On the Oregon Trail

The most frequently asked questions on this leg of the trip have been, "Could we ford this river?" and "See that mountain? Should we double-team the oxen or use ropes and chains?" (That last question sounds a bit dirty, out of Oregon trail context.) Once we even had heavy dust from the cars ahead. Luckily, we have an AC system that filters it, so we didn't have to wait for conditions to improve before continuing.

Since last I posted we have driven across South Dakota and Wyoming, a total of 740 miles as the crow flies, but many more on the little winding roads of Wyoming. For a good chunk of the trip we were following the Oregon trail. After seeing the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, which smelled sweetly of corn all over, we took I-90 across South Dakota towards Rapid City. We stopped at the famous Wall Drug (Free ice water! Cowboy boots! A T-Rex in the back!) and then made a detour down to the Badlands National Park. We reached Rapid City around dinnertime and ate at an Outback Steakhouse (gotta love fake Australian food). We decided to stay for two nights in Rapid City, so that we could have a day to tour around the area.

Our day in the Rapid City area began with a drive down to Hot Springs, an old west looking town with The Mammoth Site. The Mammoth Site is a paleontologist's dream! Thousands of years ago a cave collapsed creating a sinkhole. The sinkhole filled with water and the shale sides of the hole made it slippery, but the water was warm year round so even in the winter grass grew on the sides of the hole. Mammoths looking for an easy lunch would fall into the water and were unable to climb back out, died, and then were fossilized. There are TONS of mammoths in there, and the fossils are all in situ-- as they were found. Most of them are Columbian mammoths, but two Woollys were also found.

Next we drove up to Wind Cave National Park and took a tour of Wind Cave. This cave is a sacred place to the Lakota and Sioux tribes. According to our guide, the Lakota believe that their ancestors came from the cave, and the Sioux believe that the buffalo came from the cave. Because of its sacred status, the tribes never entered the cave. The excavations on the cave were begun by a 16 year old boy around 1890, and have continued since then. It's an odd cave-- no stalagmites or stalactites, no bats-- but really pretty and incredibly complex. After our tour of Wind Cave we headed up to Custer, SD and had lunch at a cute little restaurant called "The Purple Pie Place" and then drove past Mount Rushmore, because it seems like something you just have to see if you're in the area.

The next day we were off to Wyoming! We were planning to meet my dad at Jackson Hole on Wednesday, but otherwise we weren't too excited about Wyoming. It seemed like a hard state to traverse and there was nothing we particularly wanted to see on our path. But then! We saw a sign for Independence Rock, tweaked our route a bit, and suddenly we were on the Oregon Trail! I loved this game when I was... well, I still love this game. I have played it as recently as two years ago. So with every passing sign post I could say, "I remember that!" My mom and I stopped at Independence Rock to see where the emigrants had inscribed their names on the side 150+ years ago, and we passed Devil's Gate, Split Rock, and Ice Slough (which apparently doesn't make ice anymore due to irrigation devices... boooo). It was amazing. We crossed the North Platte River and the Sweetwater River. It really felt like a slice of history that I had never thought to actually experience outside of my PC.

We stopped for the night in Riverton, WY, and had dinner at an AMAZING local restaurant called Perret's. We had their honey-wheat dough pizza and a red-bell pepper sauce fettuccine with chicken. I haven't been so happy with food in a really, really long time. I plan to attempt that red-bell pepper sauce as soon as I have a kitchen again.

Then on Wednesday, we arrived in Jackson Hole! We passed through the Shoshone National Forest, through a few small old west-y looking towns which had me quoting John Wayne movies ("Stand aside Martin." "No, Ethan. ETHAN NO YOU DON'T!"), and into Grand Teton National Park. We met up with my dad, and went into town for dinner. We had a pint and a s'more at this amazing restaurant called Snake River Brewery and Pub. I'm hoping we get to go back there again today.

Right now, though, I am spending a day relaxing at the Lodge, trying to finish Game of Thrones, and drinking coffee while overlooking the mountains. Life is good.

Tomorrow, Idaho! And maybe Oregon, too! (Thanks for reading these long posts!)