The Big Trip Part 2
Hi friends! I can't believe it's been this long in between posts. LOL. I guess we all get busy during the holidays. But now I'm back to tell you all about the next part of The Big Trip! This part of the trip was my favorite part.
Moab and Colorado
After we left Zion National Park we traveled to Moab, Utah. It was such an interesting drive. The landscape in Utah is so unique and diverse. We saw those beautiful mountains and red rocks and then traveled through areas where it looked like you were on the moon. We stayed at a hostel in Moab which was an interesting experience in and of itself. I liked to call it the Licky Lizard but I think that was my delirium talking! We pulled in really late, or what seemed to be really late to me, but it was really about 9PM. We had long days of travel on this trip, but that was to be expected. We had a lot of ground to cover and then we would stop and look at things at we found them (Butch Cassidy's childhood home being an example).
Anyway. The hostel. When we were turning off the highway to pull into the hostel all we saw was a storage unit place. Ummm. Is this where we're staying? And then it was like a comedy of errors. I was so tired that I found the whole thing hilarious. First, the curmudgeonly twenty-something who was working the desk. Like it was some high ranking 5-star hotel. It was funny. Then we needed extra blankets because of how cold it was. Remember the night before when we were in a tent and it was 14 out?!?!? As it turned out, they only had a couple of extra blankets. Did I mention that I found the whole thing hilarious? Anyway. We had a cute cabin that turned out to be not that bad. We did have to use the bath house again, but even that turned out better than I first expected.
The next morning I was up and ready to do some looking around. I had some work to do first so I made my way to the common area of the hostel and met two really nice fellas who were debating the finer points of life--cost of construction materials. They shared their cowboy coffee with me, thanks goodness. Did I tell you that I spent most of my money on coffee? LOL. After Moab we traveled into the Rockies as we traveled across Colorado. Our destination for the evening was just outside Denver.
We ended up in a little town called Nederland. It was cute. We had dinner and then a girls night sleepover at a local motel. Then we were off to Mount Rushmore via Cheyenne (WY), back roads through Nebraska, and then into South Dakota. Cheyenne was super cute! I was so happy to have stopped there. I even bought that sweater jacket in Cheyenne. I am so totally going back one day!
Mount Rushmore
Oh Mount Rushmore. I have such mixed feelings about you. You belonged to the Native Americans and the land was forcibly removed. And then rich white men's faces were carved into the mountain side. But it's Mount Rushmore! I mean. It's hard. If you want a quick history on why these 4 men were picked to be carved into the mountain, the National Park Service has some good information on that. If you want to know why I have a love-hate relationship with Mount Rushmore and why I wanted to do the next part of the trip (see below), then read the book Where White Men Fear to Tread. I'll talk more about that when we discuss the reservation.
But Rushmore. We ended up going there before we checked into our hotel. It was later in the afternoon and almost dark by the time we got there. But it was kind of neat since the faces were lit up. And the park was basically empty. But it also meant you couldn't walk around some of the areas that you could when it was light outside. So we spent some time there and then headed to the hotel to check in and go to dinner. Side note--I ended up having a friend who had recently moved to this part of the country and I didn't know it! I will stop in and see her when I return. Because there will be a return visit! More on that in a minute.
So. Not to be outdone from the comedy of errors from the previous couple of nights, we checked into our Best Western hotel and get all ready for bed only to realize that the heat wasn't really working. DOH! Not again. We got some extra blankets and made the best of it. Then the next morning we wanted to visit Rushmore one more time and came around the corner and saw Rushmore from afar. It was quite the site to behold. We turned around in the parking lot and decided we were not going to get a better view than that! Then we headed off to visit the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. And that, my friends, was so important to me. And it was powerful. And uplifting. And just all the things.
The Badlands, Part 1
Oh friends. The Badlands. Well, first, the drive from Wyoming through Nebraska and into South Dakota was just drool worthy. It was all plains and hills and prairie grass blowing in the wind. You could see for miles as you were driving. And farms and just nothing. It was great. But then we made a turn heading out from Rushmore and were on the Oglala Sioux Indian Reservation. And almost immediately we found the badlands! It was exciting and breathtaking and all the things.
We immediately pulled the car over and I was just in stunned silence. These pictures are literally right on the side of the road. And it goes on and on as far as you can see. I have never seen anything like it before. We were a lot higher up than I thought and the wind was wiping around us and blowing the prairie grass. It wasn't until later that I took a moment to just listen. It was so surreal. There's more to the badlands but that comes after our trip to the Reservation. So I think we'll end here for now friends. I have so much to say about the Reservation and I want to do it some justice. So that's it for this leg of the trip. It was such a great experience. I have unfinished business with South Dakota! We'll pick up in a later post.
'til next time
-k
xoxo