Road Trip: chapter 3, play'n in the woods

Our lodgings were kinda rustic; a tent, portable chairs & table. But it was quite serviceable. The truck carried everything we needed, a civilized bathroom was just a short stroll away. It was so comfy that Galen slept through overnight thunderstorms two nights in a row.

The campground was divided by a small stream. It had rocks, tadpoles, minnows, small fish, frogs, spiders, and all manners of things to excite a young boy. Galen explored this stream every day, looking, taking pictures, shooting video, getting cold & wet. It was his own private domain, one he protected. Another lad rebuilt an existing rock-dam and created a small swimming hole. Galen was strong in his defense of the fish that could not pass the barrier. I thought he was going the scream off the ear of that lad. It took awhile for Galen to cool off and decide the stream was sharable and no fish were harmed.

Many of the Land Cruiser's were highly modified FJ40s. Capable on traversing almost any terrain, just not the trails about the Black Hills, not so comfortable for the highway miles to get there. One intelligent driver used his trailer as a swimming pool base for his kids. Even with the stream, Galen became a devotee.

A 1988 Land Cruiser has no inclination to being sophisticated or complex with safety. It was content with a rugged build and a bare nod to the minimum regulatory compliance. No air bags, but the front does have shoulder restraints. The back seat is lap-belt only. I installed his car seat into the Cruiser's front seat with some heavy-duty straps. He liked sit'n in front.

We were only able to have two trail-days. Day-1 was a nice gentle stroll through the hills, I think the trail was name Calamity Jane. The trail didn't need 4x4, but 4-low was handy for steep ascents & descents. Day-2 was a bit more difficult, but only because it rained the night before. The trail had two bouldery ledges in quick succession. Everyone made it, some with more suspense than others. We had no suspense, our Land Cruiser went up and over. The trail would have been anti-climatic if not for a tight turns and few tippy places. Galen does not like tippy... It was good to have my truck back to where it belonged.

Road Trip: chapter 2, the big heads

We left the campground and headed south on US16 towards the heads. Galen was mocking the name of the Black Hills, they didn't look black. He was listing off all the names he would have appointed. Magically, not fifteen minutes into our drive, an Interpretive Site sign appeared. I pulled off the road and into the parking lot, sure enough there were placards giving a brief history lesson. The indigenous peoples thought the trees looks black from a distance, the forest was dark. The Lakota Sioux named the area Paha Sapa, translated to us as Black Hills. Galen was unimpressed, but he also quit providing his own alternate naming.

I don't remember where, but somewhere along US16 or SD244 (or probably both) were places we could get a distant view of the big heads. Upon this first viewing Galen declared, "those aren't big." I tried the, "perspective, they're still far away," argument. He was not convinced. It wasn't until we pulled up and around into the parking lot that he decided that yes, the heads are big.

We walked the trail along the base of the carvings and into the workshop. Walking on the trail, down the steps and back up, that I was reminded that I'm old, and Galen is a cross between a jack rabbit and a billy goat.

We were there for about 2 1/2 hours including a grueling twenty minutes or so in the gift shop. It didn't take me long to identify my souvenir. However, Galen seemed to vacillate amongst everything that was priced less than his $20 spending money. The $20 was supposed to last for the week, but he was bound and determined to spend it all at once. There was also the souvenir induced heart-attach I had when I found him playing with a $200 crystal doo-dad.

Finally back on the road, we needed somewhere to snack. Just to the north-west of the park we eyed a road, pulling in we dropped down a bit and parked next to Horse Thief Lake. It was a perfect place to explore, snack, hydrate, and enjoy a bit of nature and solitude. And after the crowds of Mt. Rushmore and the expensive confines of the gift shop, I needed solitude.

Signs for caves were eye candy to Galen, he wanted to visit. So we headed south and drove through Custer looking for the Jewel Cave National Monument. I missed a sign, turned east instead of west. Before we headed out of Custer I pulled into a parking lot to verify where we needed to go. The parking lot belonged to Scott's Rock Shop. Pretty, sparkly, glittering rocks were an inducement to stop and look. It was here where he first realized he had already spent too much of his money. I was drawn to several large chucks of petrified rock. But I had neither the money or trailer required to take them 590 miles back home.

Jewel Cave was a short jaunt down the road, but one with a disappointing end. Seems that cave access is scheduled, one purchases a ticket for a tour and time. It was nearly noon and the tours were sold out clear into 3 or 4 PM, depending upon the tour. The cave tour idea was nixed, and he was OK with that. So off we went back toward Custer for lunch. There, we found a park and playground, a perfect place to have lunch. The park was busy with several kids, ones that looked ready to play. I enjoyed a bit of tailgate shade with our cooler food. Eventually Galen's hunger brought him over to re-energize. All too soon I announced it was time to go and head north for Deadwood.

There and back passed Crazy Horse Memorial. After the education on perspective that Mt. Rushmore provided he was more impressed with the scope and size of the carving.

We got into Wild Bill's Campground, the Black Hills Cruiser Classic event site, by mid-day, checked in and claimed a campsite. But we had a mission. Galen was Jones'n for some ice cream. We quickly headed back out for Deadwood in search of some. He wanted Dairy Queen, but I declared we didn't drive over 600 miles to get the same ice cream we can get at the mall back home. The outskirts of Deadwood had a chocolate and ice cream shop, but I wanted to see Deadwood and hoped for a shop somewhere along the touristy section. The jaunt into town didn't provide for an easy identification of such a spot, so it was back to the Chubby Chipmunk. While their ice cream selection wasn't huge, their truffle and chocolate selection was superb. He got a milk chocolate guitar, I got a raspberry dark chocolate truffle, and we both got cones. The porch was a fine place to enjoy both. He liked the place so much he was willing to pose with the namesake.

I must say, the proprietors of the Chubby Chipmunk are most accommodating. Their porch had a truffle vending machine. You know, for when you need that 3 AM truffle, everything else is closed, and you just can't wait.

It was a quiet drive back to the campground. We were here. Time for dinner and bed.

to be continued...

Road Trip: chapter 1, on the road

Departure day. The truck was mostly loaded, we just needed to stow the camera, food, and backpacks. Shanna was in town, but she wasn't taking vacation to watch Liam. He was enrolled in  YMCA Day Camp all week. Our departure included dropping him off at the camp bus stop.

Then we were off.

I knew that this day would be a long drive. Galen knew it too, but I don't think he really understood. For now it didn't matter, we watched the rolling countryside, had bits of banter. The morning slowly presented itself as we put miles behind us.

There was none of that, "are we there yet" crap. He enjoyed the concrete and symbolic. At about 3 1/2 hours we crossed that state line into South Dakota, he was very interested in "where" it was. There was a sign for Minnesota, another for South Dakota, but where was the actual demarcation? Same thing hours later when we crossed from the central to mountain time zone.

I can't say we had long, deep discussions. Land Cruisers aren't known for a quiet ride and we were running at the speed limit with the windows down. Listening took effort, concentration. And we both seemed to enjoy watching the landscape.

The I90 corridor is farmland. Miles and miles of tilled earth. Miles and miles of big round hay bales. I called them "round cows." Galen insisted I was crazy.

We didn't stop much, snacks, gas for the truck, pee for the urinals. We did stop at a scenic overlook in western South Dakota just 'cause it sounded good. It offered a beautiful view, a nice break from the drive, and a chance for Galen to sit and have a moment with the wide open spaces of the Great Plains. He also tried pushing over a round cow.

We pulled into the first night's bivy was at the TeePee Campground on the outskirts of Rapid City, SD, at about 7:30 PM. It had been eleven hours since dropping off Liam. The campground turned out to be a simple & clean, just the thing for a road trip rest stop. We quickly set up the basics and got the charcoal blazing to make dinner. As it turned out he didn't like the hamburgers. I had purchased premium patties with cheddar cheese already mixed in, I thought it would be simpler. He prefers his cheese on top. Go figure.

The skies were clear, no rain in the forecast. I spoke with the campground attendant, mosquitoes hadn't been out much, nor any other annoying bug. So I made a calculated decision and just set up a ground cover, mattress pad, and sleeping bags, no tent. We slept under the stars. It was wonderful talking with him as the stars appeared in the sky. We eventually drifted off to sleep, but at some unknown hour he woke me to share a simple observation, he had never seen so many stars.

The rising sun is an amazing alarm clock, so gentle.

Galen seemed to awaken in a happy, joyous mood. The hard ground was more than offset by the stars.We were the only ones camping outside the confines of a motorhome, and we had the more relaxing experience.

Next door, easy walking distance, was Fort Hays, a film site for Dancing with Wolves. They served breakfast so we decided to forgo cooking and eat-n-drink where we didn't have to clean up the mess. We cleaned up our site a bit, went and ate, came back and finished cleanup. Then we were off to Mount Rushmore, home of the big heads.

to be continued...

Road trip: prologue

Finally, I was getting some time to myself, a week on being only responsible and accountable for myself. No making dinners for the family, no "guiding" behavior, no watching my behavior, no trips to the library, no bedtime routines. Shanna had already scheduled her work around being in town that week, I had an opportunity to do something.

I considered joining some friends in Moab, but distance, scheduling, and wanting to drive the Land Cruiser, all conspired to make that trip difficult-to-impossible. But I had a week, I had to find something. I checked around, turned out that the Dakota Territory Cruisers were having their annual Black Hills Cruiser Classic that very week. It was just a matter of the registration fee, a Black Hills National Forest Trail permit, and acquiring supplies. Road trip!

A week later I was sitting on the deck, drinking a beer while BS'ing with Shanna and Randy. I was describing my plans, confirming my departure and return days. There was some gentle ribbing about taking the kids and dog. I knew Boris couldn't go, I was visiting several places that didn't allow dogs. Sometime into this discussion the words just stumbled out of my mouth, "he's the perfect age." That did it, Galen was going with me.

Planning just got complicated. Food, beverages, and camping equipment provisions would require revisions. The route and planned stops would only change a little.

Changing my mindset wasn't so easy. I was torn between time without kids, and Galen's fun & growth opportunity. It had been quite a while since I've had more than just a couple of hours off from the kids. In the past few months I'd lost my temper in situations I shouldn't of. I needed a vacation.

But I also knew we would have fun.

to be continued...