10 Things I Learned on My Trip Out West

August 18, 2010

1. Grazing cattle in South Dakota are like eye candy. Feedlots in Nebraska are

like a scab on the earth. Related to this, when you drive by chicken farms in

Iowa and can't SEE a chicken, it's a bad sign. (Everyone heard about the

salmonella outbreak? Bet it came from one of those confinement operations!)

2. Buffalo don't like to be nudged off the road by your vehicle. It makes them

kick. (Actually, I suspected this would be so, but my husband saw the park

ranger do it and thought he could too!) Our vehicle is only slightly worse for

the wear, I theorize that it's because we were SO close that it couldn't get a

good wind-up.

3. A day horseback riding thru the Black Hills with Crazy Horse in the

background is a day well spent.

4. Mount Rushmore proves that Americans have ingenuity in our genes.

Such an amazing feat, and not one person died in the process!

5. If you are going in Wind Cave during a thunderstorm, it is prudent to make

sure they have a generator in case the lights go out. Or at least have a

flashlight...

6. You CAN still drink the water coming out of the ground in Hot Springs, SD AND

live to tell of it. It is even purported to have healing powers-the extra

lithium is bound to stabilize your mood anyhow!

7. The Badlands, however amazing (and they ARE!), really just look like they are

made of HUGE mounds of kitty litter. They smell chalky like it too.

8. When you arrive at your destination after a 12 hour drive and find they lost

your reservations, it all turns out OK when the proprietor offers you his

apartment- even if you do have to help change the sheets and he sleeps on the

couch.

9. Boulder, Colorado does a fabulous job at sustainability. The only thing I

threw away there was dental floss. But other parts of Colorado don't even

recycle-anything! This is a true statement.

I brought my recycling home with me.

10. The Royal Gorge in Canon City, CO is a beautiful and fun place to go on a

class 4 plus, all-day raft trip. And your cleavage (if you have some, or enough)

is a great place to hold onto your sunglasses when you jump off of the cliffs!

But sun protection is a requirement!

Kathy

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