A couple of things I forgot to mention yesterday:
1. The Testicle Festival. I don't know which I love more, the fact that the billboards offer the festival's schedule for like the next four years (just in case, you know, you can't make it this year, but wanna pencil it in for 2011)...OR the fact that the website is "testyfesty" dot com. "Get in the car kids, we're headed to The Testicle Festival!" Definitely takes Montana's weird level to 11.
2. Good morning Mr. President. Before I left SF, Tara passed along the audiobook of Barack Obama's "Dreams From My Father." Anyone who reads my other blog, knows I love listening to Obama talk...well he reads the book, and then they also tacked on his speech from the 2004 Democratic Convention. So it was kind of like he was there with me in the car. Chatting it up. Telling me his story. It felt so real that last night when Obama was on the news, I actually felt like I knew him. Hilarious...
(**Also hilarious is that my favorite part of Tommy Boy is happening right now. BEES! Save yourself!! Don't be a hero!! Your firearms are useless against them!! **)
Alright, onto today's events:
The first event of the day was crossing over into Wyoming. Another new state! By the time this trip is over, I will have been to at least 33 (?) of the 50 states. (I'm not sure I remember exactly which ones of the little northeastern ones we did on our 1996 roadtrip. I know I haven't been to Maine, but think it's possible we went through Delaware and/or Rhode Island or Connecticut...)
First up on the sightseeing front: Devil's Tower.
So bizarre. Erosion at its finest? Definitely a sight to behold. You can climb it, but I'm not really into hiking and climbing by myself. Mostly because I'd like to live, or at least have people know pretty quickly if God forbid, I didn't.
So then there was lots of driving. (Actually it's only like 125 miles from Devil's Tower to...the four prezzies. The "world famous" (seems a lot of things are world famous) Deadwood is in between.)
I got giddy as soon as I rounded the corner. It's just a weird thing to see, even if you're expecting it. I also liked that on my way up, a little sign told me that North by Northwest shot in the area. As it works out, that's one of the Netflix movies I currently have in my possession. So now I'm even more excited to watch it. (I also love Jimmy Stewart.)
They're having an Easter service tomorrow morning at the Mount, but I didn't stick around because everything near the monument is still closed. Matter of fact, a lot of the little kitchy stuff along my route is still closed because of the time of year...Thankfully I have continued to have good luck in the way of winter weather and road closures (as in, none of either).
So back to the exhibit. I was most intrigued by the stories of the workers who chiseled the faces off the mountain. Tom Brokaw narrated a short movie about it which I also enjoyed. In addition, I learned that the workers only made between $5 and $10 a day. A day. To precariously hang over the side of a mountain and either jack hammer or blast it with dynamite. Crazy.
Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills, so I saw that. And then I decided to take the long way back to the highway and check out the Badlands. Which were pretty bad ass.
Until I decided that I had been on this particular road for too long. I consulted my trip tik, but the road I was on didn't have any signs or markings so I couldn't figure out where I was in comparison to where I wanted to be. So when I saw a sign with an arrow pointing to the highway...I took it...
Eventually, I made it out alive. And right in time for Wall. Which KDL had been excited about me seeing. And which I would have missed if I hadn't taken the dirt/gravel road dotted with plague-afflicted prairie dogs.
Here I met a super nice guy. Dad age. He worked at the boot store. I told him what I was doing and where I was going and why. (The story came out after I fell in love with a pair of boots that at $180, are too pricey to rationalize in my currently unemployed state.)
Aren't they adorable? Can't you almost picture me in a Taylor Swift-esque sundress and boots combo?
The guy at the store, we'll call him Ken because that's his name, believed in my cause, and liked what I was doing, and said that sometimes you've just got to do something like what I'm doing. So he took my name, and has put the boots on hold until May first. They've been discontinued so he's pretty sure they'll be clearanced in the next week or two. At that point, I can pay the lesser cost, and he'll send them to me.
So, yee haw!
The Corn Palace might be the only thing on tomorrow's itinerary. I would like to go to the Telephone Museum in Lincoln (yes the one they went to in "Yes Man" is a real place!), but seeing as it's a holiday, I'm pretty sure they'll be closed. Wunh wunh. (On bad timing, not the holiday.)
Happy Easter! I will definitely miss the Hollywood Bowl church service I've gone too the past few years.
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