South Dakota

Usually when we drive across South Dakota it is dark. Like Monday evening November 14th at 11:30 p.m. Krysta and I were feverishly packing for the great hunting/camping trip. I was getting crankier by the minute until Krysta said, "Did you eat any supper?"

This was a reversal of roles. I remember times when Krysta would moan and cry and be an extreme nuisance until suddenly I'd realize . . . this poor child has not had lunch (or supper) as the case may be.

It's amazing how calm she'd become when I sat her down and put food in front of her. After a few minutes of inhaling the meal she would be a different child, happy and contented, trotting off to play with her dolls. This evening she recognized someone who is "hungry and tired and cross."

We sat down and ate a midnight snack and felt much better. We were expecting a call from Evan and Chelsea any minute saying they were on the way to pick us up. We'd be loading our supplies and then be on the way to Diamond Butte Lookout.

When they arrived we started packing under and around Evan's wheel chair. Chelsea took one look at all of the stuff and said, "I don't think we're going to get this all in." But she set to work like a pro and got most of it in. We weeded out anything that was unnecessary. We started traveling with the knowledge that to stop at a rest area we would have to unpack everything to get Evan's wheel chair out.

Some of us fell asleep. Evan and Chelsea had taken naps so they kept each other awake. (They said I snored.) I slept through South Dakota and didn't see much until the sun was rising Tuesday morning, November 15th.

We got around unpacking the car by stopping at Walmart. Chelsea buzzed in and borrowed the motorized shopping cart. She arrived at the driver's side of the car, Evan opened his door and transferred to the cart and rode in style to the rest room.

Ellis had suggested that we stock up on groceries at the last Walmart before the wilderness. Where were we going to put these groceries? We were already squashed in with luggage at our feet and on our laps and on the seat between Krysta and me, besides the luggage packed floor to ceiling behind us around the wheel chair.

We arranged to meet the guys at Broadus where we could shuffle supplies. Finally, Evan could get his wheel chair out and be mobile again. We were stopping there already so Evan could buy his hunting license. The prices at the little grocery store were comparable to Walmart so we stocked up there and continued on our way to the lookout. Somehow the thought of going back over all those miles was too unpleasant to even consider. We were so ready to get there and let the party begin!

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Thursday December 8th was a day trip. We got to see all those signs advertising Wall Drug and Mt. Rushmore. When we got close to Pierre, South Dakota I saw a sign for Bad River. That tickled me since it reminded me of an article in an old Reader's Digest. This story told how to keep humor in your day. One example was of a nurse who was being run ragged by her patients. The last straw happened when a guy turned on his light during supper. When she came to his room to find out the trouble he told her the potato on his plate was bad. She picked up the potato, spanked it and said, "Bad potato, bad potato, bad, bad, bad!" The grumpy guy was so startled that he began to laugh. This little incident cleared the air of tension and good humor was restored.

I suppose the nurse would get in trouble these days. How many questions would come up? Did she have gloves on? Is this how she treats her children at home? etc. etc. Let me just say - it was a really old Reader's Digest.

We turned off the main road and drove seventeen miles on a gravel road to Cherry Creek, South Dakota. We had just enough time to change and head over to the little country church for the school
program. It was an amazing evening! The teachers and students poured their hearts into the songs and verses. There was a little play featuring Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus in the manger. There was an angel to narrate and the animals in the stable took turns telling about that long ago night. There was a chance to visit afterwards and hot chocolate and goodies were served.

On Friday we delivered Christmas bundles. We travelled over the prairies on miles of gravel roads. Pulling in and out of ranch yards, bumping over cattle guards at the ends of each lane reminded me of Mary O'Hara's books My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, and Green Grass of Wyoming. These books are set in Wyoming but the wide open spaces and huge skies are similar everywhere in the west.

The other thought that kept going through my mind was this verse, Psalm 50:10, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." We saw horses and cattle all over those hills, munching the crisp grass that poked up through the snow.

At one stop a lady motioned us inside and offered us cookies and coffee and conversation. We sat around the table with Ann* and her rancher husband of 50+ years. Her eyes lit up when we told her we are from Minnesota. She also grew up in Minnesota. She came out here to teach Summer Bible School years ago. She also went to Bible School in Three Hills, Alberta. This was a connection as well. Years ago when my sisters and I were growing up we got a monthly magazine called Young Pilot that was printed in Three Hills, Alberta. There were short stories and puzzles and a continued story in those little magazines. Ann had planned to be a missionary to a far away place, but she was asked to teach school in South Dakota. The rest is history. It is so much fun to meet friends and connect immediately.

The evening ended with a cold walk up a steep hill, then back to the *Coffee Shoppe* for coffee or tea or hot chocolate and more conversation.
- to be continued

* name changed