South Dakota 4th of July

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! My friend Linda invited me to spend it in Woonsocket, SD with her this year. Woonsocket is the place of her birth and where her parents went home to retire. She has many family and friends in that area. Linda's daughter Kelsie and her friend Alice also came along.



I flew into Sioux Falls where Linda and the girls picked me up in a mini-van and we headed off across South Dakota to Hot Springs. Hot Springs is about an hour south of Rapid City. We stopped in Mt. Vernon long enough to meet Oly, Peg and Janet for some famous Walleye for dinner. Then continued to Hot Springs. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night in Rita's Bungalow at the Sojourner Inn. It was a very festive place to start our vacation. It was all decorated in Mexican tiles and colors and fabrics. They supplied the quesadilla grill and the margarita blender. Who were we to argue? Off to the store we went for the taco, quesadilla and margarita supplies! We had quite the festival in our little bungalow! Great fun!

Playing tourists, we set off for the Mammoth Dig nearby. It was quite fascinating. I can't remember all the statistics of course, but there were something like 53 male mammoths and 1 female uncovered so far in the dig. Plus, many other long extinct creatures.




Wednesday night we had appointments for spending time in the mineral baths and getting body rubs, facials and massages. I had never had a massage before so this was a really great place for my first one. OK, I'm hooked! I think everyone should get one at least once a month. I do believe I'm spoiled by Irene who did mine though. How will I be sure to find one such as her here on my first attempt? She was fantastic, as was Alava, the girl from Molokai, Hawaii who did such a nice job on my body scrub and facial. Wow, were they dedicated! If you're ever in Hot Springs, SD, do yourself a favor and look them up!

Thursday we headed off for the Wind Cave. It's supposed to be the longest cave of it's kind in North America. They say they have only mapped about 5% of it at 129 miles. I'm sure glad that's not my job. It was very fascinating.

After spelunking, we found a beautiful spot in the woods for a lovely picnic. Sandwiches and refreshments and a little story telling time. Then off to bond with a horse and set off on a trail ride. I think the last time I was on a horse was age 12? Not sure, but I was glad to have Zack as my ally when I climbed up on his back. Not too much of a plodder, Zack did have a bit of attitude towards some of the other horses. Nonetheless, we had a nice ride, and I dutifully kissed Zack on the forehead as we parted.

We headed up to Hill City for a much recommended dinner site for Alice's 18th birthday. It was a fun place, however they only have one item on their menu... bacon wrapped fillets. Unfortunately, Kelsie doesn't eat red meat. Linda and I went ahead and ordered the fillets and they were melt in your mouth good. Desserts and baked potatoes for the girls. Not exactly a birthday meal, but no one was unhappy and we set off for Mt Rushmore to see the faces and fireworks...

After about an hour and a half of trying to find a place to park, it was determined we were not going to get to see the fireworks live from Mt. Rushmore. So we headed back to Rosita's to view them on the 10:00 news. I guess they were fantastic, but we'll never know. We missed them on television also.

Not to worry, the next day we loaded up and headed back to Woonsocket for the real celebration. Woonsocket "The Town With The Beautiful Lake". Small town celebration, it reminded me so much of Melba's 4th of July celebrations. This was a centennial year for Woonsocket, so they had several days of events taking place, plus an all school reunion. Let's see, there was a parade, car show, float your boat on the lake contest, vendors, The Miss Woonsocket Pageant (men only) and an air guitar contest featuring "Sister Act" and "The Blues Brothers" just to name a few of the events. All very fun. Of course it was all capped off with a spectacular fireworks display over the lake with all the requisite "ooh's and ahhh's!"

Thanks Linda, for a very fun 4th of July vacation!