mentioned, I am not up-to-date with every political nuance, however my recommendation to the government is that in regards to domestic policy/agenda, you should look to the heartland of the country for inspiration. For example, throughout my travels I have seen these signs on many of the roads:

And I have also seen many deer as roadkill. What am I inferring from this situation? Well of course that deer are illiterate. They obviously cannot read, and therefore do not know that when crossing the street they should be crossing at these signs. Deer illiteracy kills, reading saves lives! On the other hand, cow illiteracy is not a problem that needs to be corrected.

Cow Crossing!

As we made our way out of the mountain range, I was running a little low on gas, so we pulled off at the first small town and stopped at a station that apparently still believes in the honor system. Most gas stations believe in the pay before you pump adage, so Aunt Anita walked in ready to hand over the cash only to be sent back out and told to gas up before paying up. As we waited for the tank to fill, a bunch of locals decided to shout out of their car "Oh wow look at that!", and pointed to some random nonevent. In terms of making fun of tourists the barb was pretty lame. You're going to have to work harder to get more than an eye roll out of me!

Driving out of that small town, we hit the open road once again. Our next stop, and as it turned out the last for the day, was Cody, Wyoming. Buffalo Bill Cody, a soldier, bison hunter, and showman put Cody, WY on the map. Buffalo Bill's Wild West, a circus-like show, had headliners such as Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley, and Calamity Jane. 

A bison chained up on Main St, just a statue!

Nowadays Cody still has a nightly rodeo in the summer and a beautiful main street with a bunch of quaint little shops. One shop we decided to checkout was a food speciality shop. One row of hot sauces particularly caught my attention.

Now that's hot!

I wasn't brave enough to try these, but did end up buying some raspberry chipotle sauce and some huckleberry and chokeberry jam. Aunt Anita tried some elk jerky and said it tasted like pepperoni. We had dinner at a steak joint and while I decided to partake in cattle country's finest, Aunt Anita decided to go for fish. The margaritas looked delicious, so I started calling hotels for reservations ASAP 'cause man did I want a drink! Lodging secured for the night, beverage quaffed, and bill paid, we ventured back out to the main street to do some western apparel shopping. Aunt Anita ended up with a pair of pink cowgirl boots for Sophia- my cousin, her daughter- and I added a piece of jewelry to my collection. Off to the hotel we went and before settling in for the night I decided to catalogue our adventures/excursions/journey thus far. Here's my list, and tomorrow's journey is only a day away.

1. My house, Cherry Hill, NJ

2. Aunt Anita's House, Philadelphia, PA

3. Lost Dog Cafe, Binghamton, NY

4. Martin House Complex, By Frank Lloyd Wright, Buffalo, NY

5. Niagara Falls State Park and Cave of Winds, Niagara, NY

6. Erie, PA

7. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH

8. A Christmas Story House, Cleveland, OH

9. Ciao's, South Bend, IN

10. University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

11. Chicago, IL

12. Millenium Park, Chicago, IL

13. Chicago Hop on Hop off Tours, Chicago, IL

14. Lou Malnati's, Chicago, IL

15. Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio, Oak Park, IL

16. Home Alone House, Winnetka, IL

17. Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL

18. Grinnell, IO

19. Downtown/Main St, Winterset, IO

20. John Wayne's Birthplace, Winterset, IO

21. The Bridges of Madison County, Madison County, IO

22. Sandhills, Grand Island to Alliance, NE

23. Carhenge, Alliance, NE

24. Hot Springs, SD

25. Wind Cave National Park, SD

26. Crazy Horse Monument, SD

27. Mount Rushmore, SD

28. "Aunt Eileen's and Uncle Jim's House," Rapid City, SD

29. Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Sturgis, SD

30. Devil's Tower National Landmark, Wyoming

31. Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming

32. Cody, WY

Today's Destinations:

1. "Aunt Eileen and Uncle Jim's" House, Rapid City, SD

2. Sturgis, SD

3. Devil's Tower, WY

4. Big Horn National Forest, WY

5. Cody, WY

"Never stop exploring..."

The Western Trail: A National Park and Monument Extravaganza

Day 5: Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

I am not a morning person. I will never be one of those people that rises before the alarm clock, with a smile on her face, ready to start a new and exciting day. Nope...definitely not me. I'm more of the sets three separate alarms with the assumption that I will hit the snooze button multiple times, and when I do deign to open my eyes, don't expect conversation. I speak in grunts in the early morning. I become one with my cavewoman ancestors.

So needless to say, it's now day 5 of driving all day, sightseeing, driving some more, not going to sleep until 1 or 2am with the intention of waking up again at 7:30am to be on the road by 8am. Whose idea was it to do so much on this trip? Oh yeah, mine. I have myself to blame for my sleep deprivation. I miss my real bed, having clothes in one spot, and not having to unpack and repack everyday. But here I am in Hot Springs, SD and we have a tourist attraction filled day planned. Oh man, do I need a hit of caffeine.

First on today's agenda is Wind Cave National Park, so named because the entrance of the cave was discovered from the gust of wind that it emits. The Native Americans believed that it was some type of God living in the earth and through this opening he breathed. This is my first time exploring a cave- Aunt Anita has been cave hiking before,- and she assures me that it is something really special. I am also informed that we should start to see some wild life. So, much to my delight, on our way into the park we come across some wild bison, you know just walking down the side of the road. Now back in New Jersey, I think the biggest wild animal I've see is a deer. This experience was a little different. They're huge! Later I also came to find out that they can turn and charge really quickly, so me getting out of the car to get a picture 50 feet from these beasts probably wasn't the smartest idea. I mean they didn't look like they could run that fast. Surely not faster than I could get back into my car. But lesson learned and I will take that into consideration for next time.

Just for some perspective on how close we were.

Oh yeah, and there was this little guy too.

At the visitor center for the park, which is also the starting point for all the tours, Aunt Anita and I had some decisions to make regarding which tour to take. There are three levels of Wind Cave, however the deepest of the three can only be accessed by the candlelight tour. Basically you are plunged into darkness and given a candle to use as a flashlight similar to the first explorer of wind cave. I am also a bit of a klutz. (Yes, I am the person who tripped out of her front door and dislocated my foot.) So, probably not the best idea to shut off all the lights, and tell me to navigate a series of steps, hills, and tiny passages without hurting myself. In comparison, we opted for the more sedate route that was fully lit, and that allowed us to see the most in the shortest amount of time.

The guide was knowledgeable, and told us that a special feature of this cave was the boxwork that resembles old hotel mailboxes. He was also very enthusiastic about the fact that Wind Cave is the first cave designated as a national park and the 6th longest cave in the world. We learned that wind cave was first discovered by Jesse and Tom Bingham who found the cave's only natural opening by the whistling sound of it "breathing." They explored the cave using only candlelight and string to help map the tunnels, and of course the way out. At one point in our tour the guide turned out all of the lights just so what we could see what complete darkness looks like. Surprisingly, or not, it looked like blackness. There wasn't much to see.

After turning on all the lights again, we continued to make our way through the cave. At the end of the tour I asked the guide how far we had walked, guessing somewhere around one mile. I was surprised to hear that even though we had been in the cave for over an hour we had only walked about a quarter of a mile! I guess when your walking up and down winding staircases and trying to stay on the path so you don't fall into some cavern the trek is bound to seem a lot longer.

The park rangers told us that it was going to be really dark in the cave and therefore hard to take a good picture, so we should probably just leave our cameras in the car. Well, we were probably the only tourist to leave the cameras behind, and I was a little disappointed to find out that in some places I probably could have gotten a decent picture. So instead I was left with my postcards to illustrate Wind Cave.

After escaping Wind Cave, we continued our adventure to the Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy Horse is a monument in the spirit of Mt. Rushmore, except much bigger. It is also a monument under construction and far from completion. Crazy Horse was a Oglala Lakota Native American warrior who fought against the US government to prevent encroachment on Lakota lands. The sculpture was originally started by Korczak Ziolkowski, a sculptor that worked on Mt. Rushmore. Blasting began in 1948, and since then Ziolkowski has since passed away. Currently his wife and 7 of his 10 children work on the project.

The plan and the current reality.

If you look really closely, you can see the outline of the horse's head.

Next up on our day's tour is Mt. Rushmore. Which was a little disappointing after seeing Crazy Horse. The monument is depicted in movies as this larger than life spectacle, something breathtaking and majestic, full of American pride. In comparison to Crazy Horse it just looked small.

These presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt) were chosen for this project for preserving the republic and expanding US territory. The primary sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, became so engrossed with this project that he planned to create a "Hall of Records" behind the faces, however the government shut down his funding and therefore shut down that idea.

Originally, we planned to continue our journey as far west as possible so that we could tour Yellowstone tomorrow, but when on a road trip the most important thing to be is flexible. So, instead of moving into Wyoming as planned we got a call from Aunt Anita's aunt and uncle-in-law, who just happen to live in Rapid City. We detoured to their house and apparently it was cocktail hour. Now I was a little tired and worried that a drop of alcohol was going to have me falling asleep at the table, and frankly I wasn't sure if we were stopping for the night or if I was going to have to keep driving. So, I passed on the cosmos. But when the wine was served I realized we were in for the night, put my big girl pants on, and opted for a glass.

Here's a little family tree lesson for you. Aunt Anita's husband is my Uncle Jamie, and we were visiting Uncle Jamie's Aunt Eileen and Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim was in the air force, and as a result they moved around a lot and got to see a good portion of the country. They even lived in Spokane! I didn't get any pictures of the house, but it's this mountain oasis. Cocktail hour was on one of the three decks out back, with a space heater to keep us nice and toasty in the mountain breeze. There was even a wild turkey nest in the trees! Over dinner and drinks we may have rubbed it in a little by texting Uncle Jamie a picture of us having a great time...without him. They have a great sense of humor, and only when dinner was over did they tell us that instead of the hamburgers that we thought we were eating, we had in fact trie some of the local cuisine... a bison burger. Pretty tasty if you ask me.

It was a great way to catch up on some sleep and be in one place for more time then it takes to catch a full night's rest and a shower. In fact, I think I may have gotten a full 8 hours of sleep! As for driving, well we only traveled about 75 miles instead of our usual average of 500 miles. Needless to say, I woke up a little less cranky.

So thanks again to Uncle Jamie's Aunt Eileen and Uncle Jim for you hospitality, great cooking, awesome sense of humor, and generally a good time.

As for tomorrow's adventure that is a story for another day.

1. Hot Springs, SD
2. Wind Cave National Park, SD
3. Crazy Horse Memorial, SD
4. Mt. Rushmore, SD
5. Uncle Jim and Aunt Eileen's House, Rapid City, SD

Never stop exploring...

The Western Trail: Small Town USA

Day 4: Monday, July 29th, 2013

The problem with stopping whenever you get tired is that you pretty much are guaranteed to wake up seemingly in the middle of nowhere. You pass that big city thinking, "Yeah, I can definitely make it another two hours to the next city." Only to get an hour down the road fighting a losing battle against the waves of yawns that are never ending. So, what happens? You pull of the road at the first exit that lists any recognizable hotel chain in preparation to crash for a solid 6 hours. 

And that, my friends, is how you end up in Grinnell, Iowa.

Aunt Anita and I cruised into the Best Western in Grinnell, praying that that had a room available at 1am. It says something about our state of exhaustion, when we were worried that the hotel would be booked solid. Let's face it, Grinnell isn't a big tourist destination. However, after assuring that they did indeed have a room to rent us, we raided the brochure rack to see what kind of local attractions we could look forward to come morning. Here are some of the sightseeing treats that Grinnell and its surrounding towns has to offer...

Let me tell you a little about the attractions on today's menu. First up is the Madeleine Albright Pin exhibit at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library. Now you're probably asking yourself "Why are Madeleine Albright's pins on exhibit at the National Czech and Slovak Museum?" And the answer to this question is that she was born in Czechoslovakia. Now Aunt Anita and I were a bit puzzled as to what made her pins so important that they got their very own exhibit. So, of course we asked the ladies behind the desk what the significance was. Now I can honestly say I am no way informed of politics/politicians, but I can say I've heard of Madeleine Albright, could even identify that she was secretary of state at some point. The two ladies we questioned behind the desk, well one didn't know who she was at all, and the other identified her as a jewelry designer. They were really nice ladies and they brought a smile to my face without even trying.

Brochure #2 is for the self proclaimed "Tourism Attraction of the Year," AKA Matchstick Marvels. Basically it's this dude that builds model houses out of matchsticks. I think that's enough said for that attraction.

Brochure #3 we're back at the National Czech and Slovak Museum. 

Brochure #4 is the Zippo Lighter Museum.

I don't know about you, but I'm seeing a trend. You're either going to the National Czech and Slovak Museum, or you better be a smoking enthusiast.

And let's not forget my personal favorite:

Yes, it's the SPAM MUSEUM. My favorite advertisement? "Get a taste of interactive meat." Umm...yeah, I think I'm going to have to pass. I was lucky that this brochure gave me three great postcards for nostalgia's sake. I have a postcard of Bigfoot and spam, the Donner party hiking and spam, and of course Spam in Vietnam.

But these are the kind of things you can't get in the big city. 

Unfortunately we didn't have the time to stop and sample some of these wonderful attractions, but the next time I'm driving through Iowa, they're definitely going on my list.

Jumping back on I-80 West we checked my trusty guidebook 1000 Things to See Before You Die: USA and Canada. Aunt Anita and both have a personal goal to see all 50 states. To be able to check a state off the list you have to visit an attraction or taste some of the local cuisine.  

We were lucky to find such an attraction right off the highway and off we went into our Iowa adventure. Our journey took us the the small town of Winterset, where we detoured into the charming main square to check in with the chamber of commerce and grab some breakfast.

City Hall/The Courthouse

So, now of course you're all curious about what the big attraction is in Winterset? Well, the unexpected attraction that we learned about in the Chamber of Commerce was that Winterset is the birthplace of John Wayne, and there is even a museum in the home in which he grew up.

But the actual reason we stopped in Winterset is because it is the home of the Bridges of Madison County. For those of you that haven't seen the movie or read the book, basically the story goes like this: A Iowan farm wife is left at home while her husband and children go to the Illinois state fair. While they're gone a photographer rolls through town with the hopes of photographing the covered bridges in Madison County. They meet, fall in love, but the woman/wife is torn between her duty to her heart and her duty to her family. To find out the ending of this story I guess you're just going to have to watch the movie. (A Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep classic.)

What I learned from this adventure was that there were originally 19 bridges built in the late 1800s, and now only 6 remain, due to fires and vandalism. Also, that the bridges were named for the people that built them or families that lived close. We only had time to stop at two of the six. 

The Cutler-Donahoe Bridge

The Famous Corn of Iowa

Along this trip I learned that Aunt Anita is not only an architecture expert but also an agricultural aficionado. So when the occasional piece of farm equipment drove by, I was surprised that she was able to identify it's function for me.

The more well known Roseman Bridge

A curiosity of the Roseman Bridge is the aparently acceptable graffiti. The tourist shop on the property actually sells Sharpie markers, although the shopkeeper denies any knowledge of the use of the markers.

And now for some of my favorite commentary, ranging from the sweet to the comedic...

"My chick hunts, fishes, and shoots a gun yet is still a beautiful woman and she'll always be mine! So be jealous b******."

"Dave Spitzack was here 5-28-2011, 54 years of age. Originally from Minnesota. Take me back home please. I've had all of Iowa I can stand."

And of course I had to join in the action, and leave a little piece of this road trip as a memento.

I hope I don't get fined/arrested for my destruction of property/graffiti.

While at Roseman Bridge we met two nice Iowans who noticed my out of town license plate (still DC), and asked us about our travels/plans. When they heard that we were headed to Nebraska next they laughed and said that the sightseeing options were extremely limited. In other words we were going to be bored out of our gourd. Not to be judgmental but Aunt Anita and I agreed that it if people from Iowa were telling us how boring Nebraska is, then were were in for a long ride.

When planning this trip, I had expressed my enthusiasm to do a picture-stop at Carhenge in Alliance, NE. So, with that location plugged into Garmin/Ian, off we went. 

Aunt Anita and I soon realized that this leg of the journey was going to be a long one. We left the Bridges of Madison County around 2pm, eating lunch along the way, and soon were looking to 1000 Things to See for some guidance. It just so happens that our route took us through one of the big sightseeing recommendations known as the Sand Hills of Nebraska, which turned out to be a national landmark. Basically the Sand Hills are a bunch of sand dunes covered in prairie grass. I wish it was something more exciting and majestic, but you can make your own opinion and let me know.

The Sand Hills cover about 1/4 of the state of Nebraska. The main road throughout the hills is Nebraska Route 2, in our case NE-2 W. 272 miles on Rt. 2 empties into Alliance, NE. Aunt Anita and I were literally chasing the sunset as it taunted us in its setting over the hills. Knowing that our next stop was an outdoor photo-op, the setting sun was like a an hourglass running at double time, and as a result I felt the need, the need for speed. But alas, the sun beat us. We ended up in Alliance in the pitch black of night, and unfortunately my campy world's-biggest-ball-of-wax-esque sightseeing detour was not what i expected. In fact, it was kind of creepy.

Carhenge is in the middle of nowhere. It's on a street without any streetlights. The parking lot is gravel, and in the pitch black of night there are crows and bats circling the site just seeming to look for their next pray. Even with my high-beams on there were too many little hidey-holes where things that go bump in the night could jump out and get me. It was like being on the set of some campy horror movie and all it needed was a B-roll scream to complete the ambience- oh and some chainsaw-wielding bad guy riding on the back of a John Deere tractor (you know, cause we're in the middle of farm country). We took a couple of pictures and drove out of dodge (or Alliance). 

Due to the next day's scheduled activities, we continued driving into the pitch black of night for another 2 hours. I'll admit I may have blinded some drivers going in the opposite direction with my high beams, and for this I apologize, it was not intentional. 

We made it to Hot Springs in one piece- although my car was covered in bug guts- I hope they weren't endangered species cause I took out a whole lot more of them.

Today's Destinations:

1. Grinnell, Iowa

2. Winterset, Iowa

3. Alliance, Nebraska

4. Hot Springs, SD