We should name our road trip “There and Back Again.”
Today we start our journey home. We started on the east side, went west, came back east, and now we are going back west. It has been a good investigation trip, we know a lot more now than we did a month ago, some surprising facts came to light, and we think we have a very good idea of how to proceed with a move next summer.
Of course, I have an urge to go NOW, but Brandon needs time to ease into the idea, there are some hikes we still need to do in California, Sunshine has been promised that since she leveled up in ballet and tap that she could continue at her dance school for another year, and I am teaching Great Books in person this year, so we need to be here for a year to wrap things up. It’s going to be an eventful year, to say the least!
We took the long rout up through Brookings (So long, pretty town! Maybe we will move here!), grabbed some Micro Donuts, and headed west. Through De Smet, through corn fields, past cattle munching happily, on until lunchtime. We pulled over in a tiny place outside of Huron called Wessington. We pulled into a park and pulled out our lunch. The park had a pool, vintage playground, tables, great, old trees, and showed signs of having been the center of social life in this tiny place for 150 years of so.
It didn’t take long for town kids to show up. A girl named Danielle, obviously the ring leader, brought our kids into the fold and quickly filled us in on all the important details of town. This kid was her brother. That kid swims faster than her brother. The pool opens at 2:00. There was a town social last week and the best part was the dunk tank. Danielle was 12 years old. She didn’t know if it was LEGAL to set off fireworks, but Judah could set them off anyway.
Danielle spoke with authority. Nobody questioned Danielle. She bore the marks of a life that might not have been filled with sunshine and roses, but there she was, drinking every last drop from the cup of optimism.
What a delightful child!
This drive might become our new “Palomar Mountain to Disneyland” drive, and it could not be prettier. There are gentle hills, rivers, lakes, cattle, horses, deer, farmland, and fluffy clouds as far as the eye can see. Cities have that clean, snowed-on look to them. There is enough rain here to keep the air cool and fresh.
And just like that, we are in Wyoming! Tonight we are staying in a little place called Hulett, just outside of Devil’s Tower. Our rooms look out on a sprawling lawn and a river beyond. There is a tiny farm across the river with sheep and chickens, wild turkeys, and the occasional deer jumping the fence. Deer have no enclosures.
Everyone is a bit testy this evening. I think the tug between staying in this land and the desire to see home and our animals again is weighing on us all.
Oh, and this hotel is for sale for only $750,000. Somebody buy it, quick! I want to stay here often!
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