July 26 - August 2: Visiting Sharon & Dave

We met up with Joyce's sister Sharon and brother-in-law Dave for eight days. This is last of Joyce’s relatives to meet Ron. We toured around, talked, organized cupboards, talked, watched DVDs, and talked (the talking part may be mostly Joyce and Sharon). We went out for dinner that first evening together.

Our first day together we drove through Custer State Park, marveling at all the bison and the begging burros. We had lunch at a lodge in the park.

The smaller creatures were on the wild flowers next to a lake.

The next day we drove up to Spearfish and toured a delightful tourist trap that involved all the presidents’ heads. We skipped Deadwood as it turned out to be some festival and there were two parades that we thought would make the road impassable.

Joyce took lots of “partial head” photographs and this is her favorite.

Now it had been hot up to now (over a 100 degrees) but the weekend was 111 and 113. Sharon helped Joyce reorganize some cupboards and shop for needed doodads (such as bookends and a stool).

Monday we toured the Badlands and Wall Drug.

The Badlands are pretty bad, one can’t help but think of the despair the pioneers experienced after walking across so much prairie and then finding such apparently impassable terrain.

As is typical, Ron was out at Wall Drug trying to pick up some floozy while Joyce stayed home with the baby, Little Joy Rhonda.

Tuesday it was a visit to Wind Cave and more scenic drives. The Wind Cave, which inhales and exhales depending on the barometric pressure, is riddled with openings and interesting formations. It’s also pleasantly cool on a hot day.

Wednesday we drove the Iron Mountain Road which features views of Mt. Rushmore through tunnels. Everywhere there are motorcycles. And more and more coming. The big Sturgis Rally was to start soon and the early arrivers were everywhere. The rates on campgrounds skyrockets during the Rally so we departed after the last cheap night.

This is just a few bikers as they make the turn in front of Mt. Rushmore.

This is a profile view of Mt. Rushmore visible from a rest stop. It's a shock if you don't know the profile is there!

Ron was particularly interested in photographing this particular young blonde biker who was in the rest stop for a bit -- maybe 25 photos?