Black Hills Magic
Sep 7 – After a much needed rest at Billy and Lisa’s, we had planned on tackling the Winds. But an early arctic blast forced us to reconsider. Wildfires also closed off some cool Colorado options, as they already have California ones. Sad face. The best weather alternative was the Black Hills, so we angled thru Nebraska, spending a night in Crawford City Park in the depressed NW corner of that state as the snow front moved thru. We were, it turns out, fortunately placed on the leeward side of the hills, as the snowfall was much worse as we moved north to Hot Springs.
The highpoint of Nebraska’s largely desolate prairie was the Agate Fossil Beds Nat. Monument, where a shit-ton of Eocene- and Miocene-era fossils (most famously the Palaeocasteor a sort of dry land beaver that lived in colonies and dug corkscrew burrrows that are somehow preserved in the bluffs, as well as early rhinos, horses and mammoths) were first discovered.
Then the Platte River and Falls city there, before heading back to SD, or is this our first time visiting?
Mammoth Site is worth a look, but the fake paleontologists–HS kids gripping about the dust as they shoveled on show for us–kinda ruined it for one of us. Karyssa thought it was cute.
Wind Cave NP disappointed, as their elevators have been broke dick since 2019 and are still awaiting parts–“they’re really old, ok?” – Also, I’m pretty sure they had the fullest porta-potties I’ve ever used.
Sep 8 – Then Custer State Park and the famous Needles Hwy–the road they said couldn’t be built–thru the Black Hills.
It’s no wonder that Native American peoples held the Black Hills up as sacred, as they are unique.
We ended the day with a quick visit to Mount Rushmore Natl Memorial, though the jingoism has been elevated since my first visit with Nancy (Nick’s first wife).
Rapid City has definitely jumped on that band-wagon, with statues of white guys on every corner, but still ranks amongst the cooler towns we’ve stayed at. The historic Andrew Johnson hotel downtown was cheap, and lifted pet fees for us, and then put us in room 812, which the concierge insisted we google, but I have no reason why.
Sep 9 – We avoided Sturgis, now a Covid hot spot and for obvious reasons–we aren’t mindless Trumpers, basically–but Deadwood and Lead (pronouned “leed” btw, as it was named for a thread of gold leading to an ore deposit) were a trip, especially the latter.
I’ve started a book, From Nuggets to Neutrinos, by Steven Mitchell, so more on this later, but it documents the Homestake mine, the main one in Lead, which produced an unbelievable 41m ozs of gold over its 125-year history (as well as huge amounts of silver and other precious metals). It now houses the Sanford Deep Underground Lab where they search for neutrinos and dark matter. The open cut, reminiscent of Butte’s but without the water, is only 2,000 feet deep, one quarter of the depth of the mine itself.
[Yeah, okay, so it is all that, but listen. The Black Hills is described as “an island of evergreen forest in a sea of high-priarie grasslands.” I cannot think of a better description.
Back before the 1870s, the Black Hills belonged to the Lakotas (aka Sioux). European Americans at one point had permission from the Lakota to use their land in order to get from the east of the US to the west. But, eventually, the European Americans began to destroy the land by bringing their cattle through. The cattle would eat all the grass. This forced the buffalo to graze elsewhere, which forced the Lakota to move with them because the buffalo was their main source of food clothing utensils, tools, and shelter.
So the Lakota were like, “Naw, fam. This ain’t cool. We’re letting you use our land because we didn’t want no shit from the US, but if y’all gonna come up in here and destroy our land regardless, then we’re not gonna just stand by and watch.” So they started attacking the people who passed through. Eventually the US was like, “Like… okay… but no. Like that shit ain’t cool with us either.”
Thus the Treaty of Laramie came about, in 1851, but it was quickly broken when dang frigging Custer came along and was like, “Oh, don’t mind me with my gold miners and lack of construction crew to build a fort that I originally said was the reason we came hereeeee. Teehee!”
Dick move, Custer.
So, they find gold and Custer’s like, “Yo, wouldn’t it be hilarious if a messenger got the word out that there’s gold here? That way that pesky treaty won’t prompt the government to keep it hidden and the civilians will just rush on over here.” So, that’s what they did. And listen, I’m not over here tryna judge anyone, but rude. Like, just not cool, man.
So President Grant was like, “Oh, for real, for real? They got gold? Okay, well, listen, we need that shit. So here’s what’s up. Imma let the civilians go for it. Then the natives will be so overwhelmed by the influx of people that they’ll attack and break the treaty. And then we can attack back and take their land. No biggie. Totes got this.” Word for word, man.
And that’s basically how we got to mining the shit out of this Homestake mine in Lead City.
My grandpa once saw this huge hotel had gone up in Destin where there used to be like a shit ton of live oaks, along the harbour. It was a really beautiful spot and peaceful. Naturally, he was upset about it. Upon seeing it he commented, “This monstrosity is the latest disgusting display of human greed.” And that’s what I immediately think of when I see this mine.
It’s a 2000ft deep pit where a mountain used to be, and below that is an additional 6000ft of tunnels that were responsible for the serious pollution of 17 miles of water that runs downstream.
The EPA was like, “Look… y’all… What the fuck. Ya can’t just be coming in here, making your fortunes, and leave the water looking like shit.” So this guy was like, “Oh, dude. Don’t even worry about it. I got this.” And he found bacteria growing near the end of the polluted waters and saw that it was consuming the iodine and iron. So he’s all, “Bet. Imma breed this bacteria like how a fancy aristocrat breeds poodles.” And he made a bacteria that could handle the massive quantities of pollution.
Unfortunately, that didn’t totally get rid of all the contaminates, as there is still higher than average levels of arsenic in the waters downstream. So, that’s shitty. The Native Americans are quoted as saying that gold was “The yellow metal that they worship and that makes them crazy.”
BUT!!! This place is also being used now in the search for neutrinos and even dark matter itself. Huge labs, with ultra-sensitive detectors housed in house-sized pools of H3O some three miles beneath the ground.]
Sep 10 – The next day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we headed to the amazing geological museum at the School of Mines where we spent hours on their fossils and rocks.
So, the word is that the plesiosauria (a.k.a. my absolute favorite prehistoric animal – because it’s cute, obvi) and all marine mammals (not that the plesiosauria was a mammal) evolved from being a land animal! Like, what?! Why wouldn’t it have evolved from the water? Amiright? Like, I would’ve thought that because all our ancestors were marine dwellers, that the plesiosauria would’ve just evolved from a marine animal (like a sponge to a fish or something). But it’s like evolution an’ shit, so, doesn’t have to make logical sense to these glacial processes.
Fun facts! One of my favorite fishes is the sturgeon because it hasn’t changed since the Triassic era. It has these bony plates that stick out its sides that are so sharp that if you were to touch one, it would cut you. They’re also extremely heavy! Because they never changed, they never evolved cartilage! Cartilage is lighter and more flexible than bone. We have it in our bodies. And, so do most fish! Including sharks! It’s frigging wild, man.
Anyway…
We also saw the jaw bone of a cat-sized deer. Oh. I’m sorry. Your lack of reaction tells me you must not have heard me right. I said a CAT-SIZED DEER Y’ALL!!! Then there was a horse the size of a Collie. I’m deceased.
Okay, so then we saw a synthetoceras tricornatus. It had the three horns and looked kinda like a deer, except smaller and with a broader body (think Australian Cattle Dog or a Pitbull). Two of the horns were near its ears, like a goat. But! ALLLLSSOOO!! It had this ridiculously long “Y” shaped horn in the middle of its nose! See below!
Their closest living relative is the camel, and they hail from Texas, believe it or not! They were the last of the protoceratid and went extinct around 5.3 million years ago.
OH! Dude! Y’all remember how I was telling you about how I love the plesiosaur?! Okay, well, it wasn’t just because. I just forgot along the way that we saw a BABY plesiosaur!!! A BAYYYYYYYBEEEEEEEE!!! <3 Ughhh!
There are only a few skeletons of a baby plesiosaur and these people had the best one, so they say. They found it in Antartica. So witttttllleeee!
And, lastly, this wasn’t a fossil we saw, but is just a fun fact that we read: “The clouded leopard is the only living cat with Saber-Tooth adaptations. It possesses elongated upper canines, like nimravids, barbourofelids, and marchairodontines (all extinct cats, according to Google). However, the leopard also has the elongated lower canines that are not seen in any other Saber-Tooth species.”
After learning all those factoids, it was back west towards our next goal, the Devils Tower. We found a Forest Service Road near Aladdin where K serenaded the Angus with some Joni Mitchell.
We lit a fire, but woke up to the coldest temps experienced in the van as of yet: 28 degrees.
Devils Tower was pretty neat. We couldn’t hope to regurgitate even a vague idea of how it was formed.
It’s sacred to Native Americans and the prayer cloths that line the trees are evidence of the fact. Some tribes make an annual pilgrimage to the area that takes five days to walk there. Rock climbing, while a popular activity that captivate the tourists walking around there, is controversial due to the rock’s sacredness. In fact, Outside Online has a great article on it.
The Badlands NP, like Glacier, is half-administered by first peoples, and so is only half open, but we drove the Sage Rim road and dug the pinnacles and the most iconic parts of the park, or at least the northern portion of it. When we tried to access the southern part, we were politely turned around by the Sioux. The colors here were unbelievable.
We also went off-road at a recreation area and stayed on one of the hills. It was amazing that we were even allowed to drive on such beautiful lands.
It’s bizarre to think that the tribes have to worry about infectious diseases from whitey, in 2020, but it’s also understandable because smallpox. And they have a current cause for concern as well, considering so many tribes have been affected by Covid, and their communities are so tight-knit. However, due to data constraints that are disproportionately affecting natives, nobody really knows to what degree this is.
On the 19th anniversary of 9/11 and with thoughts on friends of family lost that day, we turned homeward, and East and South. We drove across SD, as far as Sioux Falls, and then turned south back to the Missouri River at Vermillion, having re-supplied and picnicked at a town so small and insignificant that it shall remain un-named throughout history. Amen.
We stopped writing around this time, and so the rest will be from memory and from Googling the things we want more information on. What happened between the 11 and the 15 is mostly a mystery. But it’s a mystery because we probably didn’t do anything to write home about, other than visit to Omaha, NE to see some old Air Force friends and a visit to the Indiana Dunes on the 14th. So we didn’t.
Okay, so here’s the thing. On the 15th we went to Chicago, right? And guess the fuck what. We’re walking around this park and we got yelled at for having dogs. And then we go to try to walk around the park with the kidney bean thing, and the entrance says, “No dogs.” Like, what the fuck kind of dog-hating hell hole is Chicago?! Some bullshit.
So, then we’re strolling around, tryna find something to do and decide, the Wabash Arts Corridor sounds legit. Let’s check it out! We walk the like half mile or so down the street and get to the literal street that it’s on, and a block away all we hear is “bam! bam! baadddrrrrrm!” So I’m just like, “Umm, about face!” And this guy comes sprinting out from the road yelling, “They’re not killing me today!” I chuckled and thought, “I hear you! Leggo!” when Nick honestly says, “Let’s go check it out.”
Naw, fam. “Umm, first of all nobody wants to be a witness to anything because that’s how you get shot. Second of all, your first instinct should be to run away from the gun shots, not towards them. Fuckin’ white guy.” This would be your reaction. Smh.
Naturally, I got to wondering like, what happened with all that? And I have no idea. Couldn’t find a news report, but I think it’s because there’s so many shootings in Chicago that this one was either minor in comparison or just got lost by all the subsequent ones later.
Anyway, then we went to a restaurant recommended by Nick’s bro, Pete, so I could try my first ever deep dish pizza. And, look. It was good, okay? But where’s the competition between that and NY pizza? Like, how did deep dish ever think it was a question is all I want to know.
So, we survived Chicago and headed south to Kentucky on the 16th, where we met up with Joel, who is Nick’s friend from college. He hadn’t seen him in like 30+ years, but will never walk alone as they’re both Liverpool FC supporters. Up da reds!
We talked about politics and work and vanlife and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) – mostly about how she was back in the hospital. But I was sure he must’ve been talking about the hospital visit from two weeks ago, and she had been back since then. I was sure of myself because I often Google her name every week to every two weeks because I’m always fearful that she’s going to die any minute. But, turns out he was right. She was in the hospital.
Joel also offered for us to stay at his cabin that he had an hour or so south of there, in the Daniel Boone Nat Forest, which we were going to take him up on the next day. But later that night Hurricane Sally made landfall near Pensacola.
Nick was getting pretty anxious about whether or not his dad was alright, as he hadn’t heard from him and couldn’t get ahold of him. So, we turned down the gracious offer and headed home. We ended up staying the night at Nantahala National Forest where gypsy moth caterpillars were hatching from their nests. We took a video, but neither one of us are computer savvy enough to know how to post that here. So, if you wanna see it, check us out on Facebook.
The next day (18), we stop by a Lowes or Home Depot in Georgia (because we’re worried there won’t be any in southern Alabama) and get a generator for his dad, as well as a gas can. We’re about 20 minutes from his dad’s house when the Bluetooth lets me know I have a new text from my sister “Kas-an-drah” (as the Bluetooth pronounces it). I have it read it to me and hear, “Omg. Truth!” I think it’s odd because I don’t remember having said anything that would cause for her to agree with me so emphatically. But I assume I must’ve forgotten what I had said earlier.
We get to his dad’s house, and see his lights are on. I’m like, “What the heck. >.<‘ How long has he had power?!” Turns out, only an hour. So, that made it okay.
I get back in the car and Kasandrah’s text is bothering me. So, I finally look at my phone and see the text. “OMG!!!! Ruth!!!!!” And literally everything seems to have stilled. I already know before I type “Ruth” into the search engine.
Nick comes into the van and says, “What’s wrong?”
“Kasandrah’s text said, ‘Omg, Ruth. Not omg, truth.'”
The rest of Ruth’s name is auto filled from having looked her up so many times. And the page loads and I read, “Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87.” And even though I knew it must have been accurate – because why else would a credible news network write that – I thought, “Maybe they were wrong. Maybe she’s just sicker than normal. Maybe someone else will say different.” Yet every link that came up said the same thing.
Nick asked what happened. And I just shook my head.
He put his hand on my shoulder and seemed at a loss for words. All he could manage was, “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.” And that was all I could hear. Anything else would’ve made me angry.
I kept getting frustrated with myself for getting so upset. She was 87, after all. But she is my hero, and I never had one of those before. So, I really didn’t know what the appropriate response was, if I was being dramatic and extra. I assumed I was. But it still hurt.
“Well, just because she’s dead doesn’t mean all her worth is dead too. She’s still an ideal you can aim for. Everything you looked up to is still there. There’s really no point in being upset over it,” I tried reasoning with myself.
The first of the three weeks I spent at my sister’s was filled with me catching up on “Legend of Korra” and trying to understand my feelings and process RBG’s death – that she could die, that the status of “hero” didn’t grant immunity from death.
Nick, meanwhile, was helping my bro-in-law with hurricane clean up, yard work, and home projects. While we were there we got to see how hard it was for my sister to have her kids in virtual school, especially with her youngest having severe ADHD.
At one point her oldest was fighting with her rather intensely, and I just wanted to quote “Working Moms” by shouting, “Shut up, you monster! Your mother is a goddamn angel!” But I suppose that wouldn’t have helped the situation.
Staying at my sister’s is always a relief because I relish in our bonding moments, and it fills some void within, hanging out with her and her family.
Savannah playing with a cat in the background 
Daila and I being punks
Also, since living away from my whole family for four years, I seem to be making up for lost time by spending almost all of my free time with my sisters, cousin, parents, and auntie and gramma and then recuperating from spending time with so many people. As such, I’ve also neglected almost all of my friends in the area. Though, I did get to see one of them!
October 8th through the 10th was basically a non-stop bonding session between me, my best friend, and one of our friends from middle and high school while we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to make sure we were ready for our mutual best friend’s wedding. It was a lot of fun to reconnect.
After the wedding, on Oct 11 we got back on road! Back to where we belong! Stay tuned for more! <3