As I sit in a hotel room in Rapid City, SD I’ve found out that my good friend Eric from Huntsville, AL has been in Deadwood, SD since Thursday. Deadwood is only forty miles from Rapid City. Had I known that Eric was in Deadwood I’d not have reserved a hotel in Rapid City, but in Deadwood instead.
AT&T Hates South Dakota
I’m sure the feeling is mutual.
For most of my travels across South Dakota today I had either data roaming or Edge coverage on AT&T’s network. While inconvenient it has really made it difficult to locate and navigate as I’m winging most of this trip. I hate to think what this is going to cost me. Oh well, I’m on vacation….
Mt. Rushmore Or Bust!
I’m staying in Rapid City, SD tonight, thirty minutes from Mt Rushmore (I’m starting to see a trend here). I found out that the National Parks Annual Pass that I purchased for $80 today so that I could see Badlands will not be accepted at Mt Rushmore. What a crock of shit! I apparently will have to pay $10 to park when the park opens at 8:00am (almost two hours after sunrise).
Of course, there is a good possibility that I’ll try to meet up with my friend Eric today and hit Mt Rushmore tonight/tomorrow since I have this “extra” day in my schedule.
ITP Flickr Pic
What’s a boy to do when he continues to see billboards for The Corn Palace?
Stop and see it of course!
The Beer Collecting Has Already Started
Not that I have the room to spare in my already-packed trunk, but I’ve already purchased one case of beer (a 12-pack and two 6-packs) for later consumption, and I’ve not yet reached the beer Mecca of Colorado. The point of this exercise is to get beers that I cannot purchase in Georgia. Think of it as a smaller version of Smoky and the Bandit. 😉
Yes, I plan to share with my friends.
Until tomorrow…
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – strange
Current Music – listening to the “Daily Giz Wiz” podcast
Website Of The Day – In case you plan to visit Mt Rushmore you can reference Mt Rushmore Info too.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – n/a
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – couldn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 217.0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 9 (9)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 29
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 4
August Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
– Not get fired from my job
– Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
– Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
– Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
– Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip
2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I’ve sadly gained weight; I’m at 203 pounds]
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
– Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Sharpened Stone.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
You know, UPS would be more than happy to ship that beer back home for you.. costly, I know, but think of the possibilities.
Sad news from the world of cycling today as Laurent Fignon has died of cancer. While he won the Tour twice and the Giro once, he’s probably best known in this country as the guy who lost the Tour to Greg Lemond by 8 seconds in 1989.
Maybe I need to see it in person, but I don’t “get” Mt Rushmore.
-FP
I don’t know Steve, I think Mt. Rushmore would be pretty cool to see…but I’m not sure I’d want to do all the driving necessary to see it…as I get older I’m liking travel less and less. We are driving to Cinny this weekend and I’m not thrilled about it, leave Saturday, come back Monday but it has to be done.
How funny is that, you both so far from home but so close to each other.
If I know you, you will find room to get that beer back.
with books on CD or however you listen, the time really does move along better on roadtrips. We didn’t listen to anything but music to Charleston & back, and I swear the 5 hours seemed longer than a 10 hourday with a good book.
there is always room for beer in the car……..
That Corn Palace rocks! I’m so envious. After traveling with you on this trip, I might have to do a roadtrip vaca through the midwest myself someday.
Just left Deadwood (wait for that story tomorrow) and am sitting in a town called Sturgis where I am getting Edge coverage.
There will be room for the beer if I have to jettison all of my clothes.
Sad news about Fignon…
Stugis?? Don’t they have some sort of scooter get together there? Couple of girls on Vespa’s I think… 😉
A nice article about Fignon from the AP, courtesy of the mighty Newnan Times-Herald!!
http://ap.times-herald.com/dynamic/stories/C/CYC_OBIT_FIGNON?SITE=GANEW&SECTION=SPORTS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
some town called Sturgis- please tell me you do know what that town is known for…….. I’d say you can find the girl of your dreams there, but they all probably have tattoos. 😉
Barb, it didn’t take long for me to figure out… It also didn’t take me long to realize I wouldn’t find much in that biker / tattoo town, so I’ve returned to Rapid City. I hope to meet up with my friend Eric for lunch, since he flies out of Rapid City tonight, but we’ll see.
I’m taking a break at a Borders in Rapid City to use their internet. I’m going to book my hotel room for tomorrow night, and do some weather checking.
I’ve spent so much money on hotel and gas so far that I can’t even afford a South Dakota hooker. Oh, and in case any one is curious so far Missouri has been the state boasting the prettiest women.
And finally my photography is starting to irk me. I need to find inspiration, or a mentor who will knock me out of my mundane rut.
I have to ask – why is your friend in SD? I’m guessing for work – what the heck does he do?
Really? I mean how much can a SD hooker cost? I’m sure I can google it and find out 😉
Just an FYI, I got a strange message when I came to the site:
The server twitter.com at Twitter API requires a username and password.
Warning: This server is requesting that your username and password be sent in an insecure manner (basic authentication without a secure connection).
(then asks for log on info)
Barb, he ran some ridiculous ultra marathon up here. I’ve not heard from him, so this may wind up being a miss.
Martha, I’m not sure why you are seeing that. I can only assume it’s some how tied to my Twitter widget. Oh wait, that’s it. I heard that Twitter changed its authentication scheme and I probably need to update the widget.
I got that Twitter pop up as well.. and I don’t play that, so I just ignored it.
I’ll see of I can have it solved by tomorrow’s blog. Yes, there will be a blog again tomorrow. 😉