How the West Was Won
Greetings from Buffalo Wyoming. Hanna and I have just endured a trek across vast nothingness with the morning spent driving (and cycling) through America's least populous state and now find ourselves reviving in a coffee shop with free internet staring at the massive Bighorn mountains just ahead. Since we last wrote, we have journeyed through Wisconsin (America's most obese state according to our guidebook) which surprised us with beautiful rolling hills and a couple of wonderful sunsets as we got closer to the Mississippi River. Minnesota was next, where we stayed with Hanna's lanky witty friend and Minneapolis's newest resident, Kevin Wiseman. We enjoyed the pit stop as we drove around at least three of Minnasota's 10,000 lakes and then were off to South Dakota.
The lower of the two Dakotas brought us to the Badlands, a section of the country that former presidents had ceded to Native American Tribes as their desolation must have felt appropriate to these now dead white men for what clearly was seen as a lesser population for the country. Ironically tribes were also given portions of the Black Hills for the same reason but when gold was discovered there years later, it quickly came back under the control of the federal government. Ah history. Both the Badlands and the Black Hills served us with amazing vistas, and relaxing, more nature oriented camping than the east had.
As we arrived in the Badlands National Park and drove from one end of the other in search of the free "primitive" campsite, we were treated to one of the most incredible displays of lightning that I can remember. Over each crest there was an even more impressive view of blackened sky giving way to fingers of light stretching over the eerie and seemingly otherworldly cliffs of the terrain. Passing a herd of Buffalo on our last mile to the campsite sealed the otherworldly feeling that the park was giving us. The next day (yesterday) we were in Custer State Park (a state park inside of the Black Hills National Park system) for the night at a site just off of a lake with jutting boulders that seemed to grow like giant trees from the depths of the lake. We read on the lake and I climbed a few boulders to warm up for a quick late-afternoon swim in the cold South Dakota waters. This was all after a day of headspinning autotourism where we took in sweeping views from the highest terrain Brinkman Rose had faced (he's holding up well). We got our democracy on as we took in the heads of four American Presidents quite impressively carved into Mt Rushmore. All in all a full and appreciated day as we fell into sleep after a great concoction Hanna cooked up and some professional marshmellow roasting on what I can only describe as my most successful and painful fire yet, that is to say that the wood burned nicely only after hitting me in the face as I attempted to break large pieces into smaller peices (major injury was avoided but my nose still hurts).
We are being beckoned back to the highway and will write more when we can.
One request from anybody reading...Even if you don't want to write comments, send us some recipes that you have found successful from any camping (or otherwise primitive cooking experiences). We have found some great ones and always would appreciate more ideas flowing our way!
The lower of the two Dakotas brought us to the Badlands, a section of the country that former presidents had ceded to Native American Tribes as their desolation must have felt appropriate to these now dead white men for what clearly was seen as a lesser population for the country. Ironically tribes were also given portions of the Black Hills for the same reason but when gold was discovered there years later, it quickly came back under the control of the federal government. Ah history. Both the Badlands and the Black Hills served us with amazing vistas, and relaxing, more nature oriented camping than the east had.
As we arrived in the Badlands National Park and drove from one end of the other in search of the free "primitive" campsite, we were treated to one of the most incredible displays of lightning that I can remember. Over each crest there was an even more impressive view of blackened sky giving way to fingers of light stretching over the eerie and seemingly otherworldly cliffs of the terrain. Passing a herd of Buffalo on our last mile to the campsite sealed the otherworldly feeling that the park was giving us. The next day (yesterday) we were in Custer State Park (a state park inside of the Black Hills National Park system) for the night at a site just off of a lake with jutting boulders that seemed to grow like giant trees from the depths of the lake. We read on the lake and I climbed a few boulders to warm up for a quick late-afternoon swim in the cold South Dakota waters. This was all after a day of headspinning autotourism where we took in sweeping views from the highest terrain Brinkman Rose had faced (he's holding up well). We got our democracy on as we took in the heads of four American Presidents quite impressively carved into Mt Rushmore. All in all a full and appreciated day as we fell into sleep after a great concoction Hanna cooked up and some professional marshmellow roasting on what I can only describe as my most successful and painful fire yet, that is to say that the wood burned nicely only after hitting me in the face as I attempted to break large pieces into smaller peices (major injury was avoided but my nose still hurts).
We are being beckoned back to the highway and will write more when we can.
One request from anybody reading...Even if you don't want to write comments, send us some recipes that you have found successful from any camping (or otherwise primitive cooking experiences). We have found some great ones and always would appreciate more ideas flowing our way!
3 Comments:
btw have you ever heard lightning through the radio? try it next time.
sadly, i have never successfully cooked anything while camping. sniff...
Darlings - remember the versatile pancake! Get a really good multigrain mix if you don't already have it, then add anything you want or have . . . berries, real or soy bacon bits, bananas, orange juice, coconut, peanut butter, chocolate chips, favorite jam (I highly recommend getting all of these for the long norther trip), and whatever else you find locally. My odd college roommate Chuck always made extra pancakes to take for lunch, which tasted crappy because they were Bisquick, except actually aren't bad if multipgran and you're hiking. Except maybe, I'm thinking, don't add fish. Since you guys are city dudes and didn't take fishing rods and fishing licenses cost money anyway, try REAL hard to have something to trade for trout, etc., with anyone you find fishing in northern Canada or Alaska. Saute/grill the fish separately on your pancake griddle/fry pan, dredged with a little pancake batter or cracker crumbs & salt & pepper, and get a bottle of lemon juice dribble on top - it's also good to add to water with a little salt and sugar to keep away dehydration when hiking. Mom
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