Vershun’s Brain Dump

I take the first step of a million more,
and I’ll make mistakes I’ve never made before,
but at least I’m moving forward.

-Hoobastank

On the 14^th I drove up to Rapid City, South Dakota. The drive was surprisingly beautiful, and with no obstructions to block the horizon the sky looked bigger than ever.

A little into Wyoming the landscape began to change. To call the perturbations of the land hills is perhaps giving them too much credit, but the ground rolled and flowed like a thin piece of fabric blowing in the breeze.

The sky had a million small clouds that seemed to mirror the prairies below. Standing on the top of a ripple gave you impression that the land and sky connected far off in the distance; that the land glided from underneath your feet into the horizon and returned to you different but similar far above your head.

My hope was to make it to the Badlands that day, but inclement weather and the fading day prevented me from getting there. Instead, when I got to Rapid City, I called up my wonderful friend Liz who actually grew up in the city and she gave me a memory-guided voice tour of the place. The difference between east and west Rapid City is night and day, and if you come up from the south east as I did I can’t stress enough that you should go at least a little east down highway 44. It’s gorgeous in the Black Hills. As the sun was setting on them I was able to see many small deer, cautiously watching me as I drove by.

I ended up in a hotel just east of Rapid City on I-90. Barely serviceable internet and a lukewarm hot tub.