Dakota Days - Memorable days (going home)

Day Thirty.  Tuesday 17 August 2004

"A day in which I think I worked fairly hard.  We finished digging our grid today.  The highlight was taking my dog skull to the lab to be cleaned and photograph.  It is cool, easily my best find.  After this, we more-or-less finished.

This evening we went out to Walmart - what an enormous store!  The most interesting aspect was the self-checkouts they had, so you can buy without a cashier.  Tristan did it, but did it wrong and had to get a cashier over to help him anyway.  I went to a cashier first and paid about ten times quicker than him!

Weird to think that tomorrow is our last day in Mitchell - time has gone so quickly."


Day Thirty One.  Wednesday 18 August 2004

"I suppose it would be considered a sad day today, our last day at the Archeodome.  It has been a pretty good month, the dome hasn't been bad really and people have been very welcoming there.  Today they gave each of us a grab bag to take home.  it included:

• a jam jar
• a bag of popcorn
• a fridge magnet
• postcards
• sweets
• a notebook with addresses.

Unfortunately, they spelt my name wrong, and I am now Nicolas but never mind, it was a lovely gesture.  We bought Debs some flowers and Alan gave Adrien an Exeter paperweight, plus we all signed a book for Alan.

So our last day.  Our last Holiday Inn meal.  Our last swim in the disgusting motel pool.  I'm nearly packed now and ready for travelling home, but tomorrow is going to be a long day - six hours to Minneapolis, nine hours to London, then four hours to home.  

Will I ever come back here?  I don't know.  I suppose I can see myself wandering through here in 30 years or something, probably by accident, or visiting the Corn Palace on a day excursion (does anybody visit South Dakota by accident?)  But who knows what the future will bring.  Three months ago, I didn't think I'd be in the States!"

An Afterword.  25 September 2004

"I suppose a note like this would be considered an 'afterword' if my diary was some sort of published work.  I sit on my bed, it's 2.22am, and I have just flicked through the diary for the millionth time in the last month.  Date wise, it's two months ago that we took the journey west into the Badlands and beyond.  In fact, minus the six hour time difference, it's pretty much to the minute that we were in the pool at the motel, celebrating Vicky's birthday.

This kind of thing is supposed to be a reflective thought on the America trip, but I'm not really sure what to say or where to start.  Since returning to England I have frequently wished I was back in the motel room, the Holiday Inn, the Black Hills.  Especially, and most frequently, I remember Hot Springs, a town you can really fall in love with.  Looking back, that area, so far west of Mitchell, felt like the end of the world where everything was so relaxed and peaceful.  All troubles were a lifetime away, it was something I've never really felt in a place before.

That excursion was the undoubted highlight of the trip.  The Badlands were so fantastic and the scale was extraordinary - I would certainly like to visit again.  It was the landscape under the blue sky and those beautiful clouds.  It was the heat.  It was the air - the smell and taste of it.  I know I'm privileged to have been there.  And this is not to discount the Black Hills, especially the scenery around Mount Rushmore, which will stay in my memory forever.

Of other highlights, I will never forget the sunset over Lake Mitchell, which words cannot do justice to.  I also often think of the Blue Grass music in Sioux Falls.  I remember thinking, at the time, that I would always remember that experience, and so it seems to be the case.

I can imagine going back, perhaps on my own, for a longer period of time to explore properly. But in the meantime, it's now less than a week until I move back to University, to my student life in Exeter, which I love.  But I shall never forget South Dakota and those memorable days out west."

Dakota Days - Foods of the World!

Day Twenty One.  Sunday 8 August 2004

"One of the best days of the trip.  Tris and I went to the Middle Border Museum today.  It was closed until the afternoon, so instead we wandered into town and looked around the antique mall.  There was a soft toy of Mr Peanut, who I remember seeing from my Bolton Wanders mascot meet.  At $28 he is too expensive, but I really liked him!

We returned to the museum after stopping off at a weird KFC, where Tris ended up having mashed potato and coleslaw with his chicken.  It turns out that KFC here doesn't seem to sell fries - I had potato wedges with my burger.  We both agreed that Dairy Queen was better... and cheaper.

The Middle Border Museum was very interesting, with the focus on Indian life in the area, the farmstead expansion, and prairie life.  There was a good exhibit on the Great Depression, whilst outside there were a few old buildings - A church, a school, and the biggest building of all, the Beckwith House, moved to the site from Downtown Mitchell, both beautiful and creepy.  There was also an old railroad station moved from Dimock.

In the evening we all went out to the Twin Dragon Chinese restaurant to celebrate Heather's birthday, which is tomorrow.  It was a really nice evening - Vicky managed to spill her drink and Tris got huffy with the chopsticks.  I had the 'Shanghai beef' and also tried some of Tris' duck, which was ok, but not my favourite meat.  Afterwards we got our fortune cookies.  My fortune read "Beautiful words are not always truthful; Truthful words are not always beautiful."  All in all, a really good day!"

Day Twenty Four.  Wednesday 11 August 2004

"The weather was cold this morning... a bit like my spirits.  I had a funny night last night.  Firstly, I woke up when my deodorant can fell off the cabinet by the bed.  Later, at about 5 o'clock I woke up again, turned off the aircon that we had left on, then went back to sleep.  Then Dan got up, which woke me up again.  Finally, our alarm clock went off at 6:45, and for some reason I seemed to leap upright out of bed.

Nothing notable happened at work today, but by the evening, my mood had vastly improved, and I laughed harder than I have laughed for years.  At the Holiday Inn, Adrien was giving us a slideshow.  He was continuing with the slideshow until our food arrived but, unbeknown to him, the waiters were waiting until he finished before delivering said food.  It meant we were actually waiting for over two hours for our dinner, and it was hilarious.  At one point (say about an hour and a half in) the doors opened and we felt a rush of relief from hunger, but all that was delivered were bottles of ketchup.  Anyway, the whole evening was farcically funny, and I really saw the Fawlty Towers in it.  The Holiday Inn's food is actually getting worse and worse, and I long for a nice roast dinner - mmmm, how lovely that would be!"

Dakota Days - Bikers and back ache

Day Eighteen.  Thursday 5 August 2004

"I am now stupidly bored of digging.  We get up early, go to the site, dig for hours, then come back to the motel.  My back seriously hurt today, it feels all knotty and tense, probably the result of bending over and scraping dirt for hours.

I got our trench's first significant find today - the end of a bone tool!  But much more interesting things are happening across the site, where human finger bones and teeth may have been found in Tris' trench.  Alan and Adrien are acting more-and-more suspicious, and Tris reckons there is a human burial underneath it all - he's sure they will be asked to stop digging soon.  It's all a bit hush-hush, and if it turns out there are human remains here, the whole site will need to be shut down until formalities are completed, including the dead person's tribal leader collecting the remains for a proper burial.

There are a lot of bikes in town recently, all passing through towards Sturgis, for the big Sturgis Bike Rally.  It's quite interesting seeing all the bikes and the bikers, and there was a bright pink one outside the motel this morning.  Lots of bikers seem to sleep at this motel, must be because it's so cheap.  I don't know when the Sturgis Rally begins, but the number of bikes suggests it's getting closer.  I tried to get some photos earlier, but kind of feel cheeky taking pictures of other people's bikes... And the bikers are so scary, wouldn't want to cross them!"

Day Twenty.  Saturday 7 August 2004

"A lie-in was blissful, and I went to work today feeling a lot more awake, fit and healthy!

But what a shite work day. Ok, it started off alright with doughnuts for breakfast, but it got worse and worse.  We stayed until 8pm because of the Harvest Moon Festival.  Rich people, who had donated money to the site, had a chance to look around and have wine, buy art and so on.  We were the other attraction - and it felt like being in a zoo, all these people looking down on us as we pretended to carefully dig when actually, most of us could think of somewhere else to stick our trowels.  I listened to the speeches going on above us.  Adrien, who didn't like the whole idea anyway, was the only person who mentioned us.

The only thing cheering me up was that Torquay had drawn their first match of the new season, away at Bristol City, 1-1.  It's a great result because we've only just gone up, and City are probably favourites to win it this year.

After a shower in the evening, I felt better, and headed out with Tris, Angie and Dan to the cinema.  We saw 'The Village', which was quite a good film, with a clever twist when you realise that the people aren't really living 100 years ago, but are actually in the modern age.  It's just that they're isolated in the woods, and only the elders know.  A day off tomorrow, so we're going to toe Middle Border Museum, if it's open..."

Dakota Days - Weathering the storm!

Day Fourteen.  Sunday 1 August 2004

"A day off today - the first lie-in since we reached America!  So I got up at 11 o'clock, it was so good to rest and catch up with some sleep.

Today was punishingly hot.  I spent the day in Mitchell town, escaping everyone else after lunch at the Dairy Queen to spend a couple of hours alone.  I went to the Corn Palace gift shop and bought some things, then went into the Corn Palace itself.  The interior is decorated with corn, just like the outside, and there's a definite aroma of popcorn.  Half of the space has stadium seats, and I think the local university uses it as a venue for basketball.  There was another Corn Palace shop in there too, so I bought some postcards.

After that, I went for a wander.  I found an interesting church and the cinema (not much worth watching though)...  I had a map of the town with me, although it's hard to get too lost on a grid-street system, so I wandered a different way back to the motel.  At one point, the road went under a railway.  A train with three engines was resting on the rail - it was great, really long!  On the way back to the motel, the sun was so hot and I probably sweated more than ever before (I passed some crazy guy going the other way who was out for a run!)  Anyway, it was great to finally get out in a strange town with just myself and a map!"

Day Sixteen.  Tuesday 3 August 2004

"We had a big storm whilst working today.  It was scary but also amazing.  I wrote about it onsite:

10.05am - in the Archeodome

The severe thunderstorm hit.  It was eerie.

The sirens sounded when Angie, Lins and I were outside sieving.  They were terrifying by nature.  At first I thought it was a car starting up.  Then a second siren sounded - people here have likened it to a nuclear holocaust siren like in the movies.  We rushed in with the wheelbarrows.  It was about two minutes after the sirens that the storm him.  People didn't know what to do, and fascination drew people to the windows.  As the storm approached during these two minutes, I got two photos of the sky.  

In the lab now.  Angie, Tris, Heather, Dan, Lins, Vicky, Alan and me.  The storm is slightly easing, but the thunder claps are getting louder.  And the rain still lashes down, but it's absorbing to watch!"