Girls Weekend Journal

Wednesday, October 9 2019 Sadly, today is the last day of this years' Girls Weekend.  We both always hate to see this day come because we always enjoy one another's company so very much and we treasure the time that we have together.  Our original plan for today was to get all packed up and load the car, then go an walk around a bit in downtown Rapid City, but with weather has changed drastically!!  That winter storm that I spoke of yesterday is definitely on its way here.  When we left the house the temperature was in the 30's and the wind was blowing bitterly cold.  We weren't really dressed appropriately to walk around outside in that kind of weather, so we, instead, checked out the lobby of the historic Hotel Alex Johnson (which was beautiful) and got a coffee at the Starbucks that was there.  There was a nice fire going in the lobby fireplace with some comfy chairs in front of it, so we sat there and drank our coffee to soak up the last minutes of Gi...

Tuesday, October 8 2019 Today we returned to the Crazy Horse Memorial because we were too late for the bus ride to the bottom of the monument when we were here on Sunday and thought it was something worth doing.  We also drove the loop road (which is a TRUE loop road by the way) through Custer State Park, which I now declare my SECOND favorite place in South Dakota! Kathi had scheduled us to have massages yesterday but she got a call from the place saying that the city was doing some jackhammer work just outside their location and that they were cancelling all of their appointments for the day because who wants to listen to jackhammers while they are getting a massage??  We rescheduled for today at 6pm, so we knew we had to get all of our sightseeing done and get back into Rapid City by 5:45 to make it to our massage appointment.  Even so, we got a bit of a late start on our daily adventures, not leaving the house until around 1pm.  We went to Crazy Horse first...

Monday, October 7, 2019 Kathi and I at Pinnacles Overlook in Badlands National Park Today we have dedicated to visiting the Badlands.  I have to say that one really nice thing about staying in Rapid City is that it is pretty centrally located in regards to all the BIG attractions in South Dakota.  Spearfish, Mt Rushmore, Needles Highway, Custer State Park and Badlands National Park are all within a one hour radius of Rapid City, so it is a good place to call home base on a South Dakota trip. We got out of the door around noon after having a lazy morning at the house.  The Badlands are an hour east of Rapid City and almost immediately upon getting on the interstate we started seeing signs for Wall Drug.  We had talked about Wall Drug when discussing where all we wanted to go while here and we were both ambivalent about going there, but once we hit the road and started seeing signs about every 1/4 mile we decided we might as well go and see what all the fus...

Kathi & Lori & Mt Rushmore Sunday, October 6, 2019 Welcome back!  Thank you for joining us on another day of adventure.  After our normal morning routine, we pulled out of Rapid City to go visit Mt. Rushmore.  After a 30 minute drive we arrived at this iconic destination.  Upon getting out of the car we discovered that it was really quite chilly here, which fortunately our weather app had prepared us for, so that's why we are all bundled up in this photo!  Much to our disappointment, about 1/2 of the trail that makes a circle around the area beneath the mountain is currently closed for updating and renovation AND the evening lighting ceremony does not happen between September and May.  The monument is still lit at night, there just is no ceremony, which I have been told is quite impressive.  We rented the devices for the audio tour and began our walk around the parts of the trail that are currently accessible.  This truly is a beuti...

Kathi & Lori at The Mammoth Site, South Dakota  Saturday, October 5, 2019 (Lori writing) Today started as all Girls Weekend days start with coffee and computers on the couch.  Kathi spent the morning grading papers for her Public Speaking class that she teaches at the University of Indianapolis, while I wrote up the blog entry for our Friday activities.  It was quite windy today here in Rapid City as had been forecast so we had decided that we would like to spend the day at an indoor activity, so we headed to The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota.  When we pick our state for Girls Weekend and decide where we are going to stay, I like to do some research to look for interesting and unique things to do in that area.  Well, it doesn't get much more unique than an active paleontological dig site and what a cool place! The story behind this place is fascinating and it is amazing that the man who first discovered tusks and bones when bulldozing...

Kathi and Lori with Bridal Veil Falls in the background Friday, October 4 (Lori writing) It's Girls Weekend, that blissful time of year when Kathi and I meet somewhere in the country to enjoy one another's company as well as explore whatever there is to be discovered at our destination.  This year we are in Rapid City, South Dakota and, once again, we have been blessed by stunning weather. Upon awaking this morning, we lazed around for a bit on our couch, then I made a pot of coffee, chatted for a bit then ate some yogurt and fruit along with some toast and lingonberry jam for breakfast.  Kathi is co-authoring a research paper and one of her co-authors contacted her to say that she needed to do a "hard read" today and make any edits or suggestions before days' end.  So Kathi read the paper aloud to me to help her process as well as seek any advice or suggestions that I might have.  This really is not as boring a process as it might sound to some.  Kathi ...