Last week I had the pleasure of travelling across the state of South Dakota with my daughter. Our destination was Deadwood where she was presenting at a conference. One of the highlights of this trip, or any trip across our prairie state, is a stop at Al's Oasis just after crossing the Missouri River. And the reason for this is the piece of coconut cream pie that waits for me there.This is the most amazing pie! The crust is marvelous and it has just the right amount of coconut. Thanks, Al's baker for saving me a piece!
We made the mistake of leaving Al's without filling up the vehicle with gas. Those of you who have driven this stretch know that is a big mistake. The Belvedere exit was the first one we came to that said there was gas available - don't stop at Belvedere for gas in the winter. There was a station on both sides of the road, but both were 'closed for the season.' One of the stations had this interesting sign on their door.
We were pondering what this meant when a wonderful lady who obviously was from the area stopped to help. She explained that it was 10 miles to Kadoka where we could get gas, but if we didn't have enough to get there, the nice folks at the bar located two buildings over would give us enough gas to make it the ten miles. Luckily we would be able to go the distance, so we drove on our way shaking our heads and laughing. What a marvelous system if you were really in a pinch!
As we continued on towards Rapid City the sun was setting, and it was so beautiful! This washed out picture doesn't even begin to show all the golden reds, pinks and oranges that changed and shifted as we moved along. Sunsets are unbelievable on the flat prairie where there is nothing else to compete with their beauty.
Destination - The Lodge right outside of Deadwood. It turned out to be a lovely hotel, casino and convention center with a restaurant where we enjoyed a wonderful meal that came with dessert. I chose their Caramel Apple Bread Pudding - heavenly! If you look closely at the picture you will notice that I had to taste before I took a picture. Two amazing desserts in one day - I'm sure there's a price to pay for that!
There was a bit more excitement to end our day. The entire community of Deadwood lost electricity for 45 minutes. It's a bit unnerving being in an unfamiliar place with no light. Kerri and I both had the flashlight app on our iPhones (but not much battery left), so this is a picture of Kerri putting the final touches on her presentation for the next morning - using her iPhone for light.
But forget about the desserts, the sweetest part of this trip was finally getting to see/hear my baby girl speak to a group. She's been at this for about 15 years, and I've never had the opportunity to attend. She did a marvelous job, as I knew she would; and this was a tough room - it was 8:45 in the morning, and most of them had been out on the town the night before. It was such fun to watch her draw them into the conversation and into her presentation. You can check out her business page, KT Consulting, Inc. on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/KTConsultingInc?fref=ts
It was a quick trip - heading home after she was done, but I enjoyed it immensely. Hope you've enjoyed travelling with us!
All of these pictures were taken with my iPhone, so the quality isn't the best, but it sure is a slick way to take photos on the go.
Till next time...
Blessings,
Gail
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