First Day of School

 

Me, starting my 26th year at USF.

Eden, starting her sophomore year at Lincoln.

Z, starting his sophomore year at Westmont.

Northwest South Dakota

 Many years ago Nathan took a little trip by himself and ended up in a town called Java, SD.  This town charmed him right down to the soles of his feet.  He has talked about it many times in the years since and longed to show it to us, his family.  So this summer we did it!  The weekend before Z went back to Westmont we took a short trip to see Java and, from there, the northwest corner of South Dakota.  And I have to say, Northwest South Dakota, you are looking good!

Our first stop was Pierre and the Capital.  (For those of you not from South Dakota, that's pronounced Peere.)

There was an exhibit of all the dresses first ladies of South Dakota wore to the governor's inaugural ball.  If you're familiar with South Dakota politics (especially recently), you'll know why this 

video is funny:

We also walked along the river, had supper at Red Rossa (which, alas, was not as good as the original in Sioux Falls, but not terrible), and the next morning found an amazing donut shop called The Donut Shop.  If you go to Pierre, go to The Donut Shop.

We think this picture features our good hair.

The next day we headed for Java and then Lemmon.  Eden and I decided that Java would be the perfect place to film a horror movie.  We scripted one out as we explored.  We decided that in the end, it would be Luna who killed the innocent family in Java.

This toad lives in Java.

We left Java and headed to Lemmon.  Lemmon is famous because it is where Kathleen Norris lived when she wrote Dakota and because it is where J. Gresham Machen preached his last sermon.  On the way to Lemmon we saw gorgeous fields of sunflowers.  And Luna tried to sit in Z's seat.

We also stopped for a little hike that was supposed to lead to a hidden lake.  However, the lake was drained when a dam broke, so there was no hidden lake.  There was, however, something on Z's tongue.

We made it to Lemmon!  We had supper at the local steak house (very yummy -- South Dakota knows good steak) and dessert at the local chocolate shop.  Also extremely yummy!  The next morning we went to the petrified forest museum and park.  The museum was closed, but we walked around the (odd) park of things made from petrified wood.  And I collected the quarter I had left on the train tracks the night before in order for it to be smashed.

The next day we set out to find graffiti from the past in the Cave Hills area.  We were out there all by ourselves and explored a gorgeous landscape.

From the Cave Hills we went to Custer-Gallatin National Forest.  It was absolutely stunning.  We drove through it and stopped a couple of places, but all of us wished we could have stayed much longer.

That night we stayed in Mobridge, alongside the river.

And the next day on the way home we stopped in the cute little town of Ipswich.  We tried to get into the library, but for some reason it was closed.  Eden and I were very disappointed not to be able to go into this little fairy-tale-like library.  And we stopped at a fun little used bookstore.  And then we went home.