Day Fourteen

Tonight I write from the geographic center of North America... Rugby, North Dakota. Other notable features include the Prairie Village Museum, Frank's German Restaurant, and a supper club called The Eagles. I am staying with the Anderson family, some dear friends I made during my time at PLU and very gracious hosts.

This morning started with coffee and oatmeal at a local diner and then to a museum tour with my friend Maren, one of those gracious Andersons I told you about. After a riveting time at the museum we drove to downtown where we walked around a bit and eventually made it to Frank's German Restaurant. At Frank's we ordered donor kabobs and enjoyed the company of other Rugbians. The restaurant is small enough that all customers join into a collective conversation- a really cool perk of a small town, even Frank was having fun with us. Maren then took me to some local farmland where I thought it would be fun to do a photoshoot with all my best cowboy gear (see pictures below). Later we met up with Maren's parents Loren and MaryAnn and we proceeded to a 50th wedding anniversary at The Eagles supper club for a much loved couple who are icons in the Rugby farming community.

Rugby is a very small town and it felt as if the entire community was in attendance at the anniversary party, I kept seeing people from passing in town earlier in the day. A sideshow played. There was an attempt to capture the lives of two and all they loved and accomplished in 50 years in a 20 minute presentation. Not a critique on the quality of the sideshow, it was well done, but more an observation on life. A video just can't do the justice that the experiences and memories sitting in those chairs do, but it sure is neat to see old photographs of newly weds and new photographs of old people still in love. To see photos of a family so enriched by each other, and sons and daughter honoring their parents by putting on such an event, really put the Midwest into perspective for me. Being a pure outsider from the west coast observing this all has definitely provided a unique experience that is hard to articulate other than life's really about family and the community out here.

Day Thirteen

I am currently in Bismarck, North Dakota stealing internet at a Holiday Inn. Apparently coffee shops in Bismark close at 6pm. Also making blogging more difficult is that half the state is in the mountain timezone, and the other side of the state is in the central timezone. Not knowing this I arrived at a coffee shop at what I thought was 4:45pm, it was actually 5:45pm, and they were closing at 6:00pm. After five years in Tacoma, I think all coffee shops should be 24/7 and espresso machines come with routers. Also making blogging somehow even more difficult was that the kid working the front desk had never heard of WiFi. I immediately turned into the Hulk and smashed his kiosk.

The weather was fun today. I have included a small video below about how I felt today during my nine hours of driving in sideways rain. I didn't lock the lid on my truck today and the sideways wind actually blew the lid wide open. I didn't even know that was possible. Luckily none of my stuff blew out the back. I also went to Devil's Tower today. I did my best to keep my eyes open but couldn't pull it off, even after three attempts. Thanks for trying guy from Ohio. On my drive to Minot, ND I came across the Totten Trail. I'm not exactly sure what it was but it had a fancy sign.

Day Twelve

Today was a very powerful day, fueled by a Country Kitchen breakfast of Biscuits and Gravy with BJ.

I left Nebraska and headed to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to check out Wounded Knee, SD. As soon as I got onto the reservation it was like entering a third world country, not even exaggerating. I drove the fifteen miles to Wounded Knee and checked out the visitor’s center. The visitor’s center is a 30-foot circular building created by a guy on the reservation who wanted the truth told, basically there are a few people who live on the reservation who hang out there and tell stories about the culture. Inside is a collection of artifacts and photos from the massacre in 1890 and occupation in 1973. Little back-story for my interest… I took a Native American spirituality class at PLU and we studied the Lakota nation. The class read an autobiography by Mary Crowdog called Lakota Woman, she was a player in the Wounded Knee occupation in 1973. She gave birth to her son during the 71-day skirmish- a very good read.

Anyway, at the visitor center I met Olaha, a mother of three at 27 and finishing up a BA in Lakota Studies at Oglala Lakota College. Olaha’s parents were involved in the occupation at Wounded Knee in ‘73 and she was born just seven months after. We talked for about an hour about the occupation and life on the reservation. She described the reservation as lawless, full of drunks, high theft and arson, unsolved murders, and gang and family violence… but that was five years ago. Today Pine Ridge is cleaning up its act from the inside, and a lot of credit can go to Olaha’s family. They have worked to create safe havens for the children and bringing back the Lakota tradition that alcohol, drugs, tourism, greed, and lack of family values has distorted. Olaha practices many of the Lakota ceremonies I learned about in my class, her daughter recently received her Lakota name in one of the ceremonies. Her family also organizes traditional rides on holy trails that last up to five days with 200+ riders. She was extremely proud of her heritage, as she should be, and is very optimistic that the future Lakota generations will carry the tradition. Olaha believes the Lakota will become a strong united nation again now that the government is less oppressive to their way of life and the youth understand again what it means to be native. A great conversation.

I also drove through Badlands National Park and went to Mt. Rushmore today.

Day Eleven

Well there is a first time for everything. Today was very full so I’ll give you the bullet points.

• An overnight snowstorm nearly caved in my tent. I woke up with the side of the tent nearest my head, on my head.
• Yellowstone closed the East exit due to weather conditions so I got redirected south, ultimately sending my day to Nebraska. (Not exactly on the itinerary).
• Crossed the Rocky Mountains in 2-wheel drive without chains during a snowstorm.
• Drove all throughout Wyoming, a state that can blow wind in all four directions simultaneously. Even the tumbleweeds were confused.
• Then I met BJ.

BJ is a 31 year old teacher from Boston also on a cross-country adventure. He started in San Francisco and is headed to Boston, however BJ is walking. We met when I pulled off the highway out of curiosity. He wears a giant sign on his backpack with his website. BJ's Blog We chatted for a few minutes and then he revealed the reason for his walk. He is planning on hand delivering a notebook of personal messages to the next president of the United States of America, from America. I will make the point here that BJ is not a crazy person. He cares about his country, politics, and is brave enough to make a statement, an extremely physically demanding one at that. He left San Francisco on March 1 and hopes to arrive in Boston in November, he admits he is a little behind schedule. Anyways, he gave me his card and I drove away but I then realized he had given me another person’s card by mistake. I turned around and returned what was his and we then talked about the looming clouds and came to the conclusion that we could split a cheap motel room and sleep in comfortable beds, not outside in the rain. So we got a cheap motel room (stop worrying reader) and went to dinner at some local dive he remembered from a previous Americorps assignment. BJ is a totally sweet dude and I am glad our paths crossed. I asked him how he keeps walking everyday. He said because he started something he has to finish it, and it helps that he keeps meeting encouraging people. He has now been walking for over three months and it’s just what he does, he can’t think of doing anything else. Finding inspiration like this is why I am on the road. Hopefully he’ll get into politics. This was a successful pick up of a hitchhiker, and was an actual objective for this trip. I seriously doubt everyone walking on the road is this cool, so I’ll quit while I’m ahead so my mom won’t worry☺

Day Ten

Remember that book I told you about yesterday? Finished it in one sitting. I recommend it for anyone camping, on vacation, or out in the wilderness. Montana 1948. Thanks Jan!

I got up at six this morning and moved my campsite to the other side of the park. Skies were clear and I drove to the grand canyon of Yellowstone where I hiked for roughly seven miles and the canyon’s brim. Hiking alone in Yellowstone is a trip. I have never been so cautious about reading tracks and droppings, checking the skies, and checking the contents of my bag. The simple fact that around any corner can be some hungry beast is a bit intimidating. A small bird snapping a branch would halt my progress. In Yellowstone I have a very healthy almost paranoid respect for mans fragility and nature’s power. On my drive back from the canyon the weather started to turn but I had to stop for a grizzly bear sighting. The thing was enormous, my pictures didn’t really pan out because my lens was totally spotted with rain. I returned to camp and rushed to build a fire to get dinner going before I would be marooned in my tent. I hid in my sleeping bag from the pounding rain and cold for a few hours praying I would fall asleep and wake up tomorrow to clear skies. The weather had gone from bearable to malicious, and quite frankly was no longer fun. Just as I had had enough, the skies opened up so I walked down to the lake where I did some push-ups and then some pull-ups from a tree, and immediately felt better. I’ll have to remember this little remedy in future tests. Tomorrow morning I will leave Yellowstone and head to eastern Wyoming where hopefully I’ll find some heat.

Day Nine

Tonight I write next to a roaring campfire after a dinner of grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches toasted on my fire. Because of the temperature, I am sitting literally one foot away from the fire in full winter gear, luckily I brought some. today I read in the newspaper that Yellowstone had the coldest temperatures in the nation this weekend. I guess someone forgot to turn on summer down here. This morning I visited the geysers with some friends I made last night around the campfire. They had been to Yellowstone before and served as both guides and transportation throughout the park. Old Faithful was faithful as always and our group disbanded after lunch. The geysers were an incredible mixture of color and power. There are tons of them within the park and they are all unique. Some are burping mudpits, some are boiling perfect cyans, and others are just plain showing off for the tourists. I retreated from the weather for a few hours in my tent to nap and catch up on the newspaper. Tonight looks like an opportunity to start a new book Jan Praxel in Spokane let me borrow. The skies are now clear and I have a couple hours left in my campfire to put a good dent in Montana 1948. Tomorrow I will venture to the other side of the park where I will spend the remainder of my Yellowstone visit.

Day Eight

Friends, I write tonight at peace knowing that in the snowy wilderness I was able to light a fire successfully and most likely will survive Yellowstone, as I write, it is currently snowing on my tent. Today was absolutely amazing. I have never encountered such beauty at such magnitude. The colors, the mountains, the heavens-- the sheer expansiveness is both stunning and overwhelming at times. As I drove through the park, it seemed every turn had some fantastic feature: geysers, hot springs, rock faces, green valleys, herds of animals, even a lone bear trudging up a mountain side. In this place I have felt true joy, the kind that makes you smile uncontrollably and hyperventilate from the depths of your stomach. God’s creation is good in Wyoming. I think everyone should visit this place alone to experience and ponder the grandness of the land, and then again later with loved ones to share. Tonight the temperature is bone chillingly cold and my spirits are high. The weather hid the mountain peaks today. Feeling somewhat disappointed did not last long as a calmness rolled through me. There was a strange satisfaction with not knowing how high the mountains really went, like nature was giving me a tease through the grey sheets of clouds saying, “ If you really want to know, you’ll have to come up and find out for yourself.” If there wasn’t any mystery in this, we would probably stop looking. Perhaps when I return.