Nomadic 2005 ‐ Everyone repeat after me: Medo is not a jeep.

2005-10-05

Rapid City, South DakotaMorning brought 34 degrees inside the car and four inches of snow outside. I'm glad I bought that big sleeping bag. After an hour or so of running the heater most of the ice and snow melted off, and I was able to hit the road. (Perhaps I should buy a scraper?) I must admit, those little front-wheel drive cars handle well in the snow.

Weather not cooperating with my plans, I headed over to Mount Rushmore to see what there was to see. And I saw what you'd expect.

I killed a little time in Hill City and then headed back into the Black Hills for a little driving around.

I met a guy scouting for mountain lions. People hunt them here. I guess that would make them angrier.

The Black Hills are criss-crossed by roads ranging from paved to gravel to grass to large sharp stones. Due to the snow, I avoided the grass roads, because I knew I'd get good and stuck. If I was only intelligent enough to avoid the sharp stones. So for the second time in as many days I found myself with a flat tire. Unfortunately, I destroyed this one. So for the third time in as many days I visited the local Wal-Mart Supercenter Tire and Lube Department. I'm getting pretty good at changing those tires.

Slightly discouraged, more tired of the cold, and increasingly numb concerning my shattered budget, I got a cheap hotel room for the night--cheap, but much nicer than anyplace I stayed while in Florida. Tonight should be the last *really* cold night for a while (it's currently 24 degrees out). I plan to spend another day or two in the area (avoiding sharp stones, thank you) before moving on. It's supposed to keep getting warmer until Sunday.