Putting Down Roots

This time we were playing for keeps. 

A year and some months earlier, we had visited Whidbey Island to learn a bit, relax a bit, and then return to South Dakota. It was a recon mission to determine the plausibility of moving there. We gathered information and then went back to prepare for the real deal. It took almost a year longer than we had hoped to get to the island. This time was no drill. 

With our Beverly Hillbillies collection of gear, including one irritated chicken, we were set to homestead. Now, we just needed a place. 

The great land quest began almost immediately. So did the disappointments. The first property we liked was five acres, a good price, and right on highway 525 which would give my future studio great access. It was a blank canvas in many ways. It had been recently clear cut, leaving only stumps and some vegetation and a few leftover trees. It had a hill dividing it into two layers. It really seemed ideal! There was room for my studio near the road with room to expand. There was plenty of room for a house. There was certainly plenty of room for gardens and an orchard to grow our own food.

With more than a bit of excitement we contacted our Realtor, the lovely and talented Christina Parker, to inquire. Alas, our hopes were dashed when we discovered that it was sale pending.

We looked at several other locations that Christina gave us to investigate. As we did, another grabbed our interest. It was only half an acre, much smaller than we had really wanted. However, it was grassy, had fruit trees and bushes already growing on it, a well and septic was in and their was a concrete pad from a previous house already! Though smaller, we could really see ourselves living there. It was also right on 525 with great access for my studio. We checked in with Christina. You guessed it, sale pending. 

Our search continued.

While searching, we also put some focus on exploring and learning the island.

We started in the Langley area where we were camping at the bunny farm, also known as the Island County Fairgrounds!

It's a beautiful fairgrounds with a great country fair feel. Here's a beautiful morning fog we got to wake up to one day. If it's foggy over night or in the morning, it doesn't last very long once the sun comes up.

Most of our time there the campground was almost completely deserted except for the campground host and an very fancy RV being stored next to us. Deserted except for one fun weekend.

Late one evening we heard a vehicle pull in to the campground. We looked to see a small VW camper parked in the next site and a young couple setting up in the dark. We thought little of it that night, only happy that we might have some neighbors.

The sun of the next morning revealed a beautiful teal green camper van and the young occupants. We quickly made friends with Andrew and Cyrena from Seattle! One morning they made a large breakfast to share with us and we enjoyed evenings sitting in the campground talking away! Turned out they had relations in South Dakota also in the form of one former Senator Larry Pressler.

Their visit to our island was short though and Seattle called them back. We hope to see them again soon!

 We experienced the "Welcome the Whales" parade and festival in Langley. Every year there are gray whales that migrate through the area. They make a habit of feeding just off the shore of Langley, the Village by the Sea.

                                  Blown glass art in Langley, WA

We ventured to the middle of the island, to the farthest north point that we really wanted to own land, Greenbank! 

Greenbank farm is a center piece of the area. It hosts many events and is home to Art Galleries and gift shops.  It's truly beautiful there. '

And, of course the beaches. Island county boasts over 200 miles of shoreline and with that comes many public, and even more private, beaches. We quickly found Double Bluff Beach where Carrie and Cody took their first steps ever into the Pacific Ocean.

Along with others, we also found a small county park, Dave MacKie Park, in the unincorporated town of Maxwelton. Maxwelton beach is there, a soft sanded public beach with an outstanding view of the Olympic Mountains across the sound. This quickly became our favorite beach for relaxing, looking for shells and rocks, and just de-stressing with what we came to call Beach Therapy.

Yet, much as we love every aspect of the island, we were not there just to sight see. We were there to put down roots, something still illusive to us. We spent much time looking at a variety of properties. One was nice size, but completely covered in trees and had soil that did not allow for a septic system. Another was also covered in trees, but had access to a community well and good soil. The building codes were a bit restrictive though, and with my need for a studio and our desire to raise chickens... there could have been problems. 

One seemed promising at first, a decent location central to the south end and it had a trailer house on it and a garage too! The price was also very low. With cautious hopes, we pulled up to the spot. Yep, there was a trailer.. and another belonging to the neighbor some 50 feet away. Not exactly the secluded acreage we had hoped for. Yet, we got out to take a look. That was when we discovered the wasps... thousands of them. The roof overhang of the trailer had a Seattle Freeway's worth of wasps flying in and out of the soffit. The only thing missing was "Flight of the Bumblebee" playing in the background.

Not wanting to get too close to the trailer house, we investigated the garage to find it chock full of junk. Not a total disadvantage, but a mess to clean. Walking to the back yard we first noticed a copious number of carpenter ants on the siding of the house and then an old shed that also appeared to be a carpenter ant buffet. 

Strangely, none of this was the complete deal killer. That came in the form of discovering the neighbors in their back yard with their death metal blaring, staring at us. This was capped off with a view of their sticker covered cargo van with the windows painted black. (#abductionvan #heykidswantsomecandy?)

We got back in the Jeep and left.

Already frustrated, we arrived at a time when we had to move. The campgrounds have a policy to only staying for a couple weeks. We had lined up a spot with a local club that had some camping sites. We thought we had all the arrangements made, but apparently we were mistaken. We pulled into the club that shall not be named, and were told that in fact we could not camp there! They were pretty crabby about it too, even though we had verbal confirmation that we could. We started up and left. A pity in a way, we had planned to join the club too! Not so much now.

So, we went with a different plan that wound up working very nicely for us. We decided to spend a couple weeks at Fort Ebey State Park on the northern part of the island. Fort Ebey is a beautiful park with beaches, many trails, and old artillery placements that you can explore.

  

This gave us a chance to explore the middle of the island a bit more, which also has so much to offer. There is the wonderful town of Coupeville for starters.

Coupeville from the wharf

Historic Downtown Coupeville

Coupeville is cute little town with an historic downtown that reminds a bit of Hill City, SD. Everything has a unified era, New England Village, kind of look. It was also the location for the town filming of the movie "Practical Magic". There is a fun range of little shops and a couple restaurants. The historic Wharf is at the end of the street. It has a shop, museum, coffee shop, and restaurant in it. Fun place to visit!

Camping there also put us inside the Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve. It's a private and public partnership protecting a large part of the island. It's been preserved for farming by the land owners but prevents development into housing. It's part of the National Park System. 

Ebeys' Landing Prairie

This led to an interesting opportunity for Shawn and Cody. Ebey's Reserve held their first annual "Film Slam" this year in honor of the National Park Systems 100th Anniversary. A film slam is a competition where each team was given exactly 50 hours to write, video, edit, and turn in a completed production with certain requirements. You may or may not know, but Shawn and Cody have a YouTube channel called The Dakota Guys. So, they thought what better way to get to know the island than to enter in the contest!

A total of 8 teams entered in the contest. (Only 6 are in the pic) The criteria was that the video had to reflect the National Parks theme of "Find Your Park", it had to be filmed completely within the Reserve and only during the 50 hours. There were also individual, drawn from a hat, requirements. Team Dakota Guys had to include a Block House structure and a beach. A final, last minute wild card requirement that no one could have planned for... everyone had to include a duck. It could be the word, someone saying duck, a live duck... anything as long as duck was somehow in the video.

So, with our task clearly defined, we chose to create a traditional Dakota Guys video about the Reserve. Here it is! (make sure you watch through the end credits)

We had a great time making the video. More on that in a bit.

While exploring the middle of beautiful Whidbey Island, we found more properties to inquire about. One was simply astronomically expensive once we found the price. Another was a great price, it was right on the main highway, it had the possibility of a bit of a view and it was about 5 acres. It seemed great. It had a downfall, it was less than one mile from the end of the Navy’s Out Lying Field, a small runway that Naval Air Station Whidbey Island uses for touch and go and aircraft carrier landing practice.

A U.S. Navy Boeing EA-18G Growler of test and evaluation squadron VX-31 flies over the city of Ridgecrest, California (USA)   Public Domain photo Date:July 2009  Source:U.S. Navy Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division (NAWCWD) [1]photo [2]AuthorU.S. Navy photo by Cmdr. Ian C. Anderson, USN

The base, on the north end of the island at Oak Harbor, is home to a variety of aircraft including the EA-18G Growler. This is the same basic aircraft as the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet. It’s an amazing aircraft that we’re proud to have on the island. It’s also a very loud aircraft. Still, they don’t use the field every week so the noise would only be occasional. Coming to terms with this, we investigated. Yes, the price was good but there was another catch. A Homeowners covenant on the land, and a pretty restrictive one at that. There was restriction of no commercial use, thus an art gallery and studio was out for me. There were restrictions on how tall your house could be, etc. Keep in mind, there were no other houses there, no view to block, and right on a noisy highway and under a noisy flight line. We chose to pass, and as of this writing so has everyone else.

Our time at Ebey’s Landing State Park ran out, another time restriction, so we packed up and departed for the north end of the island and a city campground in Oak Harbor.

Now Oak Harbor is a decent town. It the home of NAS Whidbey Island as I mentioned before.  It has a population of just over 22,000 people, so it’s not huge but it has many amenities. All the main staples that we have in Sioux Falls are found right here. There is Walmart, two major grocery store chains, McDonalds, Taco Bell (yay!), Home Depot, Applebee’s, Tractor Supply Company, and much to Cody’s joy a Game Stop! Oh, and surprise surprise, they have a Starbucks.

This is the same town we spent our first night in but hadn’t had much opportunity to explore the area much. So, we tried to spend some of our time doing just that.

Deception Pass Bridge

Our explorations led us farther north too as we made a fast visit to Deception Pass State Park and crossed the Deception Pass bridge to Fidalgo Island and the city of Anacortes! In particular, there was a marine surplus store we wanted to visit. Marine Supply & Hardware is a delightful store full of collectible and usable marine hardware. It also had an employee who, it turns out, grew up in Sioux Falls! It was a fun afternoon for Shawn especially as this gentleman had also worked in radio like Shawn had. Turned out they knew many of the same people or had at least known of others in common.

The research vessel Sally Ride in dry dock in Anacortes!

Yet, as much as we wanted to explore we even more wanted a place to call home.

Seeing that the larger properties were just not working out, Shawn and Carrie started looking at the smaller properties. One stood out for its already installed well share access and and its existing septic system. These are expensive items to install, very expensive items. The price was higher than they wanted, but having these utilities already in balanced the price.

So, Shawn and Carrie talked to Christina and went to look at the property. It had an existing single wide trailer house. It was in pretty rough condition but someone was living in it. It had potential for at least temporary housing. It was around ¾ of an acre on a hill top at 300 feet above sea level. (no tsunami worries). It had large grassy areas and even better, a number of established fruit trees. On top of that, the end of the driveway was only one mile from their favorite beach in Maxwelton! In short, they liked it.

So an offer was made and an offer was accepted!

Now there was the vacate allowance, the amount of time the resident had before we could take possession. We had to allow time, it was only fair.

However, a new fly found it’s way into the ointment. A large one.

Sharon had gone in for a checkup on a slightly enlarged aorta that had been found the previous year. Through a series of rather miraculous, and I don’t use that word loosely, events, it was found that not only had the enlargement gotten bigger but there was something in one of her kidneys. Sharon had cancer.

Through consultations and discussions over the phone, the decision was made to remove the infected kidney all together and to repair the aorta. The passage to the heart was done first. They wanted to make sure her heart was getting a proper supply of blood before the more invasive kidney surgery.

In the mean time, We had moved back to the Langley Fair grounds to be closer to the land we would be moving on to. The fair grounds were mostly deserted except for the campground host and one little camper across the compound.

We didn’t see much of the occupants, except for a couple of little boys. One in particular had a huge attraction to our chicken, Eggbert. He wound up in our campsite many times in order to visit the old hen. His slightly older brother would come around some too and their turned out to be another brother who was a bit older yet. All were younger than Cody. Though we didn’t see her much, we learned latter that this was a family consisting of a single mother and her three boys trying to make a new life on Whidbey Island. The island had drawn in another family like so many before... like us.

Sharon’s first surgery went well. With Shawn on the island, long time family friend Marge Miller took Sharon to the hospital and stayed with her until she could go home. Her assistance was invaluable to Sharon, and Shawn too. It was so comforting to know that she was taken care of and not alone. Thank you Marge!!

Shawn's last night on the island for awhile. Spent at Cozy's

restaurant for some good food and pool. Cozy's is one of our very

favorite places to eat and relax on the island.

As Sharon recovered from that surgery, she prepared for the next and Shawn prepared to travel to Sioux Falls to help her through the big one. The day arrived and Carrie and Cody took Shawn to where a shuttle bus would take him from the island all the way to the SeaTac airport south of Seattle.

It was a cool morning with many others gathered waiting for the bus. There were people alone and people with families. Conversations filled the air along with some tears for loved ones departing. Little was said in the Jeep. The weight of Sharons surgery was on Shawn as was his parting from Carrie and Cody. There was something else, but he couldn’t put his finger on it then.

The small bus pulled up and it’s passengers gathered around. Shawn, Carrie, and Cody got out of the Jeep and walked together to the bus. Shawn hugged Cody, they exchanged I love you’s. Shawn hugged Carrie. He didn’t want to let go, he didn’t want to leave. They told each other of their love. They kissed. Carrie said, “get on the bus. Don’t look back or I’ll cry.” He kissed her a last time, touched her face, and turned to go. He didn’t look back. How could he know the future? Would he have done anything, said anything different?

On the Clinton to Mukilteo Ferry. Shuttle bus behind.

 Art at SeaTac, the Seattle-Tacoma Airport.

Shawn waiting to board his Delta Airlines flight.

The trip to Sioux Falls was long but smooth. Shawn left the island the way he came, aboard the ferry to Mukilteo. His flight went to Minneapolis, then to Sioux Falls and the house he had lived in since December of 1980.

Sharon was delighted to see him, as you can imagine. In the coming days she would have her kidney removed. The surgery was a complete success and all the cancer was taken out with it.

Back on the island Carrie had gotten to know the young mother in the camper. Hahna was camping there, waiting for the time to move on to a small farm on the island where she was going to live and work.

It also came time for the Ebey’s Landing Film Slam. This was the film festival event for the contest that Team Dakota Guys had entered. It was a gala event with a red carpet entry, a meet and greet with the film producers and then finally the screening of each video. The moment arrived at the end of the night. They announced the Peoples Choice winner which was voted on by those in attendance. It was a very artistic and creative video about an alien crash landing on the island.

Then it was time to announce the Judges Choice Winner. A panel of judges had been selected to evaluate each video on a series of criteria including how well it promoted Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve, how well the required elements were included, and of course production quality. Carrie and Cody were in attendance, sending text messages to an anxious Shawn throughout. The moment came… the Judges Choice Award winner is… Team Dakota Guys!!!

Yes indeed, our little video above was the winner. We were very honored to be selected by the Judges as the winner! It was such a fun event to be part of. We look forward to doing it again next year.

So, we ended with purchased land we were waiting to take possession of, Sharon’s surgeries were a great success, and Team Dakota Guys won Judges Choice in the first ever Ebey’s Landing Film Slam! Everything seemed to be going just great!

Shawn felt something coming.

The Adventure Begins

Adventure (noun) : An exciting or very unusual experience. Participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises. A bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

Our ancestors, mine and Carries both, went on difficult adventures. Far enough back, mine were Vikings facing the fearsome north Atlantic to venture to far off lands. They colonized, traded, invaded... they ventured out into the unknown with no modern instruments. More recently, my Great Grandfather came to America from Norway to homestead near Canton, SD. Other ancestors of mine came even earlier from Norway to Wisconsin, one fought for the North in the Civil War.

Back a few generations, Carries ancestors traveled from Germany to America, losing a child somewhere in New York.  (He found his way to southern Minnesota at some point.) The rest, having no choice, continued west and eventually homesteaded the farm that Carrie grew up on between Avon and Tyndall, South Dakota... well Dakota Territory at the time. Like my Viking and more recent ancestors, Carrie's traveled thousands of miles across the Atlantic by ship and thousands more across land by wagon pulled by animals, horses, oxen, or some such.

Our ancestors were courageous, strong people. The distances they traveled with what we would consider primitive methods would terrify most of us today, myself included. So, when people seem amazed at the journey we have undertaken, we look at it through the lens of our brave ancestors. We don't feel all that courageous. Yet, an adventure it is from our cushy, first world perspective. 

The reasons for our journey were likely similar to those of our ancestors, opportunity, better environment, and maybe just the need to see what's on the other side of that next hill. We'll talk about that more in another post. Our problems though, were likely quite different and far less dangerous. Some of our problems were already staring us in the face, some would come soon. Others, well, there were other problems bubbling under the surface that would rise up much later.

We had made it across the state of South Dakota, only 350 miles of travel into a 1,500 mile journey. The Phoenix, our RV, was not going to make it the rest of the trip. We were traveling by caravan, the RV pulling the Jeep and Carrie following in her Dodge Dakota pulling a 12 foot long cargo trailer. The last time we had taken the Phoenix over the Rocky Mountains we had to unhitch the Jeep and have Carrie drive it until we reached flat land again. We had forgotten that, hadn't planned for that. We had to make a decision. 

Turning back just wasn't an option. We had worked too hard for too long to get to this point. We loved Sioux Falls and South Dakota, but there just wasn't opportunity for us there anymore. We'd spent half a lifetime trying to make our home state work for us, trying to fit in. At some point you have to realize that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is a definition of insanity.

So, we could sell the RV and cut our losses... but what would we live in once we got there? We could try and drive it anyway and hope that it made it. Improbable. Finally, we could have it transported. Yes, we give our ride a ride. 

After a degree of research by the lovely Carrie, she reserved a trucking company to pick the RV up and drive it all the way to Whidbey Island. I would drive the now well repaired Jeep and she would drive the now well repaired Dodge that decided to nearly catastrophically lose it's entire breaking system the day before we were planning to leave. On a side note, dying, grinding brakes combined with the speeds and steep slopes of the scenic Black Hillls of South Dakota highways make for some... unique... aroma's. Brake pads certainly have a smell all their own. 

With heavy hearts and lighter wallets, on April 3rd, 2016 we set off into the west. There's a sadness in leaving behind South Dakota, but a joy in beginning a new adventure.

                             Sundance, Wyoming

We blazed across the seemingly endless Wyoming. I swear that state is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Borders made by the Sleestack. Then there's Montana. Montana is just plain big, but once you get past the part that looks just like the scrub lands of Wyoming and dry grasslands of western South Dakota, you do finally get to some impressive scenery.

                             Bozeman, Montana and the beginnings of the Rockies.

After a couple of days travel we crossed the border of our new home state, Washington! We spent the night in Spokane at the Best Western Peppertree Airport Inn. This is the same hotel that Carrie and I stayed at on our first exploration of Whidbey Island. It's a very nice place with a 24 hour swimming pool and hot tub. In typical fashion of our trip so far, the hot tub was down for repairs! However, they also have a great continental breakfast! We're all about the food. When you figure the cost of three people going to breakfast at even the Denny's across the parking lot, the price of the hotel room is suddenly more affordable.

Once again we did not spend any time exploring Spokane. Someday we will remedy that as it seems like a very nice city. Instead we plowed ahead into the morning light, leaving the pines of the Rocky Mountain foothills to emerge into the rather arid farm and ranch country of central Washington.

It only takes about four hours to drive across most of Washington, until you reach the Cascade Mountains. The Cascades are known as the Alps of America to some. It's understandable as this is a beautiful mountain range. Rocky, snow capped peaks rise like frozen titans all around. Interstate 90 cuts through them only by permission. Still, we have little time to linger here and continued our pace all the way through them.

It's an odd and sudden transition to descend from the majestic Cascades straight into the urban sprawl of the Seattle Tacoma Metro area. With my Jeep in the lead and Carrie following close behind with the pickup and 12 feet of cargo trailer, we entered the big city traffic... right at 5:15pm. Yes, every car in the Pacific Northwest had just left work parking lots and entered traffic. Apparently all 4 million area residents wanted to be on the same 30 feet of interstate highway that we were on. It was quite a welcome. 

Now, I should back up a minute... well, not in traffic... but I should point out that Carrie has never driven in a very big city. She has driven Sioux Falls plenty. She has driven city buses and tractors. She is an experienced driver in general, but had never been presented with the "opportunity" to drive in major urban traffic. So, of course, why not try it for the first time at rush hour and with nearly 25 feet of vehicle trying to follow a Jeep Wrangler.

I will say that the drivers of the Seattle metro make things a little easier. I've driven a lot of this country at one time or another. I've been in the traffic of Orlando, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. I've seen some crazy drivers, I've seen some rude drivers.  Minneapolis drivers are fast but fairly organized, I like driving there. Illinois drivers don't seem to understand that the gas pedal provides a variable rate of travel and seem to have cars that are permanently locked on Hyper Space. The drivers in San Fran are pretty courteous, the drivers of LA are just plain mean.  Seattle drivers remind me of San Francisco drivers. It's a fast pace of 6 or more lanes of traffic speeding through the city, but if you hold pace with everyone else, they open spaces for you and don't crowd you out. There's a "in it together" kind of feel. As long as your mannered enough to signal your intentions, you do ok. I like driving there. Carrie, not so much.

Deep grooves in the Dodge steering wheel not withstanding, I focused on finding holes in traffic large enough for our mini convoy and Carrie did a great job of staying with me. It was crazy at times, it was a complete standstill at times, but we made it through the worst of it and arrived at the end of the road, Mukilteo, Washington. 

There is this moment, as you leave the hustle of the interstate and enter the more residential area going into Mukilteo, when you come out of the houses and trees and suddenly see it. Cody's jaw dropped as we started down the hill. He stared out the window to the left of the Jeep. "I get it now," he said to me, eyes wide in awe. The trees parted to reveal an expansive view of Puget Sound and the tree covered islands that seem to float in the distance. Majestic is an understatement, particularly when one has lived their entire life surrounded by flat land and farm fields. 

Mukilteo is home to the historic Mukilteo light house, an Ivars Restaurant location, the Silver Cloud Inn, and most significantly the ferry dock. On the other side of the water, not that far to tell the truth, sat the ferry dock at Clinton Washington on the Island known as Whidbey.

                             The view from our room at the Silver Cloud Inn. Mukilteo, WA

                             The ferry dock and the little beach at the Silver Cloud in. 

We checked into the Silver Cloud Inn where Carrie had found us a beautiful room with a view of the ferry dock and the sound. We settled in briefly, then headed to the Ferry to check out the island! It was a short visit but a joyous one and Cody's first time on a ferry and first time on an island! Having arrived a bit too late for most of the restaurants on the island, and being very hungry, we left Whidbey behind for the night to go eat at Ivars next to our hotel.

                             On the ferry, Whidbey Island behind us.

                             A full ferry headed in to Mukilteo, the Jeep is on the right.

We had beat the RV by only one day. The next morning I to had rise early, miss the wonderful continental breakfast they have, and drive to Fort Casey on Whidbey Island to meet the truck driver. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and I didn't mind the drive itself. The ferry ride over was refreshing, I love riding the ferry! The drive on the beautiful, winding highway 525 that runs the middle of the island was wonderful. At the end of my trip, in a large parking lot next to the Port Townsend ferry dock, sat the Phoenix.  

I thanked the driver, signed some papers, parked the RV in a safe spot and went back for Carrie and Cody. They had kindly gathered some breakfast for me, a welcome sight in a long morning. Packing our things, we left the hotel, boarded the ferry yet again, and set off to start our new life.

                              Officially becoming, The Anderson's on Whidbey Island!

On April 6, 2016, we set foot as a family on Whidbey Island, Washington. That morning we officially became the Anderson's on Whidbey Island, determined to have a constant presence, determined to buy our new homestead. 

Of course, nothing ever goes that easy for us....

The Black Hills of South Dakota

After an… interesting… trip across the state of South Dakota, we finally settled in for some rest with Carries parents near Hill City, SD.  For the past, well, year really, we’ve been doing nothing but pack, organize, plan, repair, remodel, and pack some more in preparation for a major journey. Add to that the thought of moving 1,500 miles away from many of our friends and family, and 2015 and the beginning of 2016 were stressful to say the least. As you can imagine we were ready for R&R now.

Our first couple of days in the Hills we simply rested. We gathered what essentials we needed and then settled in to watch movies, enjoy some great food, and spend time with family. Yet, knowing that it would be quite some time before we made it back to South Dakota again, we also wanted to enjoy some time as tourists.

We set out on our first Black Hills expedition with a quest to visit as many rock shops as we could in a day.

Now, you may not know this about Carrie and I, but we are amateur rock hounds. We aren’t extremely knowledgeable about geology yet, but we’re learning.  We can generally tell an agate from a quartz from a granite. We know a bit about selenite, tourmaline, garnets, hematite, and a few other gems & minerals. Mostly we know what we like in the “Ooo, pretty” range of rock hounding.  In short, we both walk around with rocks in our pockets…. which of course is better than rocks in our heads!

So, we spent our day in Keystone at the Rock Shed, Hill City at the Dakota Stone Rock Shop and with the very nice ladies at the Things That Rock rock shop. Finally we ended our rock shop tour in Rapid City at our favorite shop, Indigo Iris Rocks and Stones. We found some great treasures to take on our trip at each stop! We concluded our day with a drive through the hills and a brief stop at Horse Thief Lake for a stretch and a bit of photography and a quick visit to see George (the side of Mt. Rushmore). (click pics to enlarge.)

 

 

Our next outing was to visit what is easily the worlds largest art project and will be the worlds largest monument when it is completed. It has its own art and history museum and is a tribute to a great leader of North America. Most of you have probably guessed it. Need more? It is a memorial to a man who fought for his people and was ultimately killed while under a truce agreement to visit his ailing wife. This is also a monument that is being built with no government money at all. It is funded strictly by visitors, sales, and donations. Yes, we spent part of an educational day at the Crazy Horse Monument.

We viewed the massive monument to Chief Crazy Horse, then we went inside to learn about him, the monument, and Native American Tribes of the area. There we were, surrounded by art works and history, and Cody… Cody found a gun. Granted, it was a very finely crafted and artistically engraved rifle. Next he found a tomahawk, then some pistols, a club, a bow, a sword…. there could be a trend here. Yes, Cody is 16.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the monument, museum, and gift shop and we thought we’d continue our stay with a lunch at their on-site restaurant. It was Easter Sunday and not too busy, but we certainly weren’t alone. Imagine our surprise when we learned that the restaurant at a tourist destination, that you have to pay to get into, was offering seating by reservation only. Yes, with no public notification that we could find… and I did look on their website before we left… they were offering seating only by reservation. Oh, and it would be an hour and half wait.  Deciding that the rather small $19 per person buffet didn’t look or smell all that good anyway, we chose to dine elsewhere. The sad thing was that half the seating area was empty. There were easily 10 tables open that were being unused.

Beyond that, it was a very nice trip and I highly recommend visiting. Cram everyone into a single car when you do. There is a per person fee, but there is also a cheaper car load entry fee.

Going back to our love of rocks, our next expedition was to a place that was on Carrie’s “bucket list”… the Fairburn Agate Beds.  Consulting people in rock shops, a book about the agates, and another about rock hunting, we had a fairly good idea of where we were going. Take this certain road out of the town of Fairburn for twelve miles. When you see the 4H Picnic Grounds sign, turn in and park. Easy, right?

Well, it’s important to understand that maps from the 1940’s are not always accurate. It’s also important to understand the only constant is change.  So there we were, 12 miles out of the almost ghost town of Fairburn, looking for a roadside sign. At sixteen miles we still hadn’t seen it and had run out of road. Fortunately we hadn’t run out of luck. A local rancher drove up in his pursuit of a wayward bull. We had, in fact, just seen the rather self-impressed bull standing in the road about a mile back and told him so. When asked about the agate beds, however, we learned he was a new hired hand in the area and didn’t know about them.

So, we turned around and tried again. We found a gumbo filled mud hole of a driveway that looked like the right place on the map. There was no 4H sign, but there was a National Grasslands entrance sign. Knowing that the agate bed was within the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, this was a positive, er, sign. Determining that the truck would likely sink to somewhere near India if we tried to drive in, Carrie and I jumped out to do some recon. We avoided the prairie quicksand and walked about a quarter of a mile to where the trail met French Creek. There were the occasional tell-tale signs of someone sifting gravel through a qualifier, so we thought this might be the place.

Now for those who haven’t gone out to play with rocks or prospect for gold, a qualifier is a pan with holes in it. Smaller rocks go through, bigger rocks stay. You do this through a series of progressively smaller qualifiers and sift the good stuff out of the sand and dirt. The result is a sandy pile, which we found a few of.  What we didn’t find was anything that looked like something that might be called an agate bed. We did find a few nice quartz pieces and some bits of Prairie Agate, but not very much.

Returning to the truck, we learned that Merlon had gotten more information from a young boy who lives in the area and, in fact, he was helping the previously met hired hand to escort the proud bull back to his pasture. The 4H sign was apparently a sign of the past. It no longer existed and we needed to turn in at the French Creek Campground sign.  A new sign of the times I guess.

We did this, found the sign directing us to the agate beds, and still felt a bit lost. A dirt road crossed, well disappeared under really, French Creek at this point and disappeared over a hill side. Still nothing that looked like agate beds here, but we had hope.  The five of us crossed the creek on foot, not sure if driving the truck through was a good idea, and started up the path. Cody went on ahead at a faster pace. After a bit, I decided to join him.

The short path soon turned into somewhere between a mile and half and a thousand miles to get to the agate beds. Yet, we did indeed find them! Before us was a collection of hills, ravines, and washes just covered in quartz and agates and other interesting stones. It wasn’t so much a matter of it being difficult to find something to pick up, it was more a matter of wanting to pick up everything! Never have I seen a more beautiful collection of minerals, especially quartz, so concentrated in an area and just laying on the ground. The quartz in particular was what some call prairie tumbled. They were all rounded like river rock, and very smooth.

Cody went back to inform Carrie and her parents that the beds were more than just a mythical legend while I started the hunt for a specific kind of agate, the illusive Fairburn Agate.  After a time Carrie, Kathy and Merlon arrived with the Dodge Ram. It seems that a much smaller vehicle had made it back there, so they figured the Ram should surely make it. It did and we were grateful.

Carrie & Shawn. Pic by Cody.

We all spent the rest of the afternoon filling five gallon buckets with geologic treasures and having a wonderful time. We might have found a couple of partial Fairburn Agates, but we definitely found Prairie Agates, quartz of many kinds and colors, and so much more. This place is definitely on our visit list the next time we come back to the Black Hills.

Our last big goal was a bit out of this world, yet not. It was to a place that “means something”. According to stories, there are those who traveled millions of miles to visit there. According to legend, a giant bear was behind its creation. We drove, with Carrie’s parents, through the heart of the Black Hills. We passed the past glories of gold and fortune. We emerged upon the high plains to the north and turned west toward the arid lands of red, of mesas and canyons, of tumbleweed and pines. 

Turning north again on our journey, we topped a hill where it was revealed in the hazy distance. Like a mirage, or perhaps an omen, it loomed above the surrounding terrain. Through a valley, around a bend, and up another hill and it was closer, yet still far. Even at this distance it was huge, a geologic Rex surveying its domain. It grew larger, almost impossibly large, as we reached the gate that gave us access and audience with the cold monolith. “Devils Tower National Monument” the sign read.

As a child this was a place of wonder and dreams for me. I grew up with the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” making a massive influence on my young psyche. My fascination with UFO’s and aliens… and Devils Tower… barely waned in the following years.  This would be my third visit I think. This ancient volcanic creation was as impressive as I had remembered. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a hike with Richard Dreyfuss…. Or maybe Giorgio Tsoukalos.

The wind was cold this day, however, and more snow was threatening to roll in. Thus, our stay was not as long as others I’ve made. Carrie, and Cody and I made the walk up the sidewalk leading to the boulder field at the tower’s base.  Kathy & Merlon joined us most of the way. Cody, clearly having a degree of mountain goat coursing through his genetics, immediately started to climb the boulder field. However, the winds of March soon convinced us to enter the visitor’s center and gift shop.  Yes, we bought stuff.

 

Our visit to the tower complete, we returned to South Dakota and the north Black Hills city of Deadwood! Being March, the town was fairly quiet. The historic buildings, locked in eternal stately poses, could be enjoyed, and photographed, as we took our time walking the storied streets without crowds to hinder us. The ghosts of gamblers, miners, and working girls watched on as we explored the modern remnants of what was once a very rough place.  We took the time to visit a few gift shops, peaked into the fateful Saloon #10, showed Cody a bit of what a Deadwood Casino looks like, and took many photos.

By this time, there was talk of a large winter storm bearing down on the Hills, so we felt it best to return to the Heart of the Hills. After a long scenic drive, we arrived back in Hill City to enjoy a delicious meal at the Hill City Café and then back to the acreage for a long winters nap.

The Black Hills, especially in the summer months, has something to offer for most everyone. It is a tourist region, so everything costs more. Yet, it is worth a visit to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument, to the shops of Keystone and Hill City, the shops and casinos of Deadwood, and so many other attractions and locations.  Even the winter has offerings with skiing in the north, four wheeling, snowmobiling, and more. It’s a wonderful place to visit but a challenging and expensive place to live.

We will always love the Black Hills and will miss the beauty of the pine covered landscape. Yet, we know this is not where we belong long term. It’s hard to come to grips with where one doesn’t belong, especially when it’s a beloved place like the entire state of South Dakota.  We will return to visit, but our future lies elsewhere.

The journey continues….