Vacation - Omaha - A Zoo is Just a Zoo

We hightailed it out of Pierre like we robbed the bank. Understandably, we did not feel like we would miss the town and all it had to offer.

We headed south to Omaha, with nothing on the agenda except getting to the hotel. Doing nothing in Omaha was better than trying to find something to do in Pierre.

We found the hotel. Took us two tries, but we found it. They directed us to a sports bar next door and we had an early dinner. They marinated their steaks in whiskey; something I've got to try. The server was very friendly and Ashley took the boys to swim for a while.

The grandma's took the boys for the night while Ash and I drove across the river to Council Bluffs, Iowa to play some poker at Horseshoe. It's a surprisingly big poker room, and the game I joined was very aggressive. Unfortunately there were no weak players. I missed one opportunity when I flopped a full house and the two players in the hand folded to my raise. I'm still kicking myself for that.

We played blackjack for a little while. It was the dealer's first night and took about half an hour to get through one shoe. He had trouble adding. He threw a card on the floor. As he was rearranging his tray, chips exploded all over the tray. It was comical.

The next morning, we took the boys to the Omaha Zoo. All in all, it's a cool zoo and I highly recommend it, particularly to my friends in Kansas City. If you've never been, KC's zoo sucks as much as anything imaginable. It's sad, really.

Of particular note is the aquarium. That was almost worth the price of admission by itself. The butterfly house is OK. They also have a desert dome and underneath it, a display of nocturnal animals and cave dwellers. Don't miss that.

It rained off and on, and finally got to be too much, so we headed back to Kansas City. Omaha is a nice town with a lot to offer, so I think we'll be going back.

Then again, I may just be comparing it to Pierre.

Vacation Day Four - Monuments, History and Smelly Animals in the Black Hills

We took off out of Deadwood to see the national monuments and Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. It's not a very long drive to Mount Rushmore from Deadwood; the Crazy Horse Memorial is less than 20 miles away, and Hot Springs is just 40 minutes south of that.

Mount Rushmore is surreal, I think, because I've seen it so many times. It's not as tall as it appears in pictures, probably because of an optical illusion created from shooting at an angle.

It's majestic, though.

I thought about how an artist's vision was on such a grand scale that he decided to make a sculpture on the side of a mountain.

I thought about George Washington leading a bunch of farmers and merchants against the greatest army in the world and laying the groundwork for Presidents to come.

I thought about Thomas Jefferson and how he took this idea of democracy, something the world had never known, and created the blueprint. ("We hold these truths to be self-evident.")

I thought about Abraham Lincoln and the thankless and tireless job he did, trying to hold the country together, and giving his life for his country as much as any of the hundreds of thousands who went to war and didn't come back.

I thought about Teddy Roosevelt. Why is he there?

It started to rain, so we went on to the Crazy Horse Memorial, which I think is the definition of an obsession. It is another mountain carving started in 1948. His face is done. It's been 62 years.

The artist died in 1982 and his family has carried on with the carving. They will not accept government money or assistance, only personal donations. Until I saw the video outlining the challenges, I did not appreciate the tremendous amount of work that has gone into creating this memorial.

I hope it is finished in my lifetime. I will definitely return to see it completed.

We moved on to the Mammoth Site near Hot Springs. Of all the places we visited, it was the most expensive, by far, almost $50 for us to see. It's a guided tour. As an archaeology buff, I was looking forwardto seeing it.

Because the remains are not fossilized, they can't really take them out of the ground without doing them irrepairable damage. This is both a blessing and a curse. Scientists from all over the world can come to see the site and conduct research. It also means, for the general public, you can't get close enough to really see the remains.

We took the scenic route back to Deadwood, but compared to Kansas City, the ugliest part of the Black Hills is scenic. As we drove through Custer National Forest, we saw buffalo, elk, deer, antelope and prairie dogs. It reminded me a lot of our family vacations when I was a kid, driving through the Rockies on our way to visit my Dad's family in Oregon.

I think Aidan got tired of stopping all the time and wanted to get back to Deadwood. We saw thousands of buffalo like the big boy pictured above. Shortly after I took the picture, Aidan said, "Less stopping. More driving!"

I'm not sure why he wanted to get back to Deadwood so fast. He can't gamble. But it was funny.

Vacation - Day Three - Deadwood and a little poker

The first night in Deadwood was really just a feeling out process. We looked around to see what the town had to offer. There's really not a lot to do in Deadwood proper, but I think we all needed a little of that.

The first day trip we took was to visit Spearfish and the Dick Termes Gallery. He paints on spheres and is absolutely incredible. We met him briefly when he directed us to a parking spot, then he hopped into his old truck and drove away with a big pile of brush in it.

His gallery has dozens of his pieces in it. They hang from the ceiling and they rotate slowly so you can see how his subject matter lies on the sphere. It's hard to describe, so take a look at the youtube video that first made me want to see his gallery.

We also visited a few antique stores right on the main drag of Spearfish, along with an art gallery. All were excellent. We then went back through the winding roads and went through Sturgis. It's hard to imagine that town hosting a huge event like the Black Hills Rally, but as one person put it, "It's an amazing thing when an event doubles the size of your state."

I managed to squeeze in a little poker at Saloon No. 10, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot. I sat with my back to the door, managed to win a little over $200 in 45 minutes, then was summoned by my Mom because Tristan was asking for me. I left a hot table, filled with an incredibly drunk woman, an incredibly drunk man, three people who played every pot, and one guy who was the definition of on tilt. (For you non-poker players, that means he was pissed and playing very badly.)

The floors of No. 10 are covered in sawdust, the walls are covered with Deadwood and western history, and at night, the dance floor is covered with drunk people. A little something for everyone.

Vacation - Day Two - Nature's Majesty and Tourist Shlock

We left Mitchell, home of the one and only Corn Palace on the next leg of our journey. After a nice breakfast, we headed west towards The Badlands.

One person's obstacle is another person's national park.

The Badlands is breathtaking. It's more like the Grand Canyon than I imagined. The spires created by the ancient river and the colors that are created are amazing.

It came as a surprise to me that there is a lot of high prairie in The Badlands. A lot of green out there too, and a lot of wildlife. We saw three bighorn sheep very close to the Visitors Center and an eagle was floating on the wind currents above one of the places you can stop to take a look at the view.

It was, all in all, pretty majestic. Then we continued on to the antithesis of majestic, Wall Drug.

One person's moneymaker is another's annoyance.

Wall Drug, as I said in my previous blog, advertises with billboards on the highway. Hundreds of them. And they don't really say anything. It's just the multitude that FORCES you to go, as if under some sort of spell.

As tourist traps go, this one is in the upper echelons. There are souvenirs of all shapes and sizes. It's loud, It's crowded. It's huge. They sell everything from fudge to western wear. There are crappy statues for the kids to climb on so you can take their pictures. A hamburger and fries is $8.50, and that doesn't include a drink. And they have a bitchin jackelope collection. That did not disappoint.

We left Wall and headed in the direction of Deadwood. We drove through Sturgis. We didn't stop because there is literally nothing there. Deadwood is in the mountains, and is cool, dark and has an air about it that something is about to happen.

But it doesn't.

I played Omaha at The Silveradoand did well for half an hour till Ashley came to get me. We visited Kevin Costner's Midnight Star and played some $2 blackjack while drinking a few complementary beers. I learned there was a difference between "complementary" and "free."

I think it's probably because legends of the town are so colorful, vivid and well-told. It markets itself as small-town Vegas, but I was up early in search of a poker game and there wasn't one to be had in the whole town.

Yes, I checked the whole town, not necessarily because I like playing poker, but because I could check the whole town in about 20 minutes. I was gone for 45, never found a game, played a little three-card poker and was back before anyone knew I was gone.

The town was quiet as I walked back towards our hotel, I thought I saw someone across the street wave, and an image flashed in my mind of another poker player acknowledging that he too was in search of a card game. But no one was there; just wishful thinking, or maybe one of the ghosts that reportedly haunt the town.

Either way, Deadwood is peaceful early on a Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to the day, filled with museums and antiques and art.

And later on, once the familial obligations are satisfied, poker.

Vacation- Day One - How many more miles is it?

Just a new turn of phrase. It used to be "Are we there yet. But Aidan has decided that "How many more miles is it?" is a more unique way to ask how much longer we'll be on the road.
Tristan's statement of the day was "I wanna go to the beach." He's remembering two years ago when we went to Corpus Christi. I didn't have the heart to tell him there's no beach in South Dakota. As many of you know, Tristan has OCD and autism, so he repeats phrases over and over when he's unsure of what's going on. I think he said "I wanna go to the beach" 529 times in two hours. It kinda made me want to turn the car around and drive to Texas.
We drove from Kansas City to Mitchell, South Dakota. If you've never been, it's a charming little town, really. The big point of interest is The Corn Palace. It's a palace type structure; the outside is covered with murals all made of... wait for it... corn.

It's not as bad as it sounds. The town looks like Smalltown, USA, except that there's a big honkin' palace in the middle of town made of corn. Inside, they sell corn products and shlocky stuff advertising Mitchell's Number One Attraction.

We went to dinner at The Depot. Nice atmosphere, great food, cold beer, reasonable prices and great service. I had a chopped buffalo steak that was excellent. Even Ashley liked it, and she's really against type of red meat that doesn't say "Moo." The blue ribbon dish was the beer cheese soup. I'm going to try to duplicate the recipe when I get back. I would highly recommend The Depot and I will not hesitate to visit again when and if we come to Mitchell again. Thanks to Leslie for the great service and for finding my Mom's glasses.

Tomorrow, we'll visit The Badlands before ending up at Deadwood. But first, we're stopping at Wall Drug. It's a drug store in Wall, SD. I don't know why we're going there; Ashley just said, "Everyone who has been to Mount Rushmore goes to Wall Drug." She said they have a bitchin' jackelope collection.

Really? OK.

They started advertising in Iowa between Council Bluffs and Sioux City. That's not even the same highway. It better be worth the time. We're going there instead of Quinn to see a barn that houses the world's fourth largest beer can collection.