Arriving just in time for the Thursday evening music festival was a stellar introduction to Rapid City. The sound booming through the streets, the dance infection slowly spreading and receding in waves. A setting sun cast orange, blue and red glows on the already vibrant city as musicians closed their sets with classics anyone could jam to.
As I found my home for the night in the back of a Walmart parking lot, I blended into the RV's and trailers of various sizes. All arranged neatly like a game of battle ships on the asphalt prairie, the painted lines merely suggestions for spacing between ships. I made the trek to the store bathrooms to clean up, the cold running water feeling like a splash of heaven. Again, my mom's words rang in my ear, probably a recurring theme for this trip, "we are defined by our choices." What kind of life choices am I making that I find it acceptable, normal even, to brush my teeth and wash my face and hair in a Walmart bathroom in a strange town? I'll leave that up to personal interpretation.
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Feeling refreshed for the first time since the Tetons, sleep came easily; waking up even easier as I'm starting to wake up easily at 7 am. Again I make the trek to wash up, returning to my car with a stomach anxiously requiring sustenance. Well, if washing up in Walmart wasn't that bad, how bad could busting out the camp stove in the shaded space next to my car be?
The main menu consisted of eggs, wrapped in tortillas with fruit on the side. I'm eating better living out of my car than I ever did before, strange. Though a few strange looks from passers by, they too were sleeping in a Walmart parking lot, so judgement couldn't be that much. The local visitor center a great help again with an area map and attractions close enough that my bike would be perfect to wander the streets and trail with for the day, cautions to not get caught in the flooded parts (remember all that rain?).
I'll take this moment for a quick aside. All these towns have awesome maps showing where stuff is, often in color coded portions. They're great maps that someone has obviously taken lots of time to make juuuuussssst right. So why, then, is there no scale?! Maybe its my inner engineer popping out, but none of the local area maps have a single scale. As a visitor with no clue how large the town is, its making me twitch a little. That is all.
Bike primed, car safe, pack full of water and camera gear, my walk-about commenced. First up were the presidential statues, 42 in all. They preside at most every street corner in downtown, all supposedly to scale (most of our presidents were seriously short). I decided it would be fun to photograph all of them, which turned out to be a terrible idea. Two hours in, and I was barely half way done, roasting in the sun and mildly exhausted. Resting at the town center over a bit to eat and air conditioning, air conditioning, was just what the doctor ordered for rejuvenation.
Deciding I had enough of the dead presidents, the church at the edge of town seemed cool. On my way there, navigating the flooded bike path, no detour signs, and high speed traffic, a blood center popped up. Knowing I was due, a quick appointment for the following day meant a free breakfast! Off again, another pit stop at Storybook Island. It seemed like a great place, until I noticed I was the only person either over 10, or under 40.
Guess I'm not the intended market.
The church turned out to be a sweet little oasis. Situated at the back of a housing development, it was a serene quiet that came not from nature, but the lack of it, in an isolated portion at the edge of city. An exact replica of a church in Norway, it was adorned with dragon heads on the exterior, and even featured a "leper door" so that lepers could come to service but not mix with the rest of the people. I was just glad I didn't burst into flames upon entering it.
Returning to the city with a quick stop at an outdoor garden place was a good breather from all the construction dust I had inhaled on my way to the church and back. When looking around, I noticed some people had a very long slackline set up. Eyes wide, I b-lined for them and chatted them up, hopping on the line only to bottom out multiple times. They were great guys, looking to start high lining around the area. Wicked cool, we walked and chatted for a bit before they had other arrangements to make.
One last stop before I ended my ride: Art Alley. A place I had stumbled upon the previous evening during the music festival, it was an alley in the middle of downtown covered in graffiti. Every. Single. Inch. Amazing to gaze up and see all the unknown artists master pieces placed and often vandalized. The themes and ideas as varied as the colors, this one street felt like a safe haven. The visitor center lady saying all the people are "hoodlums." I saw the words that could not be spoken, but instead screamed with emotion through strokes of a can to any eyes that would listen.
The sun low and my desire to finish the presidential walk-about dead, work felt like a good use of time as I posted up at the lunch place for quiet and free wifi. With two blogs down and the evening late, reading my book in the central area felt like a great way to wind-down from a great long day. To my surprise, a lady came over offering free cake. Who says no to free cake? Not this guy!
Free cake, book and the sounds of the city ending its week, I knew that somehow, I was making good choices. Not right, not wrong, but good. Returning to the Walmart parking lot among a new set of neighbors, the battle ship grid ever changing, sleep came easy.
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The next day I set aside for work. Setting a day or two each week to just sit, edit photos and write feels like it will be a good use of time and a great way to let my body relax. For the past two days I've hiked and biked more than my knees are happy with. Sitting for a whole day to work usually a hell I avoid, it is a welcome anomaly from my day to day "schedule."
With work finishing up and plenty of day light left, sights are set for the badlands tonight and the following few days.
As always, you can see all the photos by visiting my Flickr account here
