Well this officially concludes my first real hypertrek on US soil... I've learned a few things. Hypertrekking is by nature a vastly different business in the US, especially in the West, than it is in other places. Public transportation is more advanced and convenient in Egypt than it is here. If you don't have a car, you can't go anywhere outside of a major city. Unless you fly or take the bus... but when flying you don't get to see much and bus travel totally blows. I speak from an abundance of experience... I took the bus from NYC to Seattle, WA.... two summers in a row. UGH! So compared to that, driving is not so bad actually. Uh, except you know, for the environment and all that. Really, trains are key, and it's infuriating that a country famous for its railroad culture back in the day has such a shoddy rail system nowadays.
But anyway I got to see everything on my agenda. I arrived in Rapid City, SD on Monday afternoon, (I love the name Rapid City... it sounds like a DC Comics city name) and drove up to Gillette, WY where my job was at a coal mining company. Apparently Gillette is the energy capital of the US, producing 30% of the coal we use here, although that could be a bit self-aggrandizing. But my job is so easy! I was all a panic worrying that I was going to screw up, but I administered the test and everything went well. It was really weird, showing up in a strange Wyoming town and going to a coal mining plant to test them on their computer knowledge.
On Tuesday morning I got up early and drove over to see the Devils Tower, which I already posted a picture of. The Devils Tower is one of those things that strikes you silent when you see it. I felt like one of the monkeys at the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey when they found the obelisk. I do think it's possible that I found it to be so awesome also because of the modern mythical influence given it by Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but so what. It's huge and imposing and strange, and very out of place. I saw prairie dogs and a rattlesnake. Some douche lady poked a stick at the rattlesnake trying to get it to do something, and I started taking video hoping it would bite her, but no such luck.
After walking all the way around the tower I hit the road again and went to the town of Sundance where the Sundance Kid got his name from, but not where Robert Redford's film festival is, much to my disappointment. They had a statue of the Sundance Kid in front of the courthouse... You have to love a culture which celebrates its famous outlaws that way. After that exciting ten minutes, I drove on to Deadwood. There I got to sit in the seat (I think) where Wild Bill Hickok was shot while playing poker. At the very least, it was the seat where they hung his original grave marker over. Or a copy of it. Or something. I also got to visit Wild Bill and Calamity Jane's graves. But mostly, Deadwood is a huge chintzy tourist trap of a slot machine town. It was cool to see it, but there's not much there that doesn't have a gag effect. It's all slot machine casinos and bad steakhouses. Kevin Costner owns a building there with a restaurant on the second floor which has a western film theme, sort of, but is mostly a museum dedicated to himself with posters from all of his films and glass cases with movie costumes he'd worn displayed in them. Like I said, gag effect.
The next day I drove 5 hours to Yellowstone, and spent about six more hours driving through there, trying to see all the high points. Got to Old Faithful just in time for the big spurt. Saw loads of bison and gaggles of Yellowstone tourists pulled over on the sides of Yellowstone roads with HUGE binoculars and cameras, pointing off into the Yellowstone woods where a Yellowstone grizzly bear had been seen 15 Yellowstone minutes before. Apparently they were hoping the Yellowstone bear would come back out for a Yellowstone photo-op. It seemed fairly Yellowstone unlikely. It was like something out of those old Disney cartoons based in some national park where a bear is walking peaceably through the woods and all of a sudden Goofy or somebody sees it and then there's a great "huggalah huggalah huggalah!!" and a hundred cameras start flashing and freak the poor bear out and he runs away. Who knew those cartoons were a form of Yellowstone social commentary?
I spent the night just outside of Cody, WY in a ranch-type cabin hotel, which was very nice, and drove back to Gillette the next morning just in time to do that whole job thing I was sent there for in the first place. Afterwards I sped from there two hours back to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore. Here's the thing with American tourism: Every bloody thing is a big bloody show. It drives me nuts. At the Rushmore monument, there's a big silly stage at the base of the mountain. I had arrived right on the cusp of nightfall, and they have a lighting ceremony every night for the 4 big heads. So I was subjected to an extremely long, sanctimoniously patriotic video about how great America is and how we tried to make peace with the Indians before killing them all and blah blah blah before they turned on the spot lights.
It says something about our government that they always feel the need to put on a show for us when the thing we came to see is awe inspiring enough as it is. I mean Mt. Rushmore really is cool. It was carved by some mason with a really funny name. Gutzon Borglum. I have a lot of admiration for at least three of those four Presidential dudes. And I never realized before that they actually carved a collar and shoulders for George Washington there, also. I'd only noticed the heads in pictures before.
After Rushmore, I drove back to Rapid City and found myself in the middle of a bizarre city-wide fancy antique automobile event. The streets were lined with people cheering me on as I drove amidst old Model-Ts and sport cars and other classic autos in my rented Ford... whatever modern bland model car it was. It was kind of freaky actually. As it turns out, the reason they were in fact shouting at me, not cheering, is because I'd forgotten to turn my headlights on. I realized this when I was pulled over by a cop, and the section of classic auto fans on the side of the road where I'd been stopped started yelling "headlights!" at me. I guess they knew the difference between nice cars and rentals, after all. Rapid City police are very understanding, however, and he let me off with a warning and directions to a nice hotel.
But the West is crazy when it comes to distances... I was talking to the boss of the coal mining plant in Gillette, and he was telling me how he and his wife don't think anything of driving the two hours to Rapid City just to go out to dinner, and then turn around and come home. I couldn't believe how far you can drive without seeing anything. And how empty the roads are. Very different from what I'm used to over here. The distances between towns actually mean something out there, as there are no gas stations, fast food joints, or, for the most part, rest stops in between them. Very peaceful driving actually, especially considering that cruise control is a way of life out on western highways, and the scenery is fantastic, if a bit stark at times.
Anyway, the rest of my pictures are now up over at smugmug for both Wyoming and South Dakota, so feel free to check 'em out. I took way too many shots of the Devils Tower, of course. But mostly, I feel that I was wanting in the photo department this time around... I was rushing around quite a bit on this trip because I only had two days, essentially, to see all this stuff, so I didn't really take the time to look for the best angles for the most part. I got a couple of nice ones, though. This last one I took off of the side of the highway at some point; it's on the outskirts of a Wyoming town named Ten Sleep.
http://www.godrex.com/aud/americaswonderful.mp3
first thing that popped into my head after reading this.
Posted by: Gary | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 08:23
That was creepy.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 08:27
yep... very creepy... but wond-onde-nder-derf-erfu-rful-y sublime...
nice pix though...
Posted by: Dad | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 20:35
well I wasn't going for creepy (more like ironic) but ok... :)
Posted by: Gary | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 07:37
Bush (it sounded like Bush, anyway) saying america is wonderful like a skipping CD is creepy. Anything Bush says is creepy.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 10:16
hahaha that wasn't Bush - that was Frank Zappa in 1966. Probably the exact opposite of Bush.
Notice how he says "it really makes it" at the end...
from the same album:
Mister America
Walk on by
Your schools that do not teach
Mister America
Walk on by
The minds that won't be reached
Mister America
Try to hide
The emptiness that's you inside
When once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide of
Hungry freaks, Daddy . . .
They won't go
For no more
Great mid-western hardware store
Philosophy that turns away
From those who aren't afraid to say
What's on their minds
(The left-behinds of the Great Society)
Posted by: Gary | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 11:46
Maybe Zappa didn't die... maybe he's masquerading as a President as a piece of performance art.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 15:49
http://www.godrex.com/aud/fz/zappaforpresident.mp3
Posted by: Gary | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 16:55
Gary you have a sound byte for everything. Were you on the radio or something? :)
Posted by: messiestobjects | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 17:02
Nope never been on the radio... well not legally anyway.
http://www.godrex.com/aud/fuck%20the%20fcc%20crowd.mp3
Posted by: Gary | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 17:24
Argh, matey.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 17:33
If we didn't put on a show for everything, how would we know what's worthwhile? For example, we can't rely on parents to tell their children an accurate account of the Native Indians' experience in the US. They might get the sanitized story wrong. Teachers are too busy parenting students on field trips to teach. And, let's face it, most adults are too lazy to do any research. So, it's up to the big screen. Also, if there wasn't a show, how could they really justify the gift shop? Tourist dollars support our economy! That cheesy show is for the greater good. It replaces our need to excel in any tangible way.
(Whew. I'm not sure if that rant was entirely necessary.)
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Friday, June 15, 2007 at 14:12
You're right. Power to the hegemony of commercialism. My bad.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Friday, June 15, 2007 at 15:52
Julie you sound so cynical, you're really bumming me out. :)
Posted by: Gary | Friday, June 15, 2007 at 20:55
With great hope comes great cynicism.
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 11:33
"With great hope comes great cynicism."
Didn't Stan Lee say that, True Believers?
Posted by: wolfboy | Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 13:36
I'm pretty sure Stan Lee said:
"With great glower comes great latent hostility."
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 14:06
Hmm. Never did understand what that guy was on about...
Posted by: wolfboy | Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 18:46
I am stoked that you got to Yellowstone. That's just awesome. Ten Sleep must be like a little town outside Flagstaff, AZ called Table Mesa. (mesa = table in Spanish)
Mount Rushmore is just out-right freaky. Freakity, freak, freak, freak. WTF? Heads? Mountain? Can you imagine living within eye-shot of that place, waking every morning, sipping coffee while sitting on your back porch admiring the VIEW?!?
However, McPhotoshoot, you made it look impressive. And I liked the McSmart fact of the day that GW has a breast. (I'll be using that in social engagements: "Did you know that George Washington has a.....?"
All your photos are amazing to me. I love to photograph. I've been pulled over by cops for stopping along the highway to take pics of things. But I never really got the hang of photography. I am very clever at taking really awful photographs of people.
Hope you are enjoying the job part of your life, and if not, keep the job anyway, because look what you did while you were away on business!
Posted by: Sissy | Sunday, June 17, 2007 at 23:50
Aw thanks... I'm glad you like the photos. I was all Richard Attenborough with that rattlesnake... "If that fat stupid lady poking the stick at it gets bit, I can't interfere and take her to a hospital because that would be interfering with nature's course..."
Yes, I've found the collar and shoulders of Mt Rushmore Washington to be quite impressive conversation fodder at tea parties. It's a very handy tidbit to have at your disposal.
I am enjoying my job... next week I'm going on another trip, to Florida! I won't get to get out quite as much on that one though, as it's going to be more involved than my last gig. I'll be lucky to see more than the town I'll be in, most likely. Ah well.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Monday, June 18, 2007 at 10:41
If I can't hydroplane across the Everglades on one of those fandangled fan boats, then there is no good reason for me to be in Florida.
....except when I am forced into the inevitable Disney trip after my kids back me into a corner and make idle Princess threats that they are the only kids on the planet who have never been to Disney.
Posted by: Sissy | Monday, June 18, 2007 at 12:41
Oh, but take pics anyway. It passes the time for me. Makes feel like I can pull myself off as a worldly traveler at those tea parties.
Posted by: Sissy | Monday, June 18, 2007 at 12:42
I've never been to Disney, and I feel I'm a better person for it.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Monday, June 18, 2007 at 13:06
I rode around the everglades in an airboat manned by a toothless hillbilly. That was truly terrifying.
And I've been to Disney a bunch of times. Theme parks are fun. As an adult, I knew someone who worked there and we got in for free. My sister and I rode the Tower of Terror like 100 times. We just kept running from the exit to the entrance all day. It was before they made the ride safer by stopping the freefall at the midway point. It was a pretty thrilling ride but nothing like the airboat.
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Monday, June 18, 2007 at 16:18
Disney. Ba ha ha ha ha ha. Ethan has still never been. You know why? Because his mom will not pay $7 for a @#$%&* Pepsi, that's why. Cape Canaveral, son.
Posted by: Heather | Monday, June 18, 2007 at 17:22
Oh I'll probably go if I get the chance, I'm just saying that it was probably an advantage in the development of my ability to avoid being brainwashed by crass commercialism as a child.
But now that that ability has been erased by the passage of time and the persistence of the world commercial conspiracy, I wanna go.
Posted by: messiestobjects | Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 08:37
I wholeheartedly support the resistance to crass commercialism. I don't let it interfere with a fun time though.
Posted by: Miss Luongo | Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 10:47
Whoa, McSmartydragon is throwing big words around again. It's a little late in the day for that kind of language, don't you think?
I can't stand Disney ANYTHING. The characters suck, the movies suck. And that freakin' clothing with the freakin' cartoons embroidered on the fabric. Ack! It turns my stomach. I'm so bad that I've actually received gifts of clothing for my kids and if they have the characters pasted all over, I toss it, tags and all. My mom used to keep secret disney baby clothes at her house that she'd sneak on to my kids when I went out at night.
I'm trying to think if I let anything interfere with a fun time, crass commericialism included. Hmmmm.
Now that I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, I ought to usher myself to bed.
Posted by: Sissy | Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 23:11
Disney sucks, they really really suck. (Re: Waterboy singsong)
I like rides though... that's how they get you I suppose.
Pixar is still cool though, right?
Posted by: messiestobjects | Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 11:24
Pixar is forever cool. I've convinced Ethan that what he really wants to do when he grows up is work at Pixar. Because what good is a kid if you can't live vicariously through him? Dur.
Posted by: Heather | Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 10:19
Yes, Pixar rocks! In fact, while I was clattering at my keyboard in my Disney tirade, I thought, "I should add a disclaimer regarding Pixar."
I totally convinced my nephew into a job at Pixar. He's heading to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh this fall to major in digital annimation. I love when I can manipulate youngsters into doing the things I know I will never accomplish in this lifetime! Ha!
Posted by: Sissy | Saturday, June 23, 2007 at 09:18
Nice bog you have here. I pretty much lurk the internet when I'm bored and read all I can about the organic lifestyle, but I really liked you view on things. I'll bookmark the site and subscribe to the feed!
Posted by: Acai Drink | Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 04:46
Well, you certainly seem like spam, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt... for the moment. Because I like compliments. But I'm demanding, so, I'll only consider you not spam if you describe what view in particular you are referring to. Otherwise, it's right to the spambox for you, buddy!
Posted by: messiestobjects | Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 20:06