Vacation Part II: South Dakota

After spending a few days in California, we headed to South Dakota, which is also where M is from and where all of his family still lives.

Okay, I have to summarize two weeks, so I'll try to keep it short of a novel. Let's see...spent lots of time with family. Drank far too much Bud Light. Smoked like it was my second full time job. Pined over expensive real estate in the Black Hills. Got way too excited about the plethora of deodorant choices in Walgreen's. Ditto for Target. Indulged in Taco Tuesday at Taco John's. Spent a few days in a cabin with the family, playing Phase 10 (I love that game!). Watched a bunch of lesbians sing karaoke. Put a life sized doll in M's teenage nephew's bed and took pictures to blackmail him with later. Almost wet self putting putting said doll in bed (it was at 2am after last call. Guess you had to be there). Fed baby bears. Climbed Little Devil's Tower with a minimum of cursing. Donated (read: lost) money to Deadwood. Set off and watched fireworks from the field of my sister in law's house. Saw more stars than I've seen since we were there last summer. Felt like we were home.

Okay, let's revisit. First, Little Devil's Tower. This is M's most favorite place in the whole world, although he bemoans the fact that there is actually a trail marker on it, like, for tourists and stuff. Although I'm not much into trudging up sides of mountains, I do it because I love him and it's nice to know that I can still climb it. Did I mention that I had a cold when I did it? Yes, I am a very good wife. However, I don't know how many more times I'll be able to climb it. Not because I am woefully out of shape, but I've found that the older I get, the more of an issue I have with heights. There's even some vertigo involved. So I can only spider crawl around the granite dome for so many years before I just hang it up. But we did see a real, live mountain goat while we were up there, so know I can at least say "Yeah, this one day, I was climbing a mountain, and I saw a mountain goat!".

Second, Deadwood. Deadwood has legalized gambling, and so each year M and I get a room, go tie one on and play blackjack until the wee hours of the morning. Las Vegas is too intimidating for me. Deadwood is just my speed. But what I found more than a little disturbing is that a few of the people that played at our table had no business gambling their money away. When we gamble, it's a very small amount that we are fully okay with losing. We think of it more like a fee for the time that we play. So the objective isn't winning a lot of money, it's longevity. That, and getting the free drinks. There was the 20 something guy who had gotten so wasted the night before that he had gotten fired that day...and it didn't seem to bother him one bit. Then there was the guy (nice guy, but still) that had a wife, a 3 year old and a two week old baby back in Sioux Falls who was betting $10 to $20 a hand. Dude, I have an idea...why don't you buy diapers with that money? If I was sitting at home with a two week old baby while my husband was out gambling, let's just say that his chances of fathering another child with me would be slim to none. I'm just saying.

It was really nice to be home. We had a wonderful time, and I'm so glad we got to see his family (which we usually only get to do once a year, even when we lived in Houston). But what was also nice about it is that it gave me some perspective. It's easy for us, sitting in KL, to imagine how perfect life would be if only we lived in the States. Yes, it would be nice to have Taco Bell, Target with it's rows and rows of choices, and clothing stores that sell my size. But you know what? There are dumbasses everywhere. There are people who get your food order wrong in the US. There are people in the US who take up the entire walkway in the mall, and then stop right in front of you. There are people in the US who drive 20mph on mountain roads, with a line of cars behind them, and don't pull over to let you pass. So it was actually really good for us to see that, so that we don't imagine how much better it would be, if only. Discourtesy and bad service are global. It was good for us to get that jolt of reality, to bring back some objectivity.

And now, fun photos.

Near pants wetting incident with doll in the nephew's bed:

Mountain goat on Little Devil's Tower:

Baby bears that we fed:

Groovy fireworks photo: