Wednesday, October 18, 2017

On to the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Buffalo, and home... and then Southie.

Of course, I had the option to sleep in my bed, the first night back from my trip. Of course, DP was throwing down at his place in Southie, and I had to be there. What was one more night, right?

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Leaving the Tetons, I made my way east through Wyoming. I had booked an AirBnB at some guy's place in South Dakota for that night; he had a spare bedroom with a door and a view for under $50. I needed a bed, a roof, a door - it was time to spare the expense. Plus, the reviews were outrageous, and made it's less-than-ideal location but super-affordable price, a combo deal that I chose not to pass up:




Like, ok, I get it. I'll go. (spoiler: it was, as reviewed, that good)

Nothing had happened in major circumstance while driving, thus far. I may have hit some rumble strips from time to time, but the journey so far has left me unscathed. Until Wyoming, where deer apparently don't understand that pavement is just not the thing to be running on.

I was driving left around a bend, going too fast, and this deer came out from the left, out of nowhere. I saw its trajectory, and knew that there was no chance I was going to dodge this deer safely. The animal continued its path and as I braced for impact with my foot on the brake, I noticed that the deer made a slight juke to the left, like it took a handoff and was trying to break off the screen. I was able to react by juking right, and our paths became parallel for a split second. It allowed me to pass the deer, nearly in its entirety, and juke back onto the road without causing any major accident. The only thing, it seemed the deer decided to jerk either its head or butt into the side of my door, causing the contents of the side door pockets to be ejected into the cabin. In my rear view, the deer was able, and did get off the road. I was left with a gift from the roads of Wyoming:


I'm super vigilant about deer crossings now.

I made my way across the state in search of Devil's Tower. A national monument that features a great land mass shooting up from the ground - couldn't miss it. When I got to the area where the natural structure broke ground, I could start seeing it from a bit of a distance. In the interest of time, I got as close as I needed to before entering the park area, snapped a couple photos, and went on my way towards Mount Rushmore.




I've been told a lot of hoop-la about the lack of grandeur at Mount Rushmore, and I was delighted on sight of the monument, breaking the musty expectation.




I took a moment to sit in the amphitheater and reflect a bit on upholding the ideals that inspired the work of shaping stone, to preserve faces of history.

On to Cascade House, my AirBnB location. Matt was an excellent host, letting slide the fact that I showed up to an empty house at first. He greeted me, then left to retrieve the horses. He was a sculptor and artist by trade, but also had this house in the middle of nowhere that has seemingly got 5 star ratings at a very uncommon rate. He struck me as a man who had a deep relationship with a belief, bigger than himself. He broke his bread, shared his wine, and made it clear that I could treat his home as mine. I wish I felt comfortable enough - I'm sure he would have been fine if I made a bag of his microwave popcorn - but I felt too modest to advance on his invitation to fulfill my own enjoyment. His son, one of three but presently unaccompanied, was by sight a clear product of his father. Matt referred to him as Bunny, but there's a shot that I misunderstood the pronunciation. Bunny joined us for dinner, then left for the yard at around 8pm. He had been sleeping outside since mid-June, when the weather turned for the best. He could have had a pocket full of strawberries and almonds too, I can't be sure, but... sure enough, the next morning, Matt was able to point out his son, residing underneath a tarp in the yard. I couldn't see it at first, until a gust brought in a patch of rain. The grey covering made an adjustment, perhaps agitated by an elbow looking to stay dry. Matt was unmoved by his son's desire to sleep outside, in fact I think he held pride for it. Matt was a guy who made strides to live simply. I think he held a good balance of it. He had a dishwasher, a washer/dryer, and running water. He had a laptop for work, a TV for movies, and the land for everything else, it seemed. If you're ever in Hot Springs, SD - I recommend stopping by the Cascade House.

The next day's goal was Wisconsin. I really wanted to make it to Chicago, but I knew that there were only so many hours in a day, and because of the timezones, I was about to lose more of it. I came up a little short of Madison, and stayed at the 2nd worst hotel of my life. There were about 3 different odors, the shower curtain being the source of 2 of those 3. Actually, that might have been the worst of it, because they also had a pool and I didn't hate that.

Before reaching the Baymont POS, I had an excellent dinner at this hole in the wall Mexican place.


I posted a pretty good review to Google. Apparently, that photo has been viewed over 500 times online.

More driving. I'm going to fast forward to Buffalo, where I met up with old chorus mate VG. He had given me permission to crash at his place, so that was my goal the following day (from Madison). It was a long haul, but I got it done even with hitting rush hour traffic in Ohio. I got to his place and reunited with his wife J. Then, we nearly immediately took off for wings, beer, and catching up.

VG has 3 sons with 3 equally strong (and defiant) personalities. His oldest is a sports almanac, his middle was ferociously concerned with the forecasted red velvet donut, and his youngest is just too cool for school. Too young, too, he's only like 3. I got the full experience the next morning when we went to Paula's Donuts for breakfast. A quaint breakfast nook with the full intake of sugar and coffee ensnaring one through smell. It was a great visit, and I'm truly grateful for a friendship that has lasted through the time and distance. I departed around 10am and made my final morning departure before crossing back into the northeastern Commonwealth.

Of course, not one moment is lost at my arrival of home. I unpack what I think is necessary, and I make my way to DP's place because beer and singing is an ideal way to end my vacation. I slept on his lazyboy, and it was not comfortable.

Of course, I had made it home at that point. I was done! My trip was incredible.

JC

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