The Black Hills....day two

Remember how I said it was cold and rainy when we arrived in Keystone, South Dakota? It was still that way in the morning. I had packed some warmer clothes for Luke and I, but I was still so very cold! Luke actually seemed like he was okay, but I wasn't able to get enough clothes on me to keep comfortable. What was compounding the problem was the fact I woke up with a cold. Lovely.

Seriously! I had started coughing a bit while in the car and had attributed it to the air conditioner. Then I woke up the next day (this day) with a very sore throat and a hack that I couldn't shake. First order of business was then to go get some breakfast and find a store. I needed to get some stuff to confront this cold and not spend my vacation in bed.

We skipped the lodge restaurant to check out the downtown surroundings. We chose one, parked, and started out. I noticed we had parked right next to what appeared to be a blacksmith's shop, something that has always piqued my interest. Sure enough, the Smithy came out, said hi, and said he had something for Luke. He chose an 1896 railroad spike, stamped LUCAS into it, fired and waxed it, and gave my boy a (FREE!!!!) souvenir. Very cool!

Off to breakfast. And a boatload of hot tea. Luke was ready and chowed down like a pro. Oh wait, he IS a pro when it comes to food!! Then off to find the tiny little store. Since we had a house with a fully equipped kitchen, we decided to gather some stuff to cook for breakfast instead of going out each morning, along with the tea and meds I was searching. The latter proved a bit of a task, but eventually I did come across enough Dayquil to keep my body happy.

The rest of the daytime hours were spent perusing the shops of downtown Keystone. As expected, a lot Black Hills gold, and other local stuff. Tons of tee shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets. Typical tourist stuff, but we had a lot of fun checking it out.

When evening fell, my dad said "let's go check out Rushmore." Cool! It was falling dark, and that was the point. We decided not to take cameras for this occasion, but maybe we should have? We did a quick trip through the gift shop, glanced in the museum, and headed outside for the movie, lighting of the memorial, and the flag retirement. One thing the National Park Service does at this particular memorial is invite ALL military, past and present, to take part in the daily retirement of our nation's flag. Dad and I accepted the invitation....Luke refused to stay with Gramma and came with. It's a simple ceremony, of course, but it was cool to share the moment not only with my dad, but with around 30 other people. One thing of interest, at least to my simple mind, is the fact that I was not only the youngest individual on this particular night, but the only woman. Okay, Luke was technically the youngest, but you get the point.

Then we hightailed it back to the mini-van to head for the warmth of the house. My plan was to get Luke down for bed, take as hot a shower as I could stand, drink more hot tea with honey, stay bundled up, and make myself sweat. I am pleased to report that the plan actually worked! I went to sleep sweating, and I stayed that way. It sounds icky, but it helps get the icky out of the body. It was another full day that led to a houseful of happy, snoring individuals......