Thursday, August 15th:
We rode into Minneapolis a little late yesterday night since we got a late start. But luckily we made it to have dinner with Emily and Kelsey, two girls who Jacki, Shannon, and I skated with at Michigan. We walked into downtown and had dinner on a rooftop bar called Brit's Pub that had lawn bowling. Shannon ordered a giant Crispin Honey Crisp complete with Honey comb at the bottom, a cider from Minnesota, while I, true to character, had a Fulton IPA from Minnesota. The others passed on the alcohol, but Shannon's cider was large enough for all to try. It was wonderful to catch up, and afterwards we got to stroll through a sculpture garden that included the Minneapolis spoon and cherry (I think this is a symbol of Minnesota - help me friends!). Kelsey's boyfriend Andy joined us at this point in the night, and he got the pleasure of being our camera man :) thanks Andy!! Afterwards we went back to Kelsey's apartment which is actually in a building that was the first hotel in Minneapolis - Oak Street Hotel. Here we literally stayed up (Shannon, Jacki, Kelsey, Andy, and I) for hours telling jokes and stories about college while laughing like hyenas. Poor Andy probably thought we were insane - but he was definitely a trooper. Five stars for Andy!
I think the best part of our trip to Minneapolis was the fact that it was a reunion. Some of us haven't seen each other in over two years. Regardless, it felt like yesterday. Emily still used her twenty question interview style to catch up on our lives, and Kelsey still pranced from place to place full of excitement, always ready with a hand motion or voice to satisfy the scene. I feel like this is the true meaning of friendship - being able to come and go, to be entirely yourself, and still have the time of your life together. We had the time of our lives just sitting at dinner in downtown Minneapolis, and then joking around at Kelsey's apartment. I feel so blessed to have created such strong friendships at Michigan, and it's not a surprise that those friendships were cultivated through early morning and late night synchronized skating practices. Would we have found our way to each otherwise? I'd like to think so, but thank god we don't ever have to find out. Anyway, where our friendships started isn't as important as knowing that they are still as strong, if not stronger than they were when they began. Thank you Minneapolis for giving us the chance to reunite, and for reminding us that space and time are minor obstacles for true friends like us. Love ya lots K-Traul, E-ham, and A-dawg (hope you like your new nickname Andy), and Miss you lots fellow UMSST Alumni.
Friday, August 15th
Somehow, we made it to South Dakota. We had to brave several Pro-Life signs, about a million signs for the Wall Drug, a gigantic department store that came with a map (no joke - there was actually a fold up map), a convoy of hay trucks, and a moving house. To endure these obstacles, we did mad libs, sang songs, listened to a terrible 12 dollar South Dakota info CD, failed at trivia, slept, and of course filmed ourselves. Our first major stop in South Dakota was the amazing Corn Palace - a gymnasium basically built out of corn. Inside there were drawings of Indian tribes and cowboys made out of dark and light corn. We thought it was a joke when we saw a sign for it, but when the sign said it was the world's only corn place, we obviously knew we would regret not stopping. The corn palace was everything we expected and more - it basically looked like Jasmine's castle in Aladdin. Finding this corn palace was like finding hidden treasure on a deserted island. It was 100% worth the detour:
After our corn palace detour, it was my turn to drive. I think Shannon and Jacki nearly flew out of their seats the first time I stepped on the gas since I pushed down way too hard. Don't worry parents who are reading this, I soon got used to Beatrice (yes that's the official name of Jacki's beloved yellow bug) and we got along much better. Our next stop was the long-awaited Badlands. And let me tell you - if you've never been, Go! Go right now. Or at least make plans to go ASAP. The only place I've ever been that was as breathtaking or godlike was India. But I guess that may be a little harder to get too. The trail we took through the badlands was a loop on exit 131 off I-90 west that took you on highwy 247. It wound up and into the highest heights of the badlands so you could look out over the summits. You could even climb up some of the rock structures at places where you could pull your car over and get out. I've never enjoyed driving so much in my life, and I felt amazed, awestruck, fascinated, and inspired all at the same time. There aren't really enough words in the English language to successfully capture the beauty of these structures. I guess you will just have to follow my advice and go see them for yourself, so that you can attempt to find the words. Because they left me speechless:
Eventually I got over my lack of words, since everyone knows that I can't really keep my mouth shut for more than 5 minutes (if that). After the Badlands we got ice cream at Wall Drug, basically South Dakota's version of Target, and drove the last hour to our hotel in the mountains. We were starving so we got out of our car and had some delicious buffalo at the restaurant next to our hotel. It is quite possible we made a scene at this restaurant since we were laughing so hard from our complete and utter exhaustion. However, thankfully, we were not removed from the establishment. Afterwards, Shannon used her outstanding skills of engineering to make our shower work so that I would no longer smell. Just kidding - I didn't smell, but a shower was welcome for all parties. Anyway, check back in a couple days for more on South Dakota (cough Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse cough)!
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Location:Gordon St,Custer,United States
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