Saturday, September 15, 2012

Back From the Wild West

{wild flowers in the Badlands, SD}

How did it become September 15 already??!? I haven't had much Internet fun-time lately. Between busy days at work, trying to get some home remodeling projects contracted, and a quick trip out West, I haven't had time to spend visiting my favorite garden blogs.

In between work my husband and I took a little vacation. We've been on an American travel kick in the last year or so, trying to see as much as this country as we can while we're young and child-less. We were up in Maine and New England earlier in August for a wedding, and that was a beautiful part of the country. Lots of mountains, forests, and so close to the ocean that you get lots of fresh seafood. I've been up and down the Eastern seaboard and all over the South, but I haven't seen much of the Midwest or Southwest, so we decided to take our annual vacation in what used to be part of the Wild West. We mainly stayed in South Dakota, but we rented a car and drove into Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and North Dakota. 

It was a great trip, it's so beautiful out there and not as flat as I imagined. The cattle industry is huge, and we saw many, many cattle ranches as we were driving around. We also visited several national monuments and national parks, including Devil's Tower (the first designated U.S. National Monument), Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and drove through Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the Badlands National Park, and the Black Hills National Forest.  We stayed in Keystone, SD, and Deadwood, which was such a typical Wild West town (but with computerized slot machines now), and learned a little about some old-time cowboys and outlaws.


{prairie dogs}

I saw bison, coyotes, wild horses, wild turkeys, and lots and lots of prairie dogs. They were so cute! Although, they did remind me a little of the squirrels that have been terrorizing my garden. We ate some good food--lots of beef around, as you might imagine--and I had sarsaparilla (which is really just root beer) and drank beer in a few saloons, and talked with a lot of nice locals.

Sadly, you can really see the effects of the drought in this part of the country. Everything is DRY and there are warnings in all the campgrounds, national parks, and practically every gas station indicating that the risk of wild fire is high, so don't flick your cigarette butts anywhere. There was a huge wildfire that had just raged through northwest Nebraska/southwest South Dakota. Locals told us it had been started by a lightning strike in a field. People told us storm clouds have been rolling in all summer, but there wouldn't be any actual rain, so when the lightning stuck, with conditions as dry as they have been, all that grass and hay just ignited and it burned for days. Firefighters from as far as Arizona and California came in to help them fight it. Funny how we haven't heard about that here in DC. There was so much blackened, scorched earth, and when all the grass and hay are burned up, there's nothing for farmers to feed their horses or cattle. You can imagine what this is doing to their local economy. Despite this, everyone we met was so nice, and it was nice to see this rugged part of the country and get away from the crowds of city life. It was the perfect end to our summer.

I'm still working through photos and trying to get my house and garden back in order after some neglectful days. I hope to have more updates soon and see what everyone else's gardens are up to now that we're officially approaching Autumn!

Have you seen the Wild West? Where have you vacationed this summer?

15 comments:

  1. Love to vacation in the West! Sounds like you've really been getting around! Welcome home!

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  2. The description of the dry brought back memories, we had over 10 years of drought here, it broke a couple of years ago, the the countryside was like that - tinder dry and relly volatile. I'm sure the drought will return - its always does but for the moment I'm glad its been damper - far less traumatic especially for those who live off the land.

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    1. more than 10 years of drought--wow! It is awful for people who have to live off the land. Glad you're having a reprieve from the drought.

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  3. Sounds like a great trip out west...I love it out there. I have family in Colorado and Wyoming (I'm actually from Kansas, but grew up in VA). I haven't ever made it to Montana, but I remember South Dakota being more amazing than I had ever considered. That's great that you're seeing as much of the country as you can...it is amazing.

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    1. Thanks, Susan, it was beautiful! I'd love to explore more of that part of the country, and I want to go to Yellowstone, but we weren't near that part of the state. I haven't been to Colorado yet. That's on my list!

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  4. Sounds like a great vacation, Angela. We went to Phoenix to visit my son and his family and soon I'm off to England to check up on my mother. The latter is not really a vacation, and my husband isn't going this time (too expensive). We hope to take a brief break, maybe to Cape May, upon my return. Look forward to seeing your fall garden pics. P. x

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    1. Hi Pam! It's nice that you were able to get away this summer. I hope your mom is doing well, I'm sure it's tough to be that far away. I hope you and your husband are able to get away later this year.

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  5. cool vacation! aww, i love the prairie dogs. yeah, it is depressing to see all the scorched earth. boise has only gotten about half an inch of rain all summer long! it is very dry, but we're kinda used to it out here in the desert. in fact a lot of idaho crops did much better than crops in the drought areas you hear about on the news, because farmers here are so used to the dry-ness that they have proper irrigation to avoid crop loss. not that we wouldn't mind a good soak. there have been a ton of close-by wildfires here lately. the smoke is awful.

    no vacations for me yet, i'm hoarding vacation days for next summer when i hope to go back east for a while.

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    1. Hey Emily! I guess if you're used to that kind of weather you're well-prepared with irrigation. That's good to hear! But fires are scary. Hope they get under control soon.

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  6. no vacation this summer but I lived in AZ, visited CO and NM as well as NV. But I want to visit the Northern west of Montana and Wyoming someday. Welcome back!

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    1. Thanks Donna! I've not yet been to any of those states and they are on my list of places to visit.

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  7. Angela - It sounds like you had a great time on your trip. I have not been to that area in years and years. we went to England this June and had a great time and I have been up to MN & WI 2x with a third trip next month. We have started to cool down here in So. TX and had some rain over the weekend, so it is more pleasant here now (or me at least!) Thanks for sharing some memories of your trip!

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  8. You went to the Dakotas???? I knew I liked you!! Despite being a native of CA, I graduated from the Univ. of North Dakota and my daughter was born in SD. It's life in the vast lane. So beautiful!! I LOVE prairie dogs!!

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