The Long and Winding Road

Today was a mixture of long fairly boring parts and quick did you see that spurts. We started off from Kearney about 10:30am, and headed northwest on a two lane highway. The railroad tracks ran parallel to the road for about 175 miles and in a fifty mile span we saw five trains each containing 100 to 125 coal cars (yes, Karen counted each one) fully loaded with coal. At first we wondered about the use for all that coal, but then the light came on! Oh yeah, coal plants to produce electricity. After googling it looks like most of this coal was coming from North Dakota or Wyoming. South Dakota has several coal-fired generating plants.

It then went from coal trains to what looked like a large rock in the other lane of traffic. But that rock started moving and as we drew nearer I saw that it was a tortoise. It looked to be about 15 inches in diameter and was moving slow. As we whizzed by it was crossing the white fog line, and so we assume he/she made it safely across. We debated about turning around to get a photo, but it was already in the brush so we sped on.

And then, what to our wondering eyes did appear, a sleigh and eight a bunch of cows.

About 30 head of cattle were being herded along the roadside.

There were three cowpokes riding herd on these critters.

A modern day cowboy in chaps and logo T-shirt!

Well, things calmed down a bit after that. Now came the boring part. And it went on for many, many miles.

Until we got to the Nebraska-South Dakota border. A Native American reservation started right at the border and encompassed a large area of SD. But the cool part was the Rosebud Casino right on the very edge of the border and the even cooler part was the photo of our car straddling the line. We ducked inside the casino to look around. It was smoky, trashy, and at least half the people in there should not have been. (Editor's opinion)

Cool                                          Not cool

So after all that excitement we thought the rest of the trip would be ho-hum. But nooo... We made a righthand turn onto another highway and immediately had to swerve. Was it a car coming at us in our lane? Was it a giant pothole? No...it was a turtle (not a tortoise like last time) right smack dab in the middle of our lane. I was able to avoid him, and we slowed down and looked behind us. He continued his steady crawl to the right side of the road. We looked at each other and chuckled. Then we noticed a store on the right side of the road...

The banner reads "Turtle Creek Crossing Welcome You". Are you kidding me, that could not be a coincidence!

We thought we were through with turtles and tortoises for the day, but it was not to be. After we had checked into our hotel room in Fort Pierre, SD, we ventured out to get something to eat. (Can you feel the excitement building?) We had asked the hotel clerk for a recommendation, and she suggested a steakhouse called the Cattleman's Club. It is located on the far side of Pierre. Side note: I always pronounced Pierre like a Frenchman's name, but we were told it is pronounced Pier, like a dock. Now I know. Anyway, as we drove toward the restaurant, we again had to brake and swerve to avoid yet another turtle. I'll probably dream I am being chased by turtles tonight.

Karen and I both had a steak and baked potato for dinner. They were very reasonably priced and tasted excellent. A four star recommendation. Only open from 5 to 10pm, and it was packed all night.

I forgot to mention our room. The clerk upgraded us to a king executive suite with a jetted spa tub. After dinner I slipped into it and almost fell asleep.  I should sleep well tonight.

The "Hastings" contest has a winner! Eloise was the first to email me with the correct answer. Our brother Jim was born in Hastings. Her prize is in the mail.

Til we meet again, I remain, your "turtle whisperer" correspondent.