Iowa. Nebraska. A smattering of South Dakota. At least along our route, there is not much culinarily enlightening. I wonder how hard it is to NOT overwork mashed potatoes. And will I ever see hard ice cream again in this lifetime? We have left sweet tea behind us.
I notice the land changing again. We've left behind the corn and soy, and now it is strictly cattle, grazing, and growing hay. The topography (both visually and materially) has changed to land-locked sand dune mounds, covered with grass. It begins to look like an endless golf course, with more than the occasional sand trap!
And eeeewwwww!! The bugs! I thought they were bad going through Idaho’s evening. Not even close to these critters who insist on flying straight into our front grill, whereupon they are bar-b-q’d, and stink to high heaven; so much so that whenever we stop, the yellow jackets find us and buzz around. Yick and double-yick!!
We slid into the Mt. Rushmore Memorial area early evening. I had no idea how this was all laid out. The first town I read about was Keystone. It sounded quaint. I did a search for a motel… and the prices had risen steeply. I chose one w/ cute pine furniture.
OMG. As we drove into town I thought the State Fair had met Coney Island Boardwalk had met It’s a Small World! Workers’ trailers and tourist stores and eating places and motels were all crammed into every nook and cranny. Oh, and my rustic hotel? Not. Just crammed in there with all the other motels with a very small room. But it did have the pine furniture!
We thought we’d drive up the mountain and take a sunset look at Rushmore and continue on to dinner at the historic State Game Lodge. Once out of Keystone, it’s amazing and lovely and green.
After seeing the faces of Mt. Rushmore all my life, it truly is exciting to see them in realtime… even at a distance. Driving the 40 minutes to our dinner destination, I discovered Custer City, which is much more tame and a real town.
The Lodge is gorgeous and surrounded by forest and campgrounds and wildlife (bear, mountain goats, deer, and lots of wild turkeys all over the place!). The Forest Service employs students to work throughout the park. Our server was from Oregon City!
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