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“I am not wearing matching shirts with you,” Jenny said. “That’s lame.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly why I want to do it, silly.”
Jenny
We took a quick detour to the Crazy Horse Memorial given its proximity to Mount Rushmore then set off again, heading for Mitchell. We’d taken our time at the tourist attractions so we wouldn’t make it all the way tonight, but that was okay. We weren’t on a firm schedule, and I’d wanted to see the tribute to the Native American hero.
“I can’t believe this monument is still in progress. I think they started it in the forties.”
“They do a little at a time,” Blair said, reading from an information sheet she’d picked up.
Her natural curiosity about every place we visited was refreshing. It made me look at things with new eyes. She didn’t want to simply pop in and visit a place, she wanted to experience it. It made me realize how much time I spent rushing from one thing to the next without taking the time to enjoy it. I could learn a lot from Blair.
“It’s funded entirely by donations,” she continued. “When I get back to Seattle I’m going to send them a nice donation. I think it’s important to support the arts, especially something like this that highlights a history that’s usually overlooked.”
Normally I wasn’t a fan of people throwing money around, but in this case I was in agreement. “That’s a good idea.”
I stared at the Native American hero for a long time, my art history side taking in the artistic lines and exceptional carving skill that had to go into something like this.
“You love this don’t you?” Blair asked. “Art.”
“I do. I almost forgot how much.”
“Well then, we’ll have to see more of it on this trip.”
As soon as we got on the road again Blair fell asleep. She’d been so excited about seeing Mount Rushmore she’d worn herself out. And then she bought out the gift store, buying way more crap than anyone could need. It was fun though, I had to admit. She approached every new experience with an almost-childlike enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but enjoy.
I’d liked sharing a room with her too. She was adorable when she slept. Not that I’d been watching her like some kind of creeper. Okay, yes, I had been watching her, but only because she’d been sleeping so hard this morning I was starting to debate putting a mirror under her nose to make sure she was still breathing.
Somewhere after Mount Rushmore we started seeing billboards advertising something called Wall Drug Store.
“Look they have free water!” Blair pointed out when she woke up from her nap. “That’s so cool.”
“We have water in the back seat,” I reminded her.
“It’s not icy cold,” she countered, pointing at yet another billboard. The closer we got, the more signs we saw. “And they have homemade donuts!”
“Why didn’t you say so?” I teased. “Now we really have to stop.”
Wall Drug was an interesting place, an actual drug store turned into a tourist attraction. Blair picked up more stuff nobody needed at the gift store, then we enjoyed our icy cold water and ‘homemade’ donuts before heading back out on the road. When I started getting tired of driving we scouted out a hotel. Without even discussing it, I asked for one room with two beds.
We settled into our room, and then disaster struck.
Blair was already in bed when I exited the bathroom, fresh from the shower. I plopped down on the bed and…
“Oh my God! Are you okay?”
Blair raced across the short space between our beds to where my mattress – and now me – were on the floor, having broken through the ancient bed frame. The mattress sat at an angle, one corner lifted and still in place, the other three broken through and landing on the floor.
“I guess I should cut back on the gas station snacks and homemade donuts,” I joked weakly.
“Are you hurt?”
“Only my pride,” I said, throwing one leg over the mess so I could roll off the mattress.
Blair reached out a hand to help me up, her grip surprisingly strong for someone who’d proudly told me that she did her best to not work out other than the self-defense lessons her parents insisted on. Once I was on my feet again I glanced down at the remains of my bed.
“Good thing we weren’t having sex. One of us could have been injured.”
