Just Dust, not Gold Dust...
Well we survived our trip to Deadwood/Rapid City with a few dirty looks, grumbles, and a lot less cash.First, we got off to a later start than we had hoped on Saturday. We didn't leave Bismarck till nearly 2:00 due to packing, dogs, gym, grass, rain, and what have you.
We did manage to make it down the Enchanted Highway however. It was really worth it, the valley was really beautiful, even tho we had to wait for a friggin' train in Happy Rock. (Gladstone)
The girls were in the back admiring the big sculptures...I would take a guess that Mollie liked the giant grasshoppers the best.
After we made it to Regent it just seemed like we were never going to get out of North Dakota. I made the mistake too of not turning on 22 but dragging us to 85. Ooops...so we went down 12 thru all the nasty ass construction that they are doing all the way to Bowman. It was stinky, rough shit to drive on too. Felt like I was driving a tank.
So we finally get to the border, then to Buffalo. Not much to brag about but they did have a Dairy Queen...not like the anorexic Suhrs were going to stop to get a tasty treat but at least we knew that there was some form of civilization here. Then we saw the sign that said "No Gas for next 44 miles..." um, okay, this is even making the drive to Grand Forks look good.
It was hot. It was hilly. It was two lanes. I nearly lost my patience. Nothing is better than going 60 behind a silver fox. Hell, it's not even a fox. It's an old goat that someone feels miserable for and allows it to continue to live and suck up oxygen, from a tank.
I managed to get past most of the fossils and got us to Belle Fourche. Finally there were signs of life and the hills started to sprout from the earth. I could smell Sturgis. Lovely, I wanted Harley exhaust in the RAV. Actually, Sturgis is rather interesting...I can't imagine how they handle all that humanity at the beginning of August, it's really not that big.
About this point Lloyd was getting upset with me as he was not enjoying that we were getting in late...and that we had to drive by Deadwood so we could check into the hotel in Rapid then come back this way. I could not help this and what was I going to do if we went to Deadwood, leave the Girls in the RAV? No. We continued on.
We managed to make it to Rapid, blew past the exit and found ourselves out by Ellsworth. Turned around and got back to the Holiday no problem. We sat for a bit and got the girls calmed down and were on our way to Deadwood.
After 10 miles of switchbacks and braking, we troll into Deadwood. We look around and since we came in from the South it looked like there were two casinos and that was it. Well we drove a bit farther and ran into main which changed that...it was a street lined with older buildings and slot machines in all of them. I could almost hear the sounds of vacuum cleaners.
So we stopped. We ate. We played. We bitched. We went back to Rapid. Note there was no mention of winning...
Next morning we got up and ate at the Sunday Brunch in the hotel. It was really really good, and it was a nice meal...not your typical barf that you find yourself eating on the road. After we grabbed the dogs and went looking for a Starbucks.
I have come to the conclusion that Rapid has to be a bit smaller than Bismarck which surprised me. Why? Because they have only ONE Starbucks, in the damn mall. We drove all over the place and I finally lost it and said fuck it to coffee and we just went to Bear City U.S.A.
That was interesting, a park where the animals roam around pretty freely and you drive thru. At first things seemed rather tame till you got to the bears. They were feisty little fuzzy beasts and enjoyed running out in the road. The Girls enjoyed the ride too, and didn't even bark which I thought they would...apparently the sauce I tossed them on worked or they just hadn't allowed all that Mighty Dog soft food get to them yet. That will come later...
We traveled on to Mount Rushmore. We couldn't take the Girls so they had to sit in the RAV so I parked on the lower level. I felt bad for leaving them. Sniff.
It was amazing to see how large Rushmore was and how much work it took. The engineering alone to come up with a way to make the rock come so close to the model was absolutely stunning as well as that 90% of it was done with dynamite. It was warm on the overview but they had a theater below where we were able to cool off and watch some informational films as well as read up on some of the techniques they used to carve.
We then jetted back to Rapid to dump the girls at the room again for another stab at Deadwood. We needed to get something to eat and we were going to go to Outback but apparently everyone else had the same idea so we at at Dennys. Very very classy.
So again, 30 miles to Sturgis, 10 miles on the switchbacks again to Deadwood.
We get there and start at Cadillac Jacks. We walk in. We walk out.
We went downtown after that and continued to walk and found ourselves at the Silverado. Lloyd went to play poker so I decide I am going to find a slot machine and win at least something.
I see this bank, Fort Knox...okay, let's see. I sit down and the woman two seats down is petting her machine. I know what this means. So I hang for awhile as she keeps hitting the bonus and also the bank feature. She leaves. A lurker takes over. Gets shit. She poofs. I swoop.
At first it was cold...not alot of action but then I get a bonus. Nothing really fantastic but by this time Lloyd has lost his money and is pissy. So we play this machine a bit longer. Another bonus round, and a bonus in the bonus...so by the time I am done I am up to $50 after I had put in $20. We cash out and run.
Well, I wanted a drink. There were several bars to choose from so we walk all of main and come back up the opposite side and we see the Deadwood Cigar Bar. One of our friends told us to check it out so okay...
There are steps. Nasty broken concrete steps. Guess what happens to me?
Boom.
My heel got caught so I twisted my ankle, banged my wrist on the rail and then scratched my arm on the bricks. NOT HAPPY AND IN PAIN. And of course this happens in front of the window where the band is playing so the WHOLE bar saw this. Let's give the woman a drink shall we????
So I gather my ego up in the shards that it is in, and go in. The guy that saw this from above told Lloyd he would be in trouble for it...maybe.
So we go in, cool little bar. There are about 25 people packed up front by the band and in the back there is a huge humidor filled with cigars and all the paraphernalia one could ever dream of. It was rather interesting. Thus we went up to the bar and got Lloyd a beer and me a Limey Leprechaun. Now this stuff was made of Full Throttle which I do not like alone as that stuff burns holes in my stomach. This was good but one was plenty since I was driving and I love my lead foot.
We enjoyed our drinks and met some people from Chicago which we joined in laughing at a couple from Minneapolis that got all Wild Bill to come to Deadwood. They looked like fucking idiots but gave us a good laugh.
After, we were going to leave. We didn't. We went to the damn ATM and got Lloyd $60 and went back to Cadillac Jacks.
15 minutes later we were going back to Rapid. You figure it out.
(will add more later, it's lunch time.)
Okay, I am set now...
So after a half an hour of Lloyd analyzing how he managed to piss about $60 away in 5 hands, we get back to the room. I am about ready to die as I am so tired of running that I lie down and attempt to drift off. Finally Lloyd is ready to stop eating and go to sleep and then I am up and tossing all night long. Pissed pissed pissed I was.
About 9:00 there were a pack of wild assholes (kids) out in the hallway so I got up and took a shower as I wasn't really sleeping anyway. Lloyd got up shortly after and we hand breakfast and started to pack up.
This time we made it to Starbucks...and I got my fucking coffee and it was wonderful. I was ready to roll home.
The big joke to entertain ourselves on the way home was collecting buckets on the side of the road. I would have been the proud owner of three of them, four if I would have asked the dude in the Black Tahoe for his, but alas he only had an ice cream pail, not an actual bucket.
By the time we got to Buffalo I couldn't drive any more. I was just sick of it, so I made Lloyd drive from Buffalo to Belfield. BTW: the manquin and cop car is still in Amidon but it appears that someone may have taken a whack at the officer as he is really slumped over. Someone may want to investigate that...oh wait....
I managed to muster up enough strength to drive the rest of the way from Belfield to Bismarck but I didn't wash the RAV when we got home. Now it is a chick magnet if you are bee. So guess what I will be doing after work?
Picking up the girls.
They are at the groomer, then I will wash the RAV. Perhaps instead of being yellow, black, red, and a mix of green snot, she will be Silver again.
Back as I forgot to mention something:
Torrie's ass died on the trip. Mighty Dog - beware...give your wee cute pooch ungodly gas.
posted by Deb @ 10:18 AM
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