Not sure when this will get posted, but I’m writing it on July 4th as we’re heading toward Jackson. We got a pretty early start (6:30) so we should get to town by mid- to late-afternoon. There’s not too much to see in this part of Wyoming; lots of cows and pronghorns. Tonight we’re probably just going to camp in the Forest and then try to get a spot at Jenny Lake tomorrow that will be for the next couple of days.There’s not too much to report about the last couple of days. We went swimming in Center Lake (Custer S.P.) before heading out toward the Badlands. [Here’s a stream of consciousness entry for you, we’re turning around to get a picture by the Boner Ranch sign, a place that is along Old Woman Creek.] The lake was nice (and cold); I really felt like I was a part of the Black Hills as I swam surrounded by Ponderosa pine and millennia-old granite rock faces.
After swimming, we headed on to the Badlands. It is truly a unique and strange place (a bit of trivia, it was called the “Bad Land” by trappers and Native Americans alike who had to cross the area). We took a couple of short hikes to see the formations up close and then headed back towards camp at sunset. The day and drive ended up being longer than we anticipated, but it was good to see everything.
Yesterday was another one-track sort of day. The fireworks at Mt. Rushmore draw quite a crowd so we headed down there around 1 or so (this was late according to all the locals). We were told by the police at the checkpoint that the parking lot was full so we just parked along the road where we saw others had started parking. As we got out and started walking we saw the sign that said we were 2 miles from Rushmore. Fortunately, the hills were fairly gentle so it didn’t seem like that bad of a walk (it helped that it wasn’t 100 degrees!). Once at Rushmore we walked the President’s Trail to get a close up of the carvings…this led to a picture of Tom picking Lincoln’s nose and giving Lincoln a kiss on the forehead.
After hiking the trail, checking out the gift shop, and eating dinner, we still had a lot of time to kill so we just sat around waiting for the fireworks. Unfortunately we didn’t think to bring cards, books, or anything else; we did get some quality people watching in (little girl to Forest Ranger: “Are you a cowboy?”). I wish I could say that the long wait was worth it but I honestly didn’t find the fireworks worthy of 4th best in the country (as we had read before). It seems like I’ve seen others that were just as spectacular but perhaps the location and ambience it what gives them their distinction. One of the coolest things happened before the fireworks even began: there was a Lakota singing the traditional flag song and just as he finished a B-1 bomber came in overhead from behind us with full engine. Now that gave me goosebumps! Right or wrong, there is something that is just American and pride-inducing about flexing our military might.
I am not certain if the fireworks are normally bigger or longer because it does seem possible that they reduced the show due to the fire danger in the area (not completely unlikely since they considered canceling everything. Apparently the threat was very real because as we were walking down the road heading back to our car we were stopped by the police (in full gear with M-16s) and told to move to the side of the road and stay put. Turns out the fireworks started a fire, blocking us from passing down the road to our cars. We had to wait on the side of the road for about an hour before they were able to put out the fire enough for us to get by. When we did pass, we could see a little bit still burning up in the hills. That part of the day was probably the most surreal for me; I felt like I was with a group fleeing a war-torn city or nuclear attack or something else calamitous. Walking through the dark, with a few flashlights here and there, police lights flashing around the corner, officers with assault rifles, kids crying…it was definitely a different sort of feeling.
Well, I suppose that’s all for now. I realize that this is pretty long-winded but like I said, we’re just driving through greenish-gold pastures with only the occasional animal for company. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to post soon. Thanks to all of you who’ve been commenting, I’ve enjoyed reading what you have to say.
