Rest Day. :)

Today we had a rest day in Rapid City, SD. It was AWESOME! And I'm using a real keyboard in the School of Mines and Technology's computer lab...so I can type in all caps. :)

I woke up at 6 this morning, but I decided to go back to sleep since I could. Isang and I went down to the cafeteria for a pancake breakfast that was being catered for the alumni reunion. We kind of had to hurry out so that we could bum a ride from Susan to get to Mount Rushmore earlier. Everyone else was leaving at 10, but Susan was leaving at 8 so that she could drop Frank off for his ride in Custer National Park. He was planning on riding up the AMAZING descent that we had yesterday. Janet was also with us, and we decided to go into the park to try and see some bison/buffalo. I still don't really know the difference between the two names, so I use them interchangably. Before we ventured on "Wildlife Loop", we stopped in the gift shop again for food. I bought a dozen chocolate chip cookies and milk...I'm probably going to gain weight on this trip. Haha. And I also gave in and bought a buffalo/bison cookie cutter. I have no idea when I will have the desire to make buffalo cookies, but if I ever have the urge to, I now can! It's great, I know.

After our little pit stop, we turned onto "Wildlife Loop" and in less than two miles, we saw the HUGE heard! It was INCREDIBLE. Initially Susan was a little worried about the buffalo ramming into her car, but they really minded their own business. They were busy eating grass and entertaining us by walking across the street. I took some GREAT pictures, but I unfortunately can't figure out how to get them on this blog. Check out my "mobile uploads" album on facebook.

After our little excursion to see the buffalo, we continued to our ultimate destination of Mount Rushmore. We took the scenic route and went through three tunnels that were perfectly aligned to have a great view of Mount Rushmore. It was pretty neat. When we got up to Mount Rushmore, we ran into the rest of the crew. I took a few more pictures, and then Izzy's family bought us ice cream. However, I had to pass on that one...my tummy was full of cookies. Struggle.

On the way back to the dorm, we took a more direct route, and I became extremely tired all of a sudden. I don't know if it was the cloudy weather or the realization of how far we've been riding, but I was tired. When driving back to see the bison, we retraced the bike route, and it seemed soooooo long. I have no idea how I am able to bike that far plus more! Magic?! Yeah, I guess.

Isang and I took a 20 minute power nap, and I actually had a dream about blogging about this trip. It was a little strange. Isang had a dream about rescuing puppies. Anyway, by the time we got up, we had just missed the 2:00 showing of Toy Story 3, and the next show time was not until 4:30. We were both hungry and still needed to clean or bikes, so we decided to just go downtown to find some food.

On our way, we stopped in some natural food stores to see if they carried the Acai drink that sponsors Isang. We were successful in the second store, and I found some "Sore No More" cream for my knee. Perfect. :)

We went to lunch at some pizza bar, and then we decided to explore downtown a little more. We went in some pretty cool stores and boutiques. I was trying to find a place to get a massage, but the place that we found closed in 10 minutes by the time we got there. Struggle. Isang's boyfriend's dad grew up in Rapid City and told us about a historic hotel with a pretty cool lobby. We walked over, and I went into the gift shop to look for more pins. Haha, yes...pin collection fail. It's ok. I can have multiple pins from certain areas. Anyway, the sales guy was very friendly and immediately started pointing out all my options and telling me the history of all the local pieces of jewelry. Well, after looking around for a good while and picking out lots of treasures, Isang and I found out that he was in the top 20 of Season 4 of American Idol. I knew he looked familiar! It's the season that Carrie Underwood won. How cool! Of course we had to take a picture. :)

On our way out, we spotted Andy, who is creating videos of the trip for the middle school that he teaches at. After yelling his name down the street and eventually running after him, we brought him to the store to interview Jamie. You should check out his videos- they're pretty entertaining. It also gives a perspective of the trip that writing and pictures just can't capture. Jamie even sang a song for us! youtube.com/andrewfersch Check it out!

Isang and I grabbed dinner from Firehouse on the way back to the dorms. I got a buffalo burger, which was kind of hard to eat after seeing so many of them this morning. Luckily, it was really good, so I was able to eat it. :)

Now I'm blogging and still need to clean my bike. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I don't know if it's worth it. Actually, it probably is because my chain is making funny noises. I should at least lube it. Annnnd, I'm really excited to ride on my new seat. I hope it doesn't let me down!

Lots of Love!
Suzanne

P.S.- I am not giving up on my lists. I will continue. I will also update the lovely day that I was proposed to in K-Mart.

(276) natural beauty (277) conciseness (278) being around other happy people (279) spiral slides (280) funky looking bugs (281) puppies (282) stargazing (283) animal crackers in the reed boxes (284) digital cameras (285) backpacks with air vents (286) bright colored nail polish (287) fun times (288) carbon bikes (289) name tags (290) swings (291) pick up soccer games (292) fully charged electronics (293) my tie dye crazy creek (294) learning something new every day (295) comfortable bike seats (296) birds singing in the morning (297) tandem bicycles (298) going on a long walk with a friend (299) catching fireflies (300) having good luck