Emily Collier
Trip Journal
Trip To South Dakota
Friday, August 15, 2008
We left from Appleton Wi after many delays around 5pm. Across the state of Wisconsin we drove. I missed an exit around Tomah so we lost some time, but not too much. We stopped in La Crosse at a Subway for dinner. We continued driving on into Minnesota where we stopped for the night in Alberta Lee at a random tiny motel. We became a little lost trying to find it, but found it, checked in and watched some Olympics before going to bed.
Saturday, August 16 2008
Awaking around 8 am we went to the lobby and ate some of the continental breakfast. By the time we got there, however, it was picked over. All that was left for us was a few tiny, tiny raisin bagels, a couple pieces of white bread and a meager speck of butter left in the tub. We left Alberta Lee around 9:30 am. Driving into South Dakota we pushed on until we stopped in a very small town for lunch at a Pizza Ranch. TOO much pizza, we were so full. We also ran into the grocery store next door and bought some soda and a box of honey nut chex!! We drove on until we reached Mitchell and stopped at the Corn Palace. Yeah, it was touristy but I had a good reason. Then we left and pushed on. We reached the Badlands National Park around 7pm. After driving through the park a little we stopped by a trail, got out and took a walk around. By the time we returned to the car, the sun was about half an hour away from setting so we drove on only stopping once more to get out and admire the sunset. We took what we thought would be a small highway that exited the park to the south rather than going back to the main highway. Our plan was to head to the southern black hills, stay the night there, and then explore the area before heading to Corey’s parents. Well, the road we took out of the park turned out to be a dirt road that went through some pastures. Also, when we first got out of the park and onto the dirt road, we saw a sign that read, “Prairie Dogs Have Plague Keep All People and Pets Inside Vehicle.” That scared me a little bit, but we pressed on, heading straight into the middle of nowhere. Going a ways on a normal highway, we then turned onto another road heading south, through a different park of the Badlands. I was driving and missed a turn so we went about seven miles out of our way. On this southbound road, we saw at least 25 deer. My stress level went even higher. We made it back to the road we originally wanted. It turned out to be another dirt road. We thought it wouldn’t be too long of a drive and that it would turn paved soon enough. Nope, not paved, we drove 20 miles going about 40 miles/hour. I was not happy, driving on that dirt road felt like driving on snow in the middle of winter. We finally made it to a paved cross road. It at first appeared that the rest of the highway would be pave, again no. This time we turned around and decided to take a much longer route so we could avoid that dirt road. After about 30 more minutes of driving we pulled over and started to call motels in the town, Hot Springs, for which we were aiming. After becoming frustrated with hotels that had higher prices than my AAA book estimate we decided to just drive there and then look around. After 30 more minutes we made it to Hot Springs. We then turned to go to the Super 8, but first saw a new Motel 6, which turned out to have the cheapest rate of all!! It was 12:30am and we got into the room set up my laptop, watched more Olympics and went to bed.
Sunday, August 17 2008
Waking up around 8:30 we check out the internet packed up and headed out. We then went one mile to the Mammoth Site. The tour was interesting. The site is a Mammoth dig, in a building with tours. The site is only excavated for 7 weeks each summer. The rest of the year it’s mostly a museum and lab for testing the data and bones found. After the tour we looked around for a while, then headed out toward Wind Cave National Park. We drove through the park and we saw a bunch of BISON!! We took a bunch of pictures and one even crossed the road right in front of us. Then we parked at the visitor’s center and were there in perfect time to get tickets to the Fairgrounds Cave tour change shoes and get to the starting point. We took the tour which took an hour and a half. One of the unique formations in Wind Cave is boxwork, which I had never seen before. After the tour we walked around a little bit, but it was 1:00 pm and we were hungry!! We drove to Custer, but couldn’t find many options for lunch. We ended up at a restaurant called Cattleman’s which was pricey but didn’t give us enough food. Then we drove to Hill City and stopped for Dairy Queen Blizzards since we were still hungry! Nom! After eating my Blizzard I fell asleep, Corey drove the rest of the way. When we were about 20 minutes away from his house, we stopped at a trail. We got out and followed it to a really pretty waterfall. After hiking back we drove a bit, stopped again and walked to another waterfall. Driving a few more miles we stopped along the side of the road to look at another waterfall, this time walking across a stream and then up a little slope that led right to the waterfall. So pretty!! Then we drove through the Spearfish Canyon, into Spearfish and then to his house. I met his parents ( Yay they’re nice, I’m no longer scared!) Saw the horses, met the dogs, Buster and Fifi. We unpacked ( I get a pull out bed in the computer room) a bit sat around and then had dinner and watched the Olympics. We continued watching the Olympics until his parents went to bed, when Corey and I switched to watching Mythbusters before heading off to bed.
Monday, August 18 2008
Strangely, I woke up at 7 am. Of course everyone else was up already. We had breakfast, poked around with my computer. Corey showed me around his house and yard. I saw the barn-ish cats and the horses up close. We walked around the backyard, I spotted a tiny baby garter snake and then we almost tripped over a big(to me) garter snake. After sitting around a little more, I went with Corey to his dentist appointment. I walked around for half an hour then sat in the waiting room and read for a little bit. Then we drove to Black Hills State College where his parents are Chemistry Profs. I got to see the Chemistry rooms and then we went downstairs and saw some biology peoples that Corey knows who are working on a snake project studying color pattern variation. They had 50 pregnant garter snakes!!!! When they all give birth, they’re expecting to have over 4000 snakes!! I even held one!!
Then we drove to a park, walked around and then walked to the Historic Fish Hatchery and bought a big bag of fish food. We walked around and few a ton of fish and ducks. We saw mallards and wood ducks. Then we drove around town a little bit more and went back to Corey’s house. I watched TV with Corey and his mom began typing this blog, recounting the past three days. The rest of the day consisted of reading and relaxing, eating some amazing pizza that Corey’s dad made. Then we read more and then to bed early.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
I woke up at 6:00am..And forced myself back to sleep for about 45 minutes when I finally got up and said good morning to Corey’s parents, had some breakfast and got ready to work out. We ran a half mile down Corey’s road and then back. Oh my! The higher elevation really made a difference. I had such a hard time catching my breath. Where was my oxygen?!?! After drinking some water and cooling down a little bit. Then Corey and I went to the college’s rec center. I lifted some weights and worked out a bit. Then I tried running on the indoor track. Still, I felt out of breath and my lungs hurt. We went back to his house and I showered and then we read books for a while. Corey went outside to help his dad take down their old porch railing so they could put up a new one. I read some more and then began working on an Alumni Relations project. The rest of the day continued with me lounging around and Corey and his dad working on the railing. I read a book, took a nap, and watched TV. At 7:15pm ish we got ready and went to Guadalajara’s for supper. The food was very good! I had a HUGE veggie burrito which I could not finish. Then we came back here and watched more Olympics. Corey and I attempted to sit in the hot tub for a little bit, but for some reason, whenever we ran the jets we kept coughing. So that didn’t last too long. Then more Olympics, and after his parents went to bed Corey and I watched The Mummy 3.
Wednesday, August 20 2008
Woke up early again around seven, had breakfast and then I took a nap because I had a headache. Then I woke up got ready and went into town to the rec center by myself. After a 45 minute workout, I returned back to Corey’s house, ate lunch, began doing ALL the laundry and proceeded to watch tv and read. Corey and his dad continued to make progress on the deck and I even got to help for a little bit. Around 8 pm Corey’s mom and I went into town and got Subway for everyone. We ate while watching the Olympics and a little after nine his parents went to bed. I forced Corey to watch the last half hour of Project Runway with me and then we watched Mythbusters until I fell asleep on the couch. Corey poked me awake and I went to my guest bedroom and went to sleep.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Woke up relatively late, 9;00 am. Ate breakfast, then wrote on the computer, then went to work out with Corey. After that we had lunch and then took a 2 hour nap with BuBster and Fifi. Then we got up, read a little and then put on our swimsuits. We went into town and filled up two inner tubes. Then we went to this little creek and we went tubing. Ohhh it was sooo cold. But it was fun. After that we played Frisbee a bit, went back to his house and went in the hot tub. Then Corey went out to work on the railing some more. Then there was dinner, Olympics and pie. Corey and I watched Mythbusters after his parents went to bed.
Friday, August 22, 2008
I woke up around 9:00 am. Then woke Corey up, and we ate breakfast. We decided to take the trip to Devil’s Tower, so we showered and off we went! We drove up and over into Wyoming. We first stopped just outside of a place called Aladdin to look at the Aladdin Tipple Mine, a historic mine site just outside of the town Aladdin( Pop. 15). We explored the area a little and read the signs telling about the tipple and its history. Then we drove another minute into Aladdin and looked around the 110 year old general store. We saw a bunch of interesting antiques but decided not to buy anything. We drove on towards Devils Tower. After paying the entry fee, we drove up the hill to the visitor center near the base of Devils Tower. We walked around a little and then decided to hike the short 1.3 mile trail around the base. It appeared we were going the wrong way, everyone was running into us. I think we just took the more difficult way. Most of it was uphill and at a steep grade. We saw two sets of climbers on Devils Tower; I can’t imagine trying to climb that thing. Most of it is completely vertical. After that hike we drove down the road, down the hill to a picnic area and ate the lunch we packed. Then we took a short walk around the prairie dog habitat(plague free I assume). The prairie dogs were cute, I took a video of them squeaking. Then we went back to the car and drove on. We made it to I-90 and headed East. We pulled over to look for cheap gas, but then decided to move on to the next town. We got off I-90 and took a frontage road so we could stop at Vore Buffalo Jump. Vore Buffalo Jump was a site where tribes drove buffalo into a large sinkhole to kill them. Walking around there and reading the signs telling the history of the place, we decided to leave after a mom and her loud kid showed up. Then we stopped for gas in Beulah. It was 10 cents cheaper than in South Dakota. (we could have bought the gas station for $199,999.00). Then we took another little dirt road North until we got to the McNenny Fish Hatchery, this hatchery is still in use. There were some big trout the show pond. We hiked around a little, looked in the racetracks at all the little trout and then we drove on the dirt road to Mirror Lakes. We walked around a little and looked at the little fish in the lakes. Then we took the frontage road all the way back to Spearfish. After that adventure we found Corey’s parents working on the deck. We ate a quick snack and then helped them finish putting up lattice work so fifi wouldn’t fall off. Then we had a early-ish dinner around 7ish. Watched some tv and went to bed.
Saturday, August 23 2008
Waking up late, around 8:45 am, I found that everyone else was up and Corey’s dad had made a giant pastry braid for breakfast. After eating, it was decided that Corey’s dad, Corey and I would go on a hike to a ghost town! We left a little before ten and drove about 5-10 minutes to get to the trailhead. The beginning of the trail was actually a road once, now only atvs and 4 wheel drives even attempt to maneuver it. We hiked. It was steep , wow was it steep. After about 10 minutes we stopped for a water break, and I was out of breath as if I had run a couple miles. Well we trekked on, ascending about a thousand feet. We reached the old town after about two hours. It was just a big meadow in the hills. We walked around and found the foundations of houses and stores, and even found some old metal pieces. Then we looked at the entrance to the mine, which was now caved in. There were still some metal rods where the winch used to be. We ran into some atv aficionados who were driving around, the drove on and we walked. We caught up to them not too long after at the location of the town cemetery. We found three headstones. Then we decided that we should start heading back to the car, since it would be an hour’s hike downhill to get there. Another atv group passed us, zipping along. After another hour, a tricky trek downhill, with no major falls, we made it back to the car. The total hike had taken 4 hours and we went a little over 5 miles roundtrip. I was so exhausted after that hike! Then we came back here had a wonderful lunch and I fell asleep while reading on the couch. I woke up an hour or so later. Corey’s parents had a wedding to go to, so Corey and I were on our own for dinner. I took a shower and then we got ready and went out for Chinese food. The food was very delicious and we ended up with three little Styrofoam boxes of leftovers; it wasn’t a buffet but a sit down dinner. Then we got back here, started watching an atrocious SciFi Channel movie and Corey’s parents made it home. We all watched Snakehead Horror and read. After it was over Corey’s parents headed off to bed and I decided to type up the tales from yesterday and today. Then it was bedtime!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Waking up a little before 8 am I got up and ate some breakfast. Corey and his dad went to church at 10, but his mom and I stayed around the house. I talked to her for a long time, until the guys came back. Then Corey and I read a bit, helped scrape some paint off the back of the porch, then read some more. The excitement of the day came when Corey’s dad took us to the shooting range! I shot a gun for the first time in my life! We started by shooting a sentinel .22 revolver at a target 15 yards away. I didn’t do too poorly! I hit the target a few times! Then we moved on to a .17 HMR Rifle with a scope at a target 100 yards away. I hit the target then too! I had a lot of fun shooting targets!!! The rest of the day was more uneventful. We returned to the house, read some, relaxed, ate dinner, and watched a zombie movie. Then we watched the Olympic Closing Ceremonies and ate homemade frozen yogurt!! Then it was off to bed; Corey and I plan to leave tomorrow afternoon and head east.
Monday, August 25, 2008
I woke up at 7;15am and showered and had breakfast. Then I packed all of my stuff. We puttered around the house until 11:00am when Corey had an optometrist appointment.They let me watch the eye appointment! I’ve never had one so I thought it was fun to watch. The optometrist dilated Corey’s eyes so he couldn’t drive for a couple of hours. We then went back to his house, finished packing, loaded up the car and set out heading east. We stopped in Sturgis and I bought a pair of fleece lined jeans! I’ll be warm this winter! Then I drove on until we reached Wall, where we stopped and I bought a few more souvenirs for people back in WI. I kept driving for a couple of hours, we had supper at Al’s Oasis and then drove on until we reached Sioux Falls where we found a room for the night.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
We woke up a little late, checked out, drove a mile or two until we found a diner at which we at breakfast and then filled the car up. We drove all the way across MN and WI until we made it to Appleton. Lunch was amazing though, we had Long John Silver’s. We didn’t get into Appleton until 7:00pm.We first stopped at the store to get some food for Corey. Then we made it back to campus and I ran into my room, picked up a few more things, rested for a little bit and then headed out to my dad’s house. I arrived in Mayville about 9:30pm, rested, watched some tv and then went to bed.