Convince me to love Rapid City.
Today is day 1 of exploring this town we may move to. There are several reasons that we put Rapid City at the top of our list as we were researching.
1. Reasonable weather
2. Reasonable cost of living
3. Reasonable homeschool laws (downright great homeschool laws)
4. Lots of fresh air and sunshine
5. Outdoor activities within an hour away
6. Spectacular places to roam within 2 hours
7. The best swimming hole in the universe just an hour away
We approached the city from the south today, and it isn’t so, well, sprawling and ugly, as the northern approach. Today we drive around and take a survey of the areas around here.
To the North and West are the somewhat fancy areas, to the south is the farm area, and to the East is the Air Force base. We went North first. While there was an area with a street named Sunshine Valley, or something close to that, the price of land there is California pricy, so we drove on. Out of curiosity, we drove through Sturgis. Well, at least we know of one place we won’t move to! Lots of opportunity to sin there, that’s for sure!
We next went South to Hermosa. Now this is more like it! Prairie forever, some trees, rolling hills, a rodeo in town. The town is a rodeo and a post office and some kind of official looking building that is crumbling. This is my kind of town. We saw a woman walking to get her mail, and her long, flat driveway was about 1/4 mile long. She looked happy, and she waved at us. Prices here are more our style, for sure. There is a doomsday prepper’s property for sale just north of here with a few bunkers for when the end of the world happens. That appeals to my mischievous side. I’d like to tell people that I have several doomsday bunkers and just leave at that. Maybe that’s where we will live.
One thing you have to be aware of when camping in the Midwest is a constant possibility of thunderstorms. If you are in a tent, maybe you should get to somewhere less exposed. We decided to drive around town and wait out the storm. We did some grocery shopping at Safeway, which exists here because, well, it’s the West.
The kids were tired of driving around, and so we let them watch a movie. They chose The Wind in the Willows. This is the best collection of vintage Disney. Not only can we watch Toad and learn about friendship from Badger and Ratty et al., we get to learn about The Ugly Duckling.
You can have your vain, whining, malcontent modern Disney princesses. I’ll take this mama swan who brings stragglers into her fold with love in her eyes and outstretched arms. Selflessness over vice wins, in my book.
So much for day 1 exploring Rapid City. It grows on you. There is a lot to do here. It is far more like the lifestyle we are used to. People loved his city and stay here their entire lives. The entire spectrum of folks live here, from farmers to factory workers to soldiers. They all live here and like it well enough. Maybe we’ll give it a few more days to let it grow on us a little more.
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