I Went On A Vacation and Forgot To Tell Y’all About It

Tonight while waiting for the race to get rolling again, I was going through the pictures on my computer and realized I never told y’all about the vacation That Man and I took.  Probably because I was laid off two days before we left. Yep, two days before vacation I got laid off.  Should have been a sign but nooooo.  We had it all planned out and a major little economic set back be damned!

We left on Than Man’s 50th birthday and headed north to Springfield MO so he could go to the Bass Pro Shop. Disappointment #1.  It must have been damaged during all the storms in Joplin because it was nothing like it used to be.  The look on That Man’s face was almost heartbreaking.  No more wildlife displays. No more stream through the store.  Nothing at all like the last time he had been there. 

Sunday we leave MO and start making our way to South Dakota.  Even with the Bass Pro Shop fiasco and no employment hanging over my head, it’s still a great trip.  Until…his new truck leaves us stranded.  Stranded thirty miles outside of the Badlands. The day the first note on the truck was due.  Disappointment #2.  We had to wait for a tow truck to come from Rapid City.  It was so deserted, only 4 vehicles passed us in the 2.5 hours we waited. As in this deserted.

The tow truck finally arrived and we then had a two hour ride back to Rapid City.   Did you know tow trucks are pretty rough riding vehicles?  Especially when this is your view from the back window:

 

After a little supper and a good night’s sleep, we were able to pick up the rental car and try to salvage the vacation. First stop (SOOC, or i-Phone as it may be),

Next stop, Crazy Horse Monument.  If you’ve never been to Mt. Rushmore, it’s not near as big as you think it is.  The Crazy Horse Monument, once complete, will be large enough that Mt Rushmore will fit on the head of Crazy Horse.  Amazeballs it was. 

We ended up having to stay in Rapid City for three days until they replaced the fuel pump in the truck, but it wasn’t a total loss.  That Man had been to this area of SD before so he was a great tour guide. 

NOTE:  I didn’t get to see Michael Ballard, Angie, the Flaunt Girls or Jessie Dupree.  If you don’t watch ‘Full Throttle Saloon’, nothing I just wrote makes any sense.

After Sturgis, we went to Deadwood where we had dinner at Kevin Costner’s restaurant, Diamond Lil’s and then visited the gravesites of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

 

Y’all know how we like to just get in the car (or truck) and just end up somewhere?  Even in a different state, we do the same thing.  We turned off the main road and started driving through the mountains.  Look what we found:

If you’ve seen the movie, you know when Kevin Costner and Mary McDonnell are leaving at the end of the movie and the Indian Brave is riding on the ridge above them? 

That would be this ridge right here.  Pretty cool, huh?

We spent the rest of the afternoon at a roadside stream where we saw so many trout you couldn’t even begin to count them.  It was amazing.  And I took what I think is my new favorite picture of That Man, since he is not the most cooperative photo subject. 

 (Yes Michelle, his cap does in fact say “Choot ‘Em”)

Well, if you’ve made it through this entire picture-heavy post, then leave me a comment so I can send you a prize.  And get ready.  I’ve been working for Liberty Tax the last few months and I’ve got a few posts about the crazy wavers ready for you.  And they’re doozies.  The race is back on and I’m hoping he-who-will-not-be-named-so-as-not-to-jinx-it can pull off a win so I'm going to call it a night.

Have a great Tuesday and I promise to post more regularly/frequently, with more snarkiness bitterness humor. 

Toodles!