Sightseeing on a Stormchasing Trip

Tis the end of yet another day here out on the Great Plains. As you might be able to see from the ever creative title, the weather at the time being is uncooperative to say the least. Basically, the weather is great for anyone other than a storm chaser. Some may get frustrated with what is going on, but as someone once said, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and that is what we have been trying to do.

Today, we woke up somewhat early for a non-chase day in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was quite chilly outside, so most of us chose to wear jeans and sweatshirts. After our daily briefing, which today centered around sightseeing, rather than storms, we headed for Rapid City’s Museum of Geology, not to be mistaken for geography. It was located on the campus of the South Dakota College of Mining in the south end of the city. When we entered we all got to take a good look at basically ancient skeletons of random dinosaurs, many other fossils, and other minerals. On top of all that they had molds of the largest golden nuggets ever found and a similar display for diamonds. Overall, since the admission was free, it was a worthwhile stop.

After leaving that, the sky began to clear, and temperatures began to rise. Our next stop was the one I had been looking forward to the whole trip, Mt. Rushmore. I was somewhat surprised when we arrived at the size of the monument. I was expecting it to be much bigger, but it was still a sight to behold. The most strange thing that occurred while visiting Mt. Rushmore was when we asked for some assistance from two strangers to take group pictures. The couple asked if we were all from Indiana, and we replied yes. They said that they were initially from Lawrenceburg, which meant that they lived 15 minutes away from me at the most. I told them that my home was in Guilford, and their eyes immediately lit up and they said that they also lived in Guilford. I found myself immediately intrigued. After further investigation, I found out that the two strangers I met over a thousand miles away from my hometown, turned out to live a ridge over from my own. It’s a small world after all.

After leaving the popular tourist destination featuring four of our founding fathers, we headed up the side of a mountain basically, and ended up on a lookout about 10 miles away from our previous stop. This led to one of the best photo shoots we have had yet, as a beautiful landscape had been laid out in front of our own eyes. Sometimes good weather isn’t so bad after all.

After descending off of the mountain, we made our way to Custer State Park, in Custer County, SD. This would bring about my first wild buffalo viewing. What were they thinking when they almost made these creatures go extinct. They are amazing to watch graze on a sunny afternoon, someone from Wisconsin even had an impromptu picnic outside of their van next to the field where the buffalo were roaming. After snapping a few pictures of them we met a roadblock, and not your usual signs and cones, rather a herd of donkeys. After stopping and meeting them, literally face to face, we drove on and made our way to the Crazy Horse Monument, in progress. Right now it is not a lot to see, but if they sculpt it like they have it depicted, it should be amazing to say the least.

Finally, we were on our way to Wyoming, Cheyenne to be specific, to stay the night. We crossed the border and after a few miles lost all cell phone reception. You haven’t been to the middle of nowhere until you see some places out here on the plains. We even passed a small ghost town of sorts named “Lost Springs,” whose sign read “Lost Springs - Pop. 1 - Elev. 4996.” According to online references, it is one of only four towns in the United States with only one inhabitant. But eventually we stopped to watch the sunset over the Laramie Range, north of Cheyenne, WY. After getting a few spectacular shots and video that I plan to time lapse, we drove into Cheyenne. Our first hotel was going to save us a bit on our budget down the road, but due to some negative circumstances including safety, and cleanliness, we made an emergency move to our second choice where I am typing this blog tonight. As I have said earlier, the weather is proving to be quite a disappointment recently. There are talks that there might be an outbreak on the plains in early June. Hopefully this will pan out and the last stretch of our trip will prove to be a thrill to say the least. As for tomorrow, I believe the plan is to jump down to Denver tomorrow and catch the afternoon Rockies game. After that or before it, who knows. I’ll try keeping you, the reader, updated on the chances of severe weather out here as well as other random trip happenings of course. I am open to comments, suggestions and whatnot. As always, thanks for reading.