Boy, where do I begin?

4th of July in Murdo, SD was nuts. It proved to be the craziest fourth of July of my life, hands down.  Everything is legal in South Dakota, so when we spotted a fireworks stand on our ride into Murdo, stocking up on the good stuff was a no-brainer.  Then, when we got to Murdo and found another stand, stocking up some more was another no-brainer.  These weren't the only times we didn't use our brains on this day.

So eventually we got impatient and realized that if we waited till nightfall, we would be up all night in order to shoot off everything we had.  So we headed to an open field on the other side of the interstate.  I'll never know why we needed to go this far just to shoot off fireworks when there was a big open lot perfect for shooting off fireworks just behind where we were staying, but whatever... So we started lighting off some of the less cool stuff, things that wouldn't be necessarilly be cooler in the dark.  Things were goin great, we were havin a ball and I decided it would be a good idea to light off one of the bigger ones, since we had so many anyways, just to see what it'd be like.  I shot it out of a bottle and it went more horizontal than vertical and exploded in a big field of high grass. 

We all watched as the heat rose from the grass.  Next thing I knew, there were flames and Clinton had jumped over the barbed wire fence, cutting himself in the process.  Eventually, the flames got pretty big and we all realized we needed to do something so there we were, about 6 of us, jumping the fence and trying to pound out this huge wildfire with our shirts and sandals... yelling at eachother and in major panic mode... The only one who had his wits about him was Jesse, who called 911. 

The fire department drove up about 10 minutes later in a small pickup with a big tank on the back and hosed it all down, not before a good portion of this field was turned black.  We all sat and watched, worried like a bunch of 12 year olds that were going to have to go home and tell their Moms they had gotten detention... We didn't know what was going to happen.  I was thinking pressed charges, maybe arsony, possibly getting sent home from the trip or having to come back for a court date... a fine at the very least.  The firemen couldn't of been more nonchalant, they probably wouldn't of even of stopped to talk to us if we didn't sort of flag them down.  When asked what we needed to do, the man just responded "Naw, I know the farmer.  It'll be ok.  Happens all the time"

Major Relief

That night was great.  We went and saw the fireworks in Murdo, put on by the same firefighters who saved our butts earlier.  Then spent a lot of time lighting our own off.  Saebin had spent 50 dollars on one single display that last about a minute... so that was our grand finally.

The next day was the best day of the trip.  I got three flats, it was 95 degrees, a 100 mile day, and still the best day.  We rode through Badlands National Park, which was absolutely stunning.  I don't even know how to explain the views, just miles of buttes and spires eroded over millions of years to make these formations that were easily the coolest thing I have ever seen.  Our group really took our time through the park, hanging out and climbing at the different overlooks.  I took twice as many pictures in the Badlands as I had the rest of the trip combined. 

That night we rode into Wall, SD, home of wall drug, where you can get free ice water and 5 cent coffee... and some amazing homemade donuts.  This place is advertised all over the world, particularly along I-90 from 100's of miles away, making it a pretty big tourist attraction... Its really pretty ridiculous, but at least sort of amusing.  Wall has a population of around 800 people, but 13 Motels... all for Wall Drug.

The next day we rode into Rapid City, where I am now.  We had a rest day today and checked out the Black Hills Cavern, a cave about 5 miles outside of town... I was pretty impressed.  Tomorrow we'll do Mount Rushmore and leave South Dakota for Wyoming.

Lance is awesome.  Really awesome.