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Saturday, May 17th, 2008
dwaleberry
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4:36p
Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat
Holy. Fuck.
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dimethirwen
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8:28a
Day 5: Murdo, SD to Torrington, WY
We left Murdo a little after eight central time and headed west on 90. Twenty minutes outside of town, the time zone changed to mountain. We zipped along 90 with Ani DiFranco singing. The sky behind us was clear, and the sky in front of us was heavy with a thick layer of clouds. We watched the clouds apprehensively, but in another twenty minutes they dissipated, and the sky was a perfect, flawless shade of blue.
We passed by the first bison I have ever seen in my entire life outside of a zoo. Live bison, just chilling with other bison. It was freaking sweet.
We drove for about an hour; the signs for Wall Drug and The Badlands increased with alarming frequency, and by the time we saw the first evidence of The Badlands - the landscape breaking up into these small white hills - I was practically bouncing out of my seat.
We stopped at a gas station just outside of the entrance to the park to fill up. I got out to go to the bathroom, and this shaggy dog came running up to me. He butted his head against my hand and sat down on top of my feet, looking up at me with this huge doggy smile and two colored eyes. I pet him. Errol came over. "Does he have any tags?" he asked.
I checked. He had a worn leather collar, but nothing else.
"No," I said. My imagination went a little haywire. I imagined adopting this dog and taking him on the road with us! I could name him Dakota!
I went into the bathroom of the gas station. The dog followed me to the door, then stopped as I went inside. When I came back out, he was sitting at the far pump. I whistled lightly and he came bounding over. I pet him again.
"Don't you have a home?" I asked as his pink tongue lolled contentedly out of his mouth. I realized - practically - that there was no way I could take this dog with us. I pulled out my camera to take a picture.
A heavyset, grizzled man came walking out of the gas station and saw us.
"You want a picture? Here." He whistled and patted a large crate in the back of his pickup truck. The dog jumped up and leaped into the bed of the truck, jumping up on the crate and curling up like it was his bed.
"There ya go," the man said, and disappeared into the store. I took a picture.
"Thanks," I said, giving him one more pat before getting into the car. I never did find out his name.
We drove on to the Badlands. As we got closer to the park, we could see the... well, whatever they were. Mounds, hills, mountains - the steep white walls and organic, wind-and-water shaped formations - they were lovely.
(Note: I'm not posting every single Badland picture here. For more than what's here, check out The Next Great Adventure album.)
As we drove, two prairie dogs skittered across the road. I braked very, very hard, and when I got out, I realized that on either side of this particular stretch of pavement there were hundreds of prairie dog holes. They noticed my presence and began to chitter loudly. I took a few pictures and got back inside.
We also saw a snake!
The Badlands were just... incredible. Every time we turned a corner, Errol and I would just say "Oh... my god. Oh... my... god." As I stood on the overlooks, staring out over the hundreds of miles of inhospitable land, I tried to imagine not being just a tourist, looking at it from a paved road, but someone trying to cross this land for the first time. It was a terrifying thought.
We finished up the Badlands Loop. The exit took us to Wall, SD, home of the infamous Wall Drug. It was around lunchtime, so we figured "Why not?"
Wall Drug is an interesting experience. According to the historical information that I picked up, a man purchased the drug store in the 30s. When they didn't get any business (I know what you're thinking: a drug store in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota in the 30s wasn't getting any business?!), the wife of the proprietor had an idea - offer free ice water to motorists.
The result is a place that resembles a South Dakota style South of the Border experience. The billboards start from hundreds of miles away, the amount of stuff that they sell is staggering, and the cheesy, camp of it all is not to be missed. We had a fun time at Wall Drug.
(Also, if any of you understand the book reference that I am acting out by kissing the bison, you win a million points.)
After we left Wall Drug (with the complimentary "Have you dug Wall Drug?" bumper sticker on Beatrice's rear), we continued to drive on 90. As we got closer to Mount Rushmore, we could see the Black Hills looming in the distance. (We also kept passing patches of not-quite melted snow, which was bizarre, considering it was 70-something degrees outside.)
We started the crawl into the Black Hills. Beatrice was a trooper - only once did I feel her straining slightly with the climb. We went up higher and higher into the Black Hills, and they were lovely.
The billboards for all of these random attractions kept increasing as well (including one "mystery attraction," which we didn't stop at, despite the fact that I was incredibly tempted). We skipped over the Borglum museum (I can only take so much historical information in one day) and drove straight up to Mount Rushmore. But not before passing this sign:
Mount Rushmore was cool. It was, however, somewhat smaller than I'd imagined. I guess I'd always imagined that the heads would be HUGE, and they didn't seem that big. Still, it was neat. And very... American.
(Also, I think we can agree that Gutzon Borglum is the most unfortunate name ever, yes?)
We left Mount Rushmore and began the climb back down from the Black Hills. We passed through a town called Hot Springs that reminded me of Jim Thorpe, PA.
We also saw a whole herd of bison on the side of the road.
After an hour, we caught our first glimpse of Wyoming.
The cheesy billboards behind us, everything sort of opened up, and we were on a long, flat road going into a wide open space. We passed the Welcome to Wyoming sign, which was small and unobtrusive and hardly noticeable. It was, after all, dwarfed by the sky.
There was no cell phone reception for hundreds of miles. I felt cut off, but it wasn't bad or scary, just strange.
The open space of Wyoming is dizzying. It's just a huge sky and a road, and you occasionally pass hills or trees and fences but it's always just... open space.
We drove and drove. I nodded off to sleep for a bit. We pulled into Torrington around five-thirty, checked into our hotel, and then went out for dinner.
And now! I need to take a shower and go have breakfast and get ready to get on the road again. Today we're seeing Rocky Mountain National Park, which is going to be SO AWESOME. I'm really excited.
Love you all!
current mood:  awake
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(1 comment | comment on this) Friday, May 16th, 2008
brokencow
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6:59p
I was staring at you tonight in the car, but a fake stare -- where you pretend to be looking a liiiiittle towards them, but ahead. And I noticed your eye from the profile. There was a shield surrounding where it meets the air; It was a blanket of tears that keeps what's exposed from drying out and becoming irritated. The longer I stared, the thicker the blanket appeared. I thought to myself, "Are you about to cry?", "Whyyyy? Whyyy won't you tell me what is wrong?".
If only you could see how caring about you is an endeavor which repeatedly sails through my consciousness. In doing so, it unfailingly re-outlines an entirely new blueprint for me on how to become a better person, and more importantly, a better friend from the empathy you trigger within me. As I sat there beside you, I concentrated on the blanket that had me transfixed, and finally broke my fake stare in exchange for a real one, a noticeable one. Hoping that you would feel its presence, you still remained motionless, face forward, yet still vulnerable to blinking. Not once did you gamble with time to share your glance in acknowledgment.
The blunt staring wasn't just an accidental detour from my usual, stealth lurking. It was surprisingly on purpose because of the empathy steroids your company prescribes me. Just like a bodyguard, I latched onto the sadness blanketing your gaze, and grappled that enemy into reverse. Because you see: even if you hadn't met my eyes just because you needed to ignore me, I knew it was for you to stay strong. And with me staring at you, it beckoned an even greater reason for you to hold your ground. That is why, at that moment, I shamed the criticism behind what is "staring" and its granted reputation. Staring, my staring, had liberated you from a breach along the blanket, which would only have tail-spun your reality into an impressionist painting. It was with staring that confusion could finally be polished, and despite expectations of provoking more stress into the situation, doing so instead precipitated harmony and had wholly deflated the incident. So with that said, "With you, I am there, helping you to stay positive, I am," as though Yoda were to say it, but in non-fiction, that is.
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(comment on this) Saturday, May 17th, 2008
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dan_lane
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8:33a
Heading into Greenwich for a "picnic"
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fateplan
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9:20a
OUCH.
Doesn't matter what your politics are, this is PAINFUL
And thanks to ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mrshannibal
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charissa75
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2:53p
maya gold chocolate
pindakaasdeluxe bought me Maya Gold Chocolate by Green & Blacks. Only just opened the package and am loving it.
Where did you buy this?
Bio/Eko-store/organicstores?
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prakriti
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1:39p
Diet - Kick off
I kicked off my diet in grand style last night by promptly puking at the restaurant last night.
Both stalls were occupied, so I threw up into the sink. Not very nice, but there you go. Today, so far, I've managed to eat a tiny bit of sushi rice and 2 bites of teriyaki steak. As diets go, its a success.
I highly recommend this stomach virus. If you want it, I'm happy to lick you.
current mood: stomach crampy and ouchy
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colsanders
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4:15a
Comedy and Money
I've been going to comedy clubs quite frequently now. Just about every week. Today I'm going to See Tom Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future) and Joe Rogan. God, I love Joe Rogan! Norm MacDonald appeared recently, as well as Robin Williams. It's all so inspiring that I'm forcing myself to write again. I found out that Jay actually took a comedy class as LBSC. wtf?!?!Time to step it up and get my ass to the Icehouse.
I fixed my car and it finally passed smog. $480 for everything. I later find out that the tickets I recieved were just warnings so TECHNICALLY I didn't have to fix my car. Better that I have my tags though, right? My mom was late on paying our insurance and wouldn't you know, I got pulled over. I just paid the ticket yesturday and it came out to $1048. So, about $1500 total spent this week. Not so good times.
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decrepit_doll
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7:18a
fun pics! (X-posted to notall_beauty)
Here are some pictures of when me and the boy (Ty) went to florida and stayed at my dad's to see Sunfest, a big outdoor music and art event with about 5 bands playing. There was all sorts of different music and art and my dad was out of town most of the time so we got to take advantage of his swank apartment. The balcony in his place looked over the festival, so it was awesome. The bad part was that i got ill, so i didn't get to see the Black Crows, which i was really excited to see. Oh well.
There are also some other pics of Ty's new nephew/Godson (Dylan), and some other randomness thrown in.
Teaser Pic
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adijin
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7:07p
I YAM WHAT I YAM!
current music: Yoko Kanno - Nobuo's Groove I
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wolfeskitchen
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4:39a
In case I forgot to mention it...
Today is Kitty Fred's birthday!!!
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