Act III
Days 42 to 55: Utah and Wyoming into Colorado with a stay at Fort Collins, then north west to Nebraska and several stays in South Dakota.
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Garden City, UT
Day 42 & 43
This place is called the Caribbean of the Rockies. I am intrigued and need to find out why! It also is apparently famous for it’s raspberry milk shakes!
Our Private Idaho
Cruising Our Private Idaho
Bacon Double Cheeseburger in Our Private Idaho
We Think We Are In Paradise
Now in Utah, the gigantic lake next to us (Bear Lake) does indeed look like water you would see in the Caribbean. Apparently, due to minerals in the water. And only when the sun is shining overhead. In other words, an optical illusion.
We spent our day driving around the area, to an overlook where we could see the whole lake and several times at the lake’s waterfront. The town was exceptionally busy, with large families and lots of teenage girls. I got a famous Raspberry Milkshake. It was delicious!
We got our first thunderstorm that night – the first one of the trip so far. We are headed to the Midwest next, so I don’t expect it will be the last.
Tomorrow we drive through another long stretch of mostly nothing. Also known as southern Wyoming.
Rawlins, WY
Day 44
Today we drive through a long stretch of mostly nothing southern Wyoming. Lots of trucks, I expect.
Indeed – we got stuck with a bazillion trucks at Green River. They simply closed the eastbound lanes and made every fucking one of us drive through the town. I did amuse myself taking shots of Excellent Adventure reflected in the polished door of the truck we followed all those miles.
I always find something to keep myself amused during the drive, it seems. And to finish the day, we arrived just in time to set up and be treated to a wicked thunderstorm. First of the trip. In bumfuck Wyoming. Go figure.
Fort Collins, CO
Day 45 – 48
One-half of a lifetime ago, I moved to Fort Collins after living in Germany for 3 years. I was so fucking excited to be moving back to a place I had my heart set on since first visiting it some years earlier. I had visited several times while working for HP in Washington and it seemed like everything Seattle wasn’t. Seismic Shock #6 was set in motion.
And boy-howdy, I sure did love living there. Almost everything about it (less the winter nosebleeds and summer hay fever) was fucking fantastic! But my career was never the same after my experience abroad, and internal politics became increasingly hostile to having software products in a hardware-oriented company. I had a fantastic experience building an incredible home in a nearby canyon, only to pack it up 6 months later and move to Atlanta for my next series of major earthquakes.
After the afternoon thunderstorm yesterday, should be smooth sailing to the Fort.
The first part of the trip was interesting, passing Elk Mountain and became fabulous once on 237 out of Laramie. We arrived in Fort Collins just in time for another rainstorm. Looks like throngs of kids for weekend fun at the campground!
We hooked up with old friends Dan and Maggie. I’ve known them for half a lifetime too and have had several excellent adventures together of varying types over the years. They got me started in this RV after a visit to Florida in their own Excellent Adventure. Dan cooked some steaks, and Jake got to display his terrible table manners his dad taught him.
A morning walk on the nearby Poudre River was the ticket early morning followed by some more rummaging around down inside my head.
Half a Lifetime Ago*
I moved back and feverishly caught up and overpassed my Eurovision experience. I had experiences of a lifetime. As hard as I tried, I never felt like I fit in, though.
I bought a great new house with a huge basement for my first true woodshop. I spent hours down there. I rode the hell out of my Trek bike and started swimming for the first time. I skied every winter, achieving the coveted “Forty Days on the Slopes” title for one season. {That ultimately resulted in knee surgery in 1995, followed by a complete replacement 25 years later}. Life was the proverbial ‘Good.’
My professional time at Fort Collins was a mixed bag. I got to work on the CAD products for a while and did a lot of traveling. I became dissatisfied and even thought about becoming a PDM consultant (bad idea). HP’s internal politics turned the tides against having a software group as part of a hardware oriented company that was trying to recruit other software companies. The writing was on the wall.
So what did I do? I built a fucking monument to myself. A stunning mountain home on the side of a canyon outside of town. It pretty well consumed me the last two years I was there. It was truly the experience of a lifetime. Unfortunately, I lost my access so I can’t see how it’s turned out 30+ years later. I did some checking and there is practically no information past when I sold it in 1996. Probably for the best?
To complete the experience, while driving around in the now totally unfamiliar neighborhoods I spotted a 1960s era Sunbeam? This was the first sports car I ever owned while in college. I pulled up and quickly snapped a shot. A Sunbeam Tiger in immaculate condition. Like a beautiful woman running by in a dream.
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was…
We did have a nice drive up past the infamous Horsetooth Rock area – as crowded as ever with boaters and bicyclists! Some housekeeping (including a new coffee maker) and a wonderful afternoon with Maggie, Dan, and Dan’s brother John, whom I have also known for quite a while now. Jake was conked out but gave us another performance when the killer bratwurst were served! Yum!
The campsite is nicely situated on several large man-made lakes. The kids seem to really enjoy the fishing.!
My oldest friends from my time at HP are Barry and Diane Odbert. Barry hired in around the same time as I did in 1985. They moved to Germany several months before I did and were there for most of the time I was. We moved back to Fort Collins around the same time and did a lot of stuff together.
We had a great time and caught up on all that stuff that happened oh so long ago. I met their lovely daughter Mary Rose was there too. She recently earned her doctorate as a Shakespearean and Early Modernist and publishing a book of her poetry next year. Wow!
Same as it ever was. Back on the road to see what next Excellent Adventure awaits. My bed, so deep inside my head, is as comfy as ever.
The lonesome friends of science say
With thanks to John Prine & Dave Tubridy
“The world will end most any day”
Well, if it does, then that’s okay
‘Cause I don’t live here anyway
I live down deep inside my head
Well, long ago I made my bed
I get my mail down Florida way
My puppy Jake and me – we’re OK
Alliance, NE
Day 49
Back up through Wyoming and onwards to Nebraska…
Half a lifetime ago I met a young woman from Nebraska. She started working with our group as a contractor and we developed a friendship. I didn’t know much about Nebraska so I asked her what was there?
Her reply: Carhenge!
A great addition on our Americana Quest! This stunning artwork was first opened in 1987 – just several years before Colleen told me about it. The creator was a petroleum engineer that spent time in England. His family built it during a family reunion. I bet they had a blast!
Other than that, the town boasts an enormous train facility. They transport mostly coal, I was told. We can feel the rumbling in the trailer. We stayed in a nice campground with no facilities but stunning, green, and lush grass – I guess because the proprietor’s other business is lawn care!
Hot Springs, SD
Day 50 & 51
Looks like Wind Caves tours are popular so I get to wait in line at the Visitor’s Center tomorrow morning. Ugh.
The day’s drive barely cracked 100 miles, so we took our time. We traveled on Highway 385, which is called the Gold Rush Highway. In the 1870s, this route was used to transport gold from them there hills! Apparently, as much as $7M a day (adjusted for inflation!).
Beautiful countryside, farmland, treeline snow fences, small mountains with cool rocky bits and christmas trees. I was surprised at how green the fields were.
We decided to drive the extra dozen miles and check out the National Park. The cute park ranger (not surprising – no pronouns here!) told me if I got there at 7:30AM I could get a ticket. Great – back to set up camp and do some planning for the rest of the trip.
We did some modification which adds a new stop after visiting Clan Tubridy in La Crosse. The end-game is coming into sight. Fitting as tomorrow is day 50!
Arrived at 7 AM and the line had already started to form! I scored a ticket for 1:40 p.m., raided the gift shop, and headed to The Mammoth Site outside of Hot Springs. It is a non-profit, houses an active excavation, and has active research going on. It markets itself as an educational facility.
The site itself was a watering place that was deep and unstable, causing many to fall in and have their bones well preserved. Best exhibit of in-situ stuff since Dinosaur National Monument.
Back up to Wind Cave in the afternoon. The tour was OK – long for only three stops but very dramatic in spots. The ranger was very, very good and somewhat long winded. I particularly liked the emergence story – somewhat similar to other origin stories told by other Aboriginal peoples that I have heard. In this one, God created buffalo, then let humans loose upon the world. For some reason it made me tear up!
The caves were unique, a variety of smaller features and the boxwork structures the cave are famous for. Like most caves, they have an interesting history including exploitation, double-dealing and other shenanigans.
We learned yesterday that there may be Flying Golden Turds overhead on our route today, coming to roost at Mt. Rushmore for some more ego-stroking and cult worship on the eve of the fondling of this beautiful country ‘we’ (yep – me too it seems) stole from the indigenous people that were here before us. More Bullshit For All!
Manifest Destiny, Ho!
Interior, SD
Day 52, 53 & 54
Interior? Interesting name but better than Black which was the first name given to the railroad town in the 1800s. Now it boast a population of 65 67 (latest update according to sign).
Not sure what I spotted over Rapid City. Could be? However, I did see perhaps 8 cop cars zooming this way and that. One zoomed ahead, did a sharp left turn, and parked with his lights off. WTF?
Tomorrow at 8AM I will visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site just up the road, apparently in the middle of nowhere befitting a nuclear missile silo! From there it’s a short hop up the road to a silo itself and control center. Seems fitting on the 4th of July!
Although these silos did not contain the Atlas rocket my Dad got his start on (they were phased out around the time I was ten), the context is the same.
~ Time Warp ~
When I was but a wee lad, my papa started working for an outfit named Convair, a division of General Dynamics. Based out of San Diego, they had won the contract to produce the US’s first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (aka ICBM), the Atlas rocket. Dad’s job was to actually get it in the air, which they did.
I have a vivid memory watching an Atlas rocket blow up. I have never been able to figure out exactly when, but I remember watching the rocket rise in the sky – at night – and explode in a fireball. Or was it my imagination? I’ll never know now!
But I do know the dude that made it all happen was named McNabb. He had a huge house across the canal from us. In the fashion of General Patton, he and his men (including Dad) were a bunch of bastards. When my Dad retired many years later, he frequently went to a meeting of old steely-eyed missile-men who called themselves – you guessed it – The Old Bastards.
I am forever grateful that they decided shortly after getting them to successfully fly. They determined they could put a small capsule on top and launch the first Americans (and their monkeys) into space. That became the backdrop of my upbringing.
It struck me after the visit that the original mascot of my high school was a fucking Minuteman missile! After the cluster-fuck of Vietnam, they had the sense to change it to a Colonial Minuteman from the American Revolution.
The next morning the sun rose. Good thing too! I left Jake to keep an eye on the Starship and made my way to see some sights and score some merch.
I got a preview of the Badlands for our trip tomorrow. Scored the appropriate merch and took in some views. It got crowded fast!
I drove out of the Badlands and just up the road to I-90.
The next set of stops were at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. The first stop was the Visitor Center and it had a great set of exhibits, including this one. This was my fondest memory of the early 1960s – bomb drills at school where we got under our desks. It appears I was in the right place. Other exhibits displayed the propaganda heaped on a public that was scared to fucking death at that time. It’s really luck that kept someone from pushing the button then!
The exhibits also features interviews and information about the specialized troops that manned these facilities. I guess I wasn’t surprised to discover that this is still active.
After that, I drove about 15 miles to the silo for stop 2. A mockup of the Minuteman rocket with a nuclear warhead was inside. How cool is that? The grounds were still seriously protected by fences and cameras. For the vandals and protestors, no doubt.
Back in the car and retrace our steps to the Command Center for stop #3. Tours for this are booked are out a month in advance. No early morning ticket sales either. Probably not a good idea to try and sneak in according to the sign. This is where the highly trained personnel would turn the keys and push the buttons if it came to that. They talked a lot about this in the first set of exhibits, including video of retired military personnel.
What a great visit! More enlightenment of the places I live deep in my head. Uh-huh!
Manifest Destiny, Ho!
Happy 250 America!
Back to camp again to rescue Jake. It’s going to be hot today! Took a dip in the pool and grilled some Whole Foods pork chops! Yum!
Beautiful sunrise on the aptly named White River (more like Light Beige).
Today’s journey will be a loop around the Badlands with a stop at the Wall, South Dakota, home of the sort-of-famous Wall Drug. I remember stopping here in 1978 on our epic cross-country journey with my first soon-to-be wife. It will be interesting to see if it reactivates some corrupted brain cells.
We spent 2 hours touring the views and different vistas. If I had remembered it better I would have come back sooner. Simply beautiful in the early morning sun. Like driving though Bryce Canyon.
My memory got a bit better as I drove. I remember seeing Jewel Cave west of Mt. Rushmore and Mt. Rushmore itself. We stopped at Wall and Wall Drug too. In true Ron-Jon fashion, they have expanded to a Disney-ish tourist trap. Useful for ridding yourself of those cumbersome wads of cash.
I think after that we drove through the Badlands so fast I don’t remember it. I mean, it’s only like 30 miles of really good stuff. Or I was sleeping. Who knows? I was a poor college student trying to make it around the United States on just a few, small wads of cash. Mostly from the money Weyerhaeuser gave me for a house hunting trip!
One last walk around the campground this morning proved fruitful as we made it down to the river bed (without getting messed up). Caught this amazing shot of the Cliff Swallows and their mud nests on the underside of the bridge.
Sioux Falls, SD
Day 55
The trip across South Dakota was long and filled with fields of corn. First we stopped at the Missouri river where I-90 crosses at Chamberlain.
I had seen a stop near Sioux Falls called the Corn Palace. I stopped for a look – reminded me of Wall Drug. I recalled someone I knew coming here. Brother Dave informed me it was Carl & Kari. I thought it all looked familiar. Couldn’t resist another stop for some cool merch.
We made it to the campground and instantly remembered it from the enormous American flag flying overhead. It’s also where I remember hearing for the first time about the media sensation two years ago with the hot chick talking about spitting on a dude’s boner and jerking him off (the Hawk Tuah Girl) while swimming in the pool. Wonder what the fuck ever happened to her? Probably a billionairess.
Woke up this morning to a malfunctioning coffee maker. Ugh. Just bought the damn thing.
End of Act III