South Dakota

It all began with an e-mail, a dream, a vision. 4900 miles later, it was going to be the greatest roadtrip of all time. Although the mileage was slashed down to just 3200, it has still stood as a great achievement worthy of inclusion on this blog. Of course, I could speak of the many years (over 50) my family has been returning to the Black Hills for our summers and several Christmas holidays or even of the two years my wife and I spent stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, helping support the B-1B Lancer mission. Instead, though, I think it would be much more fitting to reflect on this great event, truly a collegesque affair that occured in the fall of 2000.

As the e-mail states, the original trip was to be a pretty daunting trip to cover in four days, with only 200 miles overlapped. After votes were taken and motions put up on the floor, the final trip ended up being a mad dash to the Black Hills, a couple nights spent at my family’s cabin, and a mad dash return home. The driving was 24-hours straight both ways and we spent a lot of time in the Black Hills looking at the sites and taking in the glory of God. It ended up being a truly awesome trip with some great friends from church and school. To make the trip happen, we rented a “Rent-a-Wreck” minivan that turned out to be the perfect fit for our trip.

We also brought loads of DOCTOR THUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNDEERRRRRRRRRR and a “Yard-o-Beef”. Our route took us through GA, TN, KY, IL, MO, IA, SD, and back. One of the more noteworthy stops was at Metropolis, IL, where we got our picture taken with Superman sometime in the middle of the night. In the end, though, the goal was the great state of South Dakota. It is the home of the Corn Palace, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Badlands, and let’s not forget - Taco John’s, the greatest mexican fast food joint in the whole country! The attendees of this great trip were so impressed with this eaterie, that we still use the expression, “Thank you, Taco John’s” as a sign of approval for certain heinous acts. The trip overall, was awesome and I always look back at that time with a smile. It is just one of many reasons why South Dakota is one of my favorite places in the “Lower 48″.