Let the altitude begin. I know when you think of the Dakotas, high elevation doesn't come immediately to mind. Large expanses of nothing come to mind. But right now I'm in Lead, South Dakota, in the heart of Black Hills National Forest and the elevation here is 5,200 ft above sea level -- the same as Denver. I have found that I struggle with even the slightest altitude change. This just compounds my situation. My short term memory is sketchy, my sense of direction is horrible and at any height above Mt. Washington, my thinking slows to a dribble. When I think of me in altitude, I think of when I was in the second grade, in the Rockies for the first time, and throwing a fit because I could not get a hat on my head. Just picture me as a little girl, looking at a simple hat and not being able to figure out how to get it on my head. It was that bad. Its still pretty bad.
First, back to Fargo. The last post left me in a posh Hilton in Fargo, hibernating through the holiday. And that pretty much sums up my visit. I did one walk into North Dakota State University and I did a quick drive through downtown Fargo. My big question for my visit was: Does Fargo have big buildings? Fargo is the largest city in North Dakota and I had been wondering if this meant having skyscrapers or something of the sort. The answer is no. It has a Main Street and Broadway intersection that rivals Craig Street in Pittsburgh. The rest is a mix of Monroeville's Rte 22 and a small Regent Square. If you aren't from Pittsburgh, then skip that part and just go with the answer that Fargo does not have skyscrapers.
On Labor Day, I drove from Fargo to Lead, South Dakota (in the southwest corner of SD.) Its a 7 to 8 hour drive if you go with my GPS's suggestion of interstate highways. But interstates are for suckers, are they not? I like to romanticize the back roads. I mentioned in one my first posts, though, that there are drawbacks to the two-lane highways. Bathrooms are few and far between and gas stations are spread out. But those are back roads in the East.
In the Dakotas, back roads mean there is nothing. Truly nothing. No bathrooms, no gas stations, very few other cars. I came as close as I have ever been to running out of gas in the Middle-of- Nowhere, South Dakota. If you put your thumb and pointer finger as close together as possible, but without them touching, I was that close to running out of gas. For over an hour, I watched the gas gauge go lower and lower and I prayed for a gas station. I was praying to relatives that had passed away and to St. Anthony (he's the patron saint of lost things; it doesn't make sense that I would pray to him but he's the only saint with whom I'm on a first name basis. I have to pray to him all the time -- remember, that shoddy short term memory thing.) I did those prayers of "if there will just be a gas station, I will never...blah, blah, blah ...again." For me it was stop eating so much sugar and give up swearing. My gas alarm dinging started going off and I was ready to pull over, have a good sob and then wait for help from a stranger. Then, I went over a hill and there was a gas station. Somebody pulled through for me -- probably St. Tony, we really are close. I have never had such an urge to hug a gas pump. From now on, the gas tank doesn't get lower than half-tank while I drive through the west. Oh, and I'm not really going to give up sugar and swearing; I'm pretty sure the Big Guy knows I was just joking about that.
Lastly, a quick description of Lead. Lead is an old gold-mining town. Its 3 miles from Deadwood and about 15 miles from Sturgis. Deadwood is notorious for being a Wild West town and is where Wild Bill Hickok was killed. Sturgis is the central meeting place for Harley-Davidson bike riders. When you put this all together, you get an interesting mix. Its part Disneyland/Tourist Trap, trying to make money off of its history. Its part biker town, with an emphasis on gambling and bars. It also has that remote mountain town feel to it. I'm feeling a bit out of place. The hardest thing about this area for me is that I have no cell phone reception. It is such a disconcerting feeling. I had no idea that my cell phone is like oxygen to me and that I get panicked without it. There will be a part of me that is going to be very happy to get back in touch with my outside world. Next stop: staying with Jess in Denver!
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