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In my wildest imaginings I could never have guessed what this day would hold. Though I often admonished the boys to be careful I never actually believed that someone would end up at the hospital. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The day started pretty simply with a great breakfast at the "chow hall"...french toast, fruit, juice, and coffee so hot it burned Steve's mouth. Of course it didn't help that he was trying to drink it out of a tin cup! We had a pretty full day planned so we got on the road around 8:00 to head into Custer State Park (CSP) with Mt. Rushmore as our final destination.
There is a much more direct route from the cabin to the monument but I really wanted to drive two of the scenic byways through the park. I'm so glad we did. Needles Highway took us high up into the hills and past some magnificent scenery. The road meanders through the pine forests and meadows, past beautiful, peaceful lakes, and disappears often into the hill itself. Connecting with Iron Mountain Road the highway (loosely named - it's pretty narrow most of the time) doubles back on itself several times
in pigtail turns. There are three tunnels to pass through on Iron Mt. Road and each one frames a view of Mt. Rushmore. Unfortunately, it was drizzling for that section of the drive and while we could see the monument through the misty rain it didn't show up in the pictures. But what a fantastic means to see Mt. Rushmore for the very first time! Needles Eye rock formation was also an amazing sight. But then so was everything else.
The area of CSP was truly a gift from God. Huge rocky outcroppings in the most fantastic shapes, free-roaming buffalo, high grassy meadows, funny little prairie dogs, mountain goats grazing along the highway (um...aren't they supposed to be on the mountain?), and magnificent views of miles and miles of pine-covered hills. You certainly don't want to be in a hurry through this area. You just have to pull off the road as often as there is room just to take in the breathtaking scenery. The Badlands are incredible as a place to visit but you can't imagine living there. Here, you could live. It was so easy to put the road behind you looking out over the hills and
imagine that it looked just the same 200 years ago.
Getting back on the road from one such pull-out area we came upon a traffic jam. Well, we learned in the Badlands that if someone was stopped in the road we better look around because there will certainly be something to look out. This time it was the “begging burros”. There is a free-roaming herd of burros that are decendents of the burros that were used to pack supplies up to Hearney Peak, the highest point in the hills. We stopped for pictures and to watch them for a while. They came right up to us but lost interest soon when they discovered we weren't going to feed them. One of them got a little excited though when Steve went back to the van to get his sunglasses. I thought the burro might climb in the van with him!
Leaving the burros behind we pressed on toward Mt. Rushmore. Jake was pretty excited but CJ - not so much. His interest is more in God's creations than in anything man has made. While I understand the sentiment, I'm not sure I agree with him. I can remember seeing the Statue
of Liberty for the first time. I stood for such a long time just taking it in, with tears rolling down my face, absolutely in awe of it. The United States has a few icons that are known around the world. The Statue of Liberty is just such an icon. Here (in the Black Hills of South Dakota of all places) we were about to see another one.
The weather continued to tease us but cleared up as we were walking up the Avenue of Flags. This is an area leading up to the Grand Viewing Terrace where all the flags of the US are displayed. A very appropriate entrance to the monument, I think. The monument is huge! Again, much larger than I expected it to be. The faces are 6 stories high, except for Lincoln's which is 7 because of the beard. We traded off taking pictures with total strangers so we could all be in the group photo. (Folks we've talked to have been awfully nice.) We walked the Presidential Trail which brings you closer to the base of the mountain allowing you to look upward to the monument for a different view. Near the end of
the trail is Borgland's studio with a huge picture window that would have allowed him to watch the carving in process. We learned here that not only is there a crevasse behind Lincoln's head but that the rock behind had been carved out as a Hall of Records. It was planned that the room could be a depository for important documents related to the monument. It was never finished as a depository but does hold some information. It is also the site where they fire off the fireworks on the 4th of July. We also learned that the original plan for the monument had Jefferson on the other side of Washington but they had to blast him back off when they encountered differences in the rock that didn't allow them to continue. Going into the gift shop we discovered a nice gentleman who had written a book about Mt. Rushmore and other area gems. After he spent about 15 minutes paging through the pictures with me, and giving information on each one, I had to purchase the book and have him sign it. We got other goodies as well (including a gift CJ bought for someone special.) It was hard,
for me at least, to leave Mt. Rushmore but I knew (or thought I knew) we would be back later for the lighting ceremony.
We drove on to the area of Sylvan Lake which is breathtakingly beautiful. The lake tucks itself back behind an enormous rock. Only when you walk far enough around the lake can you see the hidden area. A fast and furious storm, resulting in a torrential downpour complete with hail, passed overhead while we ate in the van. Too bad we couldn't spread out a blanket and eat on the shore but from our vantage point we were able to watch a family of ducks waddling around. When we finished eating we had a decision to make.
Because of the rain I was afraid the trails would be dangerous at worst and terribly muddy at best. We decided to skip the trails and go instead to Wind Cave for a tour. However, we drove past one of the two trails that I thought would have been good for us and decided to just walk in a little way. We did just that and discovered that because of the pine needles the ground wasn't muddy at all.
So back to the van we went to change into the proper footwear, gather water and hats, and double-check the listing that told us it was about 1.5 miles to the summit. One and a half miles didn't sound too bad, right? Well, I guess I forgot how out of shape I am. Add to that the thinner air at an altitude of 6600 feet and I was soon panting like I'd just run a 100 yard dash. Fortunately the trail had enough easier ground alternating with the hard, rocky climbs that I was able to rest up before tackling the next difficult part.
We finally made it to the end of the trail. What a great feeling that was! And the view, though restricted, was magnificent! The boys wrote messages at the top that I'm not allowed to disclose (although there were some heart shapes involved). Then time to head back down.
I was pretty excited about the climb down as I knew it would be much easier than going up. Hammy...little did I know.... I was being careful - I swear I was! I had just taken a picture of one of the most difficult parts of the
trail (I was breathing too hard on the way up to even think of taking a picture) and jogged to catch up to the boys. They, of course, were going down through boulders on what looked to be a more difficult path. I chose a more direct, less rocky route. I called out, jokingly, that I was blazing a new trail. Just as the words flew from my mouth I did blaze a new trail...straight down to my butt. I don't know exactly what happened but my feet went out from under me, I went down - hard - landing either with my butt on a rock and my back on my lumpy backpack or the other way around. It hurt incredibly bad! I had to sit very, very still for a long time taking inventory of myself to see just how badly I was hurt. (John, if you're reading, you know what I'm talking about. I thought about you and when you fell through the trailer.) I could move all body parts so I didn't think I was broken but I sure felt cracked! It took another several minutes to get up and on my feet again only to
discover that I couldn't move without experiencing excruciating pain. It appeared to be located under the area covered by the back pocket on a pair of jeans. As I had our cabin key in that pocket I was afraid I had punctured my right cheek - the lower one! But no blood, thank goodness. Still it hurt enough that I knew I had done some kind of damage. No time to waste lingering on the mountain trying to shake it off though. We had plans for dinner!
As we headed back down the trail Steve had to support me, stopping often as I was hit with a wave of the worst pain I have ever experienced. It took what seemed like forever to get back down. I knew I was really hurt but was determined to make it down under my own steam. (I was having these embarrassing visions of park rangers carrying me out on a stretcher. Not good.) I was trying to make light of it for the boys because I didn't want them to get worried...but, man, I was! Steve knew I was really hurting and did his best to help me but I was in so
much pain that I couldn't have him help...that only made it hurt worse. After what seemed like 10 miles (though probably closer to ¾ of a mile) we were at the trail head. Steve pulled the van up close but I could not climb up in it - front or back seat. I finally had to pull myself into the middle of the van with Steve supporting my right leg and lay on my back. I finally stopped kidding myself that I was going to be able to shake it off and told Steve I needed to go to the hospital. Well, then everyone freaked! Not knowing where the heck we were, without any kind of map to tell us where a hospital was, and with no cell phone reception anywhere, Steve had to flag down cars to see if anyone knew the closest place to go. After directions to the ranger station and then directions to town we started heading down the mountain.
Now, picture me laying on the floorboard of the van, my leg supported on CJ's knees, grabbing onto the handle on the back of the driver's seat to steady myself around curves. I was dirty and
muddy from the fall, with my hair plastered to my head from wearing a visor in the rain all day. I was still trying to hold it together because CJ was in the back with me, but I don't think he was fooled. I have never, ever, hurt so bad as I did after the fall. Steve, God bless him, was unable to do anything for me since he was the only one who could drive. But he did tell CJ to reach into the cooler, get some ice, and put a wet rag on my head. CJ and I looked at each other and I must have had a “look” on my face because he started laughing. That made Steve say, “What? Isn't that what you do when someone's going into shock? I saw it on 'House'!” OHMYGOSH! Even in pain I laughed until I had tears rolling down my face (which really was uncomfortable since I was lying on my back and they were rolling into my ears). He's pretty smug now because he later heard the nurse say I was “shocky”.
We finally made it to the medical facility, which was a tiny 11-bed hospital. No doctor on call, just a nurse practitioner (who I thought was very nice...especially after she gave me morphine.) It took about 6 nurses to get me out of the van. I couldn't just get up and get out and they couldn't get a backboard in the van under me to pull me out. One EMT finally got in the van and gave me her arm to pull myself up on. Doing that I was able to draw up my good leg enough to push myself headfirst onto the backboard the other nurses were holding outside the van. All the while I'm shaking like a leaf and freezing. Me! The one who never gets cold! (Again with the “shocky”.) Jeez, what an ordeal that was!
Well, I finally got in the E.R. where they piled warming blankets on me, gave me morphine (halleluia!) and took x-rays. The NP, from my description of where the pain was, thought I had broken a loopy bone in my rear. I was thankful I didn't break my hip. Anyway, two hours after taking x-rays (with more transferring to another table during which I didn't want anyone touching me!) and having to send them to the closest larger city for a radiologist to read, the news came back that there was no break. It was possible that 1) I had a hairline fracture or 2) the fall had caused a hematoma, both of which could be seen on CT but the treatment would be the same...nothing. Nada. Zippety Doo Da. Scripts for muscle spasms and pain and we were on our way. Some of us moving slower than others.
I have to say I'm very thankful that nothing was broken, but I also have to say that I'm convinced there is a fracture in there. A bruise couldn't possible hurt this bad! I guess only time will tell because I'm not going to rush right home and ask my doc for a CT scan of my butt.
The boys are sincerely happy that I'm okay, but I'm not sure it's for my sake as much as for theirs! Day 4 of a 17 day trip and I get put out of commission? That wouldn't make anyone happy. Of course, I would have insisted they go one without me. After all, the whole trip is planned out. All they would have to do is follow my directions. (Jeez Louise, how would that work for the control freak in me?) So, here am I, loaded with pharmaceuticals, writing about our unbelievably eventful day. How are we ever going to top this one? (And, really, who would want to?)
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Shawn
non-member comment
Laughter at another person's expense is the best kind
I know you are hurt and for that, I am truly sorry. It is a blessing that you were hurt very badly. I mean come on, you are old and we know what happens to bones in women over 50. So, that being said, "As I had our cabin key in that pocket I was afraid I had punctured my right cheek - the lower one!", when I read that sentence I started to laugh. The laughing then continued until the very end of story. My ribs hurt. I was not actually laughing at you, but I was. Like I said. I am glad you are alright and there were no serious injuries involved. Keep your head down and your powder dry.