We hit the road and left Custer around 1:30pm. Just for fun, we thought maybe we'd add a destination to our travels when we were passing Wind Cave National Park South of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills. We stopped into the visitor center to see how much the cave tours would cost. Even though they were affordable to us, they lasted an hour or more, depending on the tour you chose, and none were ready to go down again for at least an hour. We just didn't have that time to kill. Too bad because it would be pretty cool to check out one of America's great caves. And, if we're not mistaken, Wind Cave is one of the longest, or deepest, or something like that - it has some unique distinction. Perhaps we'll visit the Carlsbad Caverns on our way back to California in November.
The next destination on our map was the Chimney Rock National Historic Site near Scott's Bluff, Nebraska. From South Dakota to the site it took nearly five hours and by the time we arrived the Chimney Rock Visitor Center had been closed for an hour. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! We wanted to see the museum. We wanted to learn the rich history of the site. And, most importantly, where were we going to get our magnet souvenir to show we were there? The whole area surrounding Chimney Rock was closed for business around 7pm. Sheesh. What's with this town?
Anywho, for those who don't know what Chimney Rock is, Adam will fill you in. Chimney Rock is a large red clay mound with a thin, naturally formed spire rising from the center of it. It's in the middle of nowhere and it was of great importance to settlers on the Oregon Trail because it was a landmark to the progress of everyone who traveled it westward. The "chimney" or spire used to be taller and thinner but years back the tip was struck by lightning, toppling the narrow pin portion and reducing its height.
Trista, the original Settler of Catan, in front of the great Chimney Rock.
It was neat to see it, but disappointing that it was closed to visitors. So Adam was hellbent on finding a neighboring town that would proudly sell memorabilia of its famous landmark. Adam took us to seven different nearby stops to ask. Nope. Nothing. Not unless we wanted to travel twenty-five miles out of our way to the Scott's Bluff Visitor Center, another point of interest relating to the history of the Oregon Trail. Boo-hoo. Adam is determined to find a Chimney Rock magnet for his troubles, even if he has to call the Visitor Center at the site and have them mail him one, darn it.
We stopped after dark at what had to be Nebraska's only Denny's and had a large, greasy meal and about ten cups of coffee for Adam because we were planning on driving straight through the night to St. Louis. He was fairly wired and fidgety. We got to catch up some more on the blog from here and Adam got the chance to see a urinal with chewing tobaccy spit in it. That's when you really know where you are.
Meet us in St. Louis.
Passing Wind?
ReplyDelete