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| Out West |
Who knew how much fun the Black Hills could be, especially if you love history, geology, and animals (expertise not required, thankfully!). Getting to add two new animals to my Audubon mammal book is exciting, with siting of a white furry mountain goat and a plethora of prairie dogs. No, I've never seen a prairie dog before, I promise. Yes, I realise they are simply akin to annoying rats, but still. They're a lot cuter.
The joy of this trip is that it's not over! After Devil's Tower, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the petrified forest, a hand-dug gold mine shaft, the cool Reptile Garden, gorgeous driving, and finally, staying in town centre Deadwood, I would have been more than happy to putter on east again. However, the bonus of a week in Colorado should put me in an overwhelmingly good mindset for my no-electronics holiday during the first week of October....*starting drifting off in glorious dreaming of no electronics whatsoever....*. Wait, what will I do?
A couple funny stories....
A cop pulls me over in Wyoming. He sidles up and announces with a devastating air approximate to what you feel you would hear if you were being arrested "I clocked you going 49 in a 45 - what is the rush?" Ummmm, rush? With probably an extremely dumb look on my face because I knew better to argue, but at the same time am thinking that he must be high to be worried about 4 over, I stammer out a feeble apology with a clear air of "I really don't get this". Taking mercy on me, he benevolently (this was his approach) just warned me, but told me that Wyoming is a no-tolerance state for speeding. All I could do is stare out on the complete desolation and wonder what they were afraid of running over at these incredibly high speeds.
A story probably not so funny to the valet who I nearly hit was when he left my car (clutch) in gear and didn't put on the parking break. Not paying attention, I simply started the car and let off the clutch right away...right into the valet. I have experientially discovered that 1 mile per hour does zero damage, but causes a great deal of panic.
Lastly, but one of my favourite Elle statements...when we visited the Mammoth Site (I'll get those pictures included in the album soon), the guide was very good about explaining to her how this horrible yet natural trap killed so many mammoths because they would fall into the water and couldn't get out. Her response? "Those elephants really need to be more careful."
