Catching Up: From Mt Rushmore to Yellowstone

So, I believe the last time you heard from us was somewhere around the base of Mt. Rushmore. At least, that’s what Adam says. The last time you heard from me was a lot earlier for that. Sorry for the lack of updates in general though, this leg of the trip dragged us out into the great big nothing that are the western states. Entire towns out here are created out of tourist traps and by taking advantage of beautiful naturally occurring rock formations and the like.
Right now, I’m writing you from Jackson Hole Wyoming. Only, recently, they dropped the Hole, apparently it made this place a bit more undesirable to live in. I suppose that’s the largest detriment to this place, I can’t imagine that living this close to the Grand Tetons would take much convincing on my part.
Anyhow, we left the camping lodge for horses back on Sunday morning. The lady there only charged us ten dollars to pitch a tent there, and even then she said she only charged us for the showers that each of us took. She looked a bit like my mom, I think they shared a nose and a certain love for the wildlife.
This entire trip has been like that though. Everywhere we’ve gone I’ve met people I’m convinced I already know. As though there are only a certain amount of people in the world, and there are only a certain amount of people you could possibly be. But then that’s a silly thought, and I’m a silly person.
We headed out first for crazy horse. We saw it, in all of it’s unfinished glory. We didn’t pay to get in, nine bucks a head is a bit pricy and we would learn more than enough about it form the people we were yet to meet on the trip. We turned around and headed for Mt. Rushmore.
On the way, we stopped at a place called Cosmos. I’ll save the nitty gritty details and say only this: It fuck’s with your perceptions. And well. Adam was happier than a kid on Christmas in anticipation for it, and Aaron and I left both skeptics. I suppose it’s just in my nature not to believe. I don’t know Aaron’s reason. But it was interesting.
We made it to Mt. Rushmore after that. Perhaps it’s a joke that I’m not privy to, or maybe the people that knew we were going to see the Faces wanted us to be even more impressed, but to anyone that told us they’re tiny, they’re not fucking tiny. We walked on the paved paths around the bottom of the faces, took silly pictures, and then found buried treasure. Thank you Mark Reppi. And I’m still of two minds about the whole thing. I understand the good it’s done, the business it brings, the work it creates, the tourist money garnered by a state with little else to go on but that, farm land, and the bad lands. Still, I wonder why we feel the urge to blow up mountains and reconstruct entire forests and hills to our liking. I worry about the touch of human hands I guess, but perhaps that’s a rant better saved for a a time I have a more formed opinion on it.
We left Mt Rushmore and headed for a swimming hole we never found. We did find an unpaved road and a river though, and I enjoyed both. We then headed for Sturgis; we were looking for The Road Kill café. I doubt they would have put the accent over the e though. We found, instead, a street almost completely devoid of business and life. We left the street a bit disappointed, but then we filled up on cheap Chinese food and made tracks for Yellowstone. It would be a long trip, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of the Rockies at sunset. All the words and all the pictures we could take would pale in comparison to what we saw. I’d try, but I’ve been trying to learn this days when to fight and when to give, some losing fights are worth fighting and there are ones you could win that you ought not to bother. This is a losing one that I shouldn’t.
How could I forget? On the way to Yellowstone, we stopped on a route called Powder Keg Pass, we wound up climbing a mountain next to a turn off.It gave a view I dono't think I've ever seen the equal of with my own eyes, at least of nature. It was a rocky climb to the top, I dropped my lens cap twice into small crevices, and I can imagine the look of horror that would be one Aaron or Adam's face if they saw me contorting my body to get it. Sometimes I take dumb risks, but I know that. I think I'm okay with it. We waited on the top for a bit, then took off in search of Yellowstone. Oh, and there was snow on the ground. In June. Head-trip.
We made it to a Yellowstone campground that closed at ten at nine fifty-nine. We then met a man who would lay out the rest of our trip around Yellowstone for us, though we would do it at an accelerated pace. His name was Eugene Tennessee, and he was as bad ass as his name would suggest.
But I’ll save that for the next update. The road is treating us well, we’ve dealt with the rain, learned to live in the car, and I’ve become quite certain by now that the North East of America is probably the least friendly place I’ve been to thusfar. I’m ready for the rest to prove me wrong, though I hope it doesn’t.
From the road.
Signed,

Andrew