Day Three

This morning we said good-bye to my nephew Mike and headed west into a light rain.  One thing I find so special is the short devotional and prayer each morning, presented by someone on the bus as we travel down the highway.  This group of people is proof that living out your faith does not mean being dour, humorless and devoid of fun.

We stopped for our first break at a roadside rest displaying models of Lewis and Clark's exploratory expedition complete with teepees, campfire, and more.  A spectacular view of the great Missouri River, from a hill whose sides were crisscrossed with walking trails and surrounded by forest, invited further exploration but time did not allow.  We finally forced ourselves back on the bus and turned toward the badlands.

I've already used the word spectacular in this blog post but I don't have a better one so I'll apply it again.  Even though everyone knows that photos don't do anything justice, it was useless trying to stop ourselves from snapping shots of everything we could.  

While winding our way through the beautiful, desolate hills the engine light lit up.  This happened to Paul and I at home and I promptly pulled out the owner's manual to see what it meant.  The book informed me that it could be nothing or it could be very bad.  Useless information, really.  Fortunately, on today's road trip we had several mechanically inclined people aboard who promptly investigated.  It seems a pulley thingey came off of something in the rear underside of the bus causing a belt to come loose and fall off.  The fan to cool the engine would not be working without it.

As luck would have it, or much more likely, the mercy of God, hundreds of motorcycles were passing us in the oncoming lane, presumably coming from the Sturges bike rally.  Paul H. flagged down a bearded wonder and asked him to kindly keep an eye out for the pulley and the belt back up the way we had just come.  In minutes he returned with the belt but no pulley.  Thanks to the ingenuity of several guys on the bus the belt was rigged up to work the fan that cooled the engine but we would have no A/C until parts could be flown in two days hence.

Fortunately it was not unduly hot.  However, temperatures in a bus filled with forty-three heat-producing bodies does rise considerably when windows can't be opened.  Armed with effective deodorant and healthy senses of humor throughout made the whole experience quite tolerable.

We arrived at Wall Drug Store, barely late for lunch.  The food was excellent and the coffee hot, black and strong - and only a nickle a cup.  Then back on the bus, warming up nicely while we were gone, and we were bound for Mt. Rushmore. 

Disembarking from a steamy bus into the cool breezes of a perfectly balmy day is a delightful experience.  Had the A/C been cranking away we would not have been able to fully appreciate that cool breeze for the simple pleasure it was.  A quick walk brought us to the lookout patio to see Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, their granite faces keeping silent vigil over the people streaming to and fro beneath them.  How many of the tourists milling like ants around me had any idea what these men had risked for America?  I couldn't help but wonder.  How many

understood the raw courage, the inspiration, the creative genius, that helped to shape this nation into the greatest republic on the planet? Or were they there just because of the impressive artistic achievement the sculpture represented?

Back on the bus and on up the road to take a look at Crazy Horse.  No discernible progress could be seen since I had last been here two decades ago. Even so, the huge rock carving of the famous Native American Chief reminded of a once proud people whose legacy still permeates the land surrounding the cliffs.

On the way to Gillette, WY we watched storms in the distance, black and threatening, yet never coming

close.  Jagged shards of lightening reached to the earth, the clouds moving alongside and away without so much as a drop of rain touching us.  This big sky country has a foreign look to someone accustomed to rolling hills and curving country roads. I felt small and insignificant and strangely vulnerable. Usually, at home, when one sees a storm, one also gets to taste it up close and personal. 

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We pulled in to our hotel, a tired and sweaty bunch just before 7:00. Six of us were walking to a nearby Applebees for supper when another storm decided to give us a taste of what it had to offer.  Again, the brilliant lightening was startling and different from the lightening back home.  It felt like it could reach out and snatch us, and I thought of the legends of Pecos Bill lassoing a tornado.  It felt so close and looked so foreboding. This weather must be fairly commonplace because the locals paid it no mind at all. 

Our lovely hotel sent a van for us after supper.  Since we had started eating it had rained, hailed, rained some more, and showed no signs of letting up.  More than a dozen of us piled into a van meant for a few less people.  General merriment and mayhem ensued.  

I think the heat sent us all to bed early.  No games developed in the lobby tonight.