Keystone

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Keystone, SD, to Scobey, MT

The Black Hills region really is a tricky one to visit. It’s just not a safe bet in the shoulder season. I’m lucky that I got a good day for Mount Rushmore and will only return to the area if I can afford time off in the dead of summer. I do not regret my detour in the least though since it meant meeting Vicki, getting work done, and, of course, seeing Mount Rushmore. Oh, and eating amazing free food, too! 🙂

It was raining so hard in Keystone today that the bridge between the main road and the camping area was closed for fear that it would get under water! A local guy showed me an alternate way out, a little rough, but doable in the truck. I was worried that that would wash out, too, so once I knew about the bridge closure, I was in departure mode!

I’d emptied a lot of the truck so I could transport passengers, so I had the fun task of refilling it in pouring rain today. Let’s just say I didn’t care to make it neat and tidy! I was done by about 10:30 and it was time to go since the rain wasn’t letting up and I was taking the flooding warnings seriously. It was almost 20 fake degrees warmer in northern Montana/southern SK and clear skied so, really, there really was no point in hanging around.

I headed to Rapid City and did a pointless Walmart stop since they didn’t have what I wanted. I then continued on to Spearfish, where I decided to get lunch. I haven’t been to Applebee’s at all on this trip, so I stopped there, but there was a huge lineup. I instead went to a Perkins across the interstate and had a pot of coffee and a burger. The server told me I had to order dessert and was very insistent about it, so I decided to try their chocolate pie. The bill came with the slice and as it turned out, they had a coffee and pie special that meant that my meal was about 30 cents LESS expensive with my buying the pie than if I hadn’t! Too funny. I didn’t feel guilty for leaving most of it behind as it was way too sweet, but the couple of mouthfuls I had were a treat.

Then, I drove in incessant pouring rain. So much water… But I could see a clearing to the north and I finally got patches of blue sky and white clouds as I approached Miles City, Montana. The weather remained fairly clear until just shy of Glendive where the sky let loose again. The rain was falling so hard I knew it couldn’t possibly last, and it didn’t. The rest of the drive was in increasingly clear and warm weather. It was about 70 fake degrees when I pulled in Scobey, versus about 50 in Keystone!

Coming into Scobey, gas was foremost on my mind. With tomorrow being a holiday Monday, I knew I had about a 0% chance of being able to get gas in Coronach and about a -100% chance of being able to do so in Willow Bunch. I didn’t think I had quite enough to be able to get to Assiniboia on Tuesday, so, really, I had to find fuel tonight. Moreover, I much preferred to fill up on cheap US gas! But this was late on a Sunday night in a small town, so I had a feeling the gas station would be closed. It technically wasn’t… but it’s pay at the pump place and it’s difficult to pay at the pump with a Canadian card at most stations. I swiped my Visa and was relieved that it was approved immediately! That done, it was time to find a bed for the night.

There are two places to stay in Scobey. The first wanted $86 for a room. PASS. The next wanted $58, more than I wanted to pay, but not enough to make me want to find a place to sleep with the truck and reorganize everything to clear the bed. The ‘room’ is hilarious. It’s actually a two-bedroom suite! You walk into the main room and there is a bed, dresser, etc. Then there is another bedroom with a fridge and microwave. The hallway has a big closet, then there is a bathroom! The suite even has a proper desk and computer chair!!!

By the time I lugged in my valuables, I realised that my noontime burger was very far away and I was actually feeling a little faint. I asked the motel lady about the odds of there being a place open for dinner and she said the restaurant nearly right next door was open till 10:00! I went and spent my last $20 in cash on a beer, steak, and baked potato. Yes, it was a big restaurant day, but it’s back to reasonableness tomorrow, what with Canadian food prices and all. 🙂

Time for bed. I want to be on the road by 7:30 tomorrow so I can be at the border for its 8:00 o’clock opening. I only have 60 miles to go to home and Google claims that will take two hours. Unless the border crossing is disastrous, Google is being ridiculous!

 

 

 

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Almost Home

It’s majorly raining in the Black Hills this morning and will continue for a few days. Thankfully, it held off yesterday so that we were able to have a fun day around Keystone, but there is absolutely no point going to Deadwood today or to Devils Tower tomorrow. It’s not just a question of being dressed appropriately since there are flood warnings. Meanwhile, it’s 10 Fahrenheit degrees warmer at home and sunny there. Time to do the final push.

I am leaving Keystone later this morning, late enough to ensure that I absolutely cannot get to the border by the 6PM closing time, will take a motel between Glendive and Scobey, and will be home tomorrow morning.

It’s going to take time to set up the internet booster when I’m home and depending on the condition of the rig, that could end up not being an immediate priority. I will tag in on Facebook when I can.

For my own sake, I do want to do a post about this last leg of the journey, but since I’ve noticed a distinct lack of interest in the blog since I left Santa Fe, I’m not too motivated to do a post about Keystone or a few other things that I could have updated about. Since nothing much is going to happen in the next few weeks anyway, my posting rate is going to go down. I’ll post for myself to record anything interesting, like how the rig survived the winter, but regular updates are done for the foreseeable future.

Next stop, sunny and warm Montana!

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

After lunch today, the gals and I piled into the truck for the extremely long and tedious two mile drive to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. That’s sarcasm folks; we could see ‘the boys’ from the campground!

Mount Rushmore was conceived by South Dakota historian Doane Robinson to bring tourism to the Black Hills. Yes, it was a meant to be a tourist trap. 🙂 The idea was to carve the likenesses of famous figures from the west, but the idea was refined when Danish sculptor Gutzon Borglum was chosen to execute the project. He chose the site and the figures that would be represented. He selected four presidents who symbolize the principles of liberty and freedom on which the United States were founded. George Washington represents the fight for independence and the birth of the country. Thomas Jefferson represents territorial expansion. Abraham Lincoln represents the permanent union and equality of citizens. Theodore Roosevelt represents the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs.

The whole Black Hills region is a tourist trap, so I wasn’t too sure about whether it would be worth paying the $11 parking fee to get into the memorial when you could see Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson so clearly from many vantage points. I also had a real issue with the fact that the National Parks Service heavily promotes the memorial as being free to visit, making folks jump through hoops and multiple sites to get to information on parking fees. You get a lot of your $11 ‘parking fee,’ which is valid for a full calendar year, so it’s absolutely and totally worth paying it. But tourists aren’t going to differentiate between admission and parking and you can’t really walk to the memorial, so stop saying it’s ‘free.’ End rant.

Entrance to the site.

View from the amphitheatre.

View from the amphitheatre.

You really can’t appreciate the details of the sculptures unless you’re up close. They are so lifelike it is almost eerie!

We got so lucky in that we arrived literally minutes before the statues were socked in with fog!

You can walk the Presidential Trail and climb 250 steps to another vantage point. The angle is just subtly different enough that it seems like the presidents have moved!

Slightly different angle from the viewing platform.

Slightly different angle from the viewing platform.

The compressor that powered all the tools.

The compressor that powered all the tools.

Scale model; one inch here represents one foot on the mountain.

Scale model; one inch here represents one foot on the mountain.

Plaster mould used as a measurement guide.

Plaster mould used as a measurement guide.

Roosevelt was the last head completed.

Roosevelt was the last head completed.

Looking back to the amphitheatre.

Looking back to the amphitheatre.

Look at the detail. His eyes look alive!

Look at the detail. His eyes look alive!

Washington looks alive.

Washington looks rather regal.

Notice Roosevelt's glasses?

Notice Roosevelt’s glasses?

Jefferson is lost in thought.

Jefferson is lost in thought.

Mount Rushmore is such an iconic location. Who can forget Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint dangling from President Washington in ‘North By Northwest’? I’m really glad that I saw the statues up close because you really cannot appreciate the details from afar. They are truly works of art.

Also on site is the sculptor’s studio, where you can see the model that was used to guide the sculptor on the mountain. There is also a really good museum with a movie about the building of the statues and how this impressive feat was accomplished (tons of dynamite and lots of math!). Incredibly, there were no fatalities during construction and no major injuries!

But guess what the icing on the proverbial cake was today? I got to speak with one of the drillers who worked on mostly Lincoln and Roosevelt! He remembers the experience like it was yesterday.

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Himalayan Indian Cuisine, Keystone, South Dakota

My friend and host Vicki is working in the Black Hills tourism industry this summer, as is another friend of hers. They were doing their thing last night when a local restaurateur invited them ‘and a friend’ to his restaurant today for a free meal in exchange for a review on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor and, of course, letting tourists know about his restaurant. Lucky for him, the friend they invited is a travel blogger!

The restaurant is Himalayan Indian Cuisine and it is located in the Keystone Mall in Keystone, just a couple of miles from Mount Rushmore. I’m not familiar with the cuisine from that part of the world, so I was eager to try it.

Exterior of Himalayan Indian Cuisine restaurant.

Exterior of Himalayan Indian Cuisine restaurant.

Simple, clean decor.

Simple, clean decor.

We showed up around noon and were greeted warmly. We asked for suggestions and took them, ordering three main dishes as well as an order of plain naan (flat bread) as well as garlic and cilantro naan that we could all share.

These are the dishes we ordered:

1) Vegetable korma: Mixed vegetables and paneer (fresh cheese) cooked with creamy onion sauce and garnished with cashew and coconut powder:

Vegetable korma

Vegetable korma

This had really good flavour and texture. I don’t think the gals were wowed by it, but it’s just because one of the other dishes was so insanely good that it overshadowed everything else. I really enjoyed the vegetable korma and how the sauce seeped into the rice. It was also good mopped up with naan!

2) Tandoori chicken: bone-in marinated chicken leg with onions and peppers

This didn’t feel exotic to me to the way the vegetable korma did. The chicken was very flavourful and tender, with a flavour and bright red colour that I was not accustomed to. It came on a hot grill, the way fajitas come.

Tandoori chicken with onions and peppers.

Tandoori chicken with onions and peppers.

3) Chicken tikka masala: chicken breast cooked in a creamy tomatoey sauce with spices I’d never had before that made it a little sweet. This was our absolute favourite. We pretty much fought over the bowl to mop up the last dregs of the sauce!

Chicken tikka masala.

Chicken tikka masala.

Our meal came with unlimited basmati rice:

basmati rice

basmati rice

And, of course, we had the naan (this is the garlic and cilantro one, I forgot to photograph the plain one):

Garlic and cilantro naan.

Garlic and cilantro naan.

We piled rice on our plates and then added the saucey goodness over top:

Rice and saucy stuff, yum!

Rice and saucy stuff, yum!

The food was so good!!! It had such flavour and was very fresh. Prices were reasonable, too, about $15 per dish, and naan was a couple of dollars.

If you’re heading to Mount Rushmore this summer, do yourself a favour and stop in Keystone for some Himalayan Indian Cuisine instead of visiting the overpriced American restaurants that dot the region. I can’t believe I discovered new flavours in a tourist trap town like Keystone. Thank you so much to the owner for an invitation that was a treat and a blessing!

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Cheyenne, WY, to Keystone, SD

It was quite a good night in Cheyenne. The trains ran all night, but it was a soothing background noise that didn’t bother me. I would have slept late had I not been woken by a gaggle of kids around 7:00. I’ve been waking up between 5:00 and 6:00 for months, so that was a good stretch!

I took full advantage of the modest breakfast offered as well as the surprisingly good in-room coffee before leaving at 9:30. I had nothing planned for the day but to get to Keystone by mid to late afternoon.

It wasn’t far past Cheyenne when the landscape turned to the olive green rolling hills I consider to be ‘home.’

Wow, looks like home!

Wow, looks like home!

If I didn't have this labeled as Wyoming, I would think it's southern SK.

If I didn’t have this labeled as Wyoming, I would think it’s southern SK.

The first part of the day was along I-25. If I had kept going north, I would have hit home. But instead, I turned east on route 18 to head to the Black Hills.

Snow on rooftops.

Snow on rooftops.

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but you can see on the GPS screen the state lines separating WY, NE, and SD.

It’s a little hard to see in the picture, but you can see on the GPS screen the state lines separating WY, NE, and SD.

SD also looks like SK. :)

SD also looks like SK. 🙂

It got colder the closer I got to Mount Rushmore, with snow on the ground, but the sky was clearer.

Blue sky!

Blue sky!

First mention of the Black Hills!

First mention of the Black Hills!

First mention of Mt. Rushmore!

First mention of Mt. Rushmore!

Snow on the ground as I get closer to Keystone.

Snow on the ground as I get closer to Keystone.

Tons of blue sky!

Tons of blue sky!

Approaching Mt. Rushmore.

Approaching Mt. Rushmore.

Entering Mt. Rushmore area (I saw Washington carved in stone just a moment later!).

Entering Mt. Rushmore area (I saw Washington carved in stone just a moment later!).

I actually saw Mount Rushmore as I drove past. I know of people who park illegally on the roadway to save on the parking fee and take a picture that way, but I’m going to do it properly.

Vicki was awaiting me when I got to her RV park. She pointed out that we could see Washington, Jefferson, and a bit of Lincoln from her spot! Too cool! We did the introductions and settling thing, enjoyed a bit of sun, and then she surprised me by making an amazing dinner, a much appreciated gesture! We’re both working tomorrow and Friday, but the weekend will be for adventuring.

(Sorry for two boring posts in a row, but you might as well get into it since I’ll be home soon! 🙂 )