Independence Day - Monuments, Cowboys, and Firebombs ...oops I mean fireworks

Bright and early we were on the road to Mt. Rushmore. Everyone that we had talked to had said to be there well before 9am as the parking fills up quick on national holiday. Driving up to the monument takes you through the Black Hills, steep and beautiful. It looked like it would be a nice and sunny day for the holiday and the tourists were starting to come out but not yet in droves so there was still space to meander around. This might sound rude but one of our first thoughts when we pulled up to the monuments was "I thought it was going to be bigger". Now laugh or scold if you must be we weren't the only ones with this opinion. Eavesdropping is a well honed art that has provided many a giggle along our way and throughout our morning we heard our thoughts repeated by several others; from bikers to little girls in their daddy's arms. Big as we thought or not, it was an awe inspiring sight. To have carved them in the time they were done and with the tools available is an amazing feat. Our park ranger/guide was a feisty older lady who liked to focus on the 'conflicts' of the history and the presidents on the rock face. She liked to show the good and the bad about each and even the location of the monument itself. Just at the tail end of our trek around the base of the mountain the wind picked up again and the rain moved in, forcing the tourists into the various shops and welcome centres. While searching for K and KJ I ran into Abraham Lincoln, who was gracious to let me have a picture with him, even though he was late for a speech. I also got George Washington's autograph during my search, it just goes to show you never know who you will run into at a national monument on Independence day. Finally reconnected with the girls after they reminded me of one of the most basic of road rules; if in doubt meet back at the car. Since we had gotten to the monument so early, being able to see all that we wanted before it got too dark we decided to get back on the road before the rain started up again.

Following the advice of one of the park rangers, we headed back to Rapid City to avoid the rainy weather coming up from the south. Lucky thing we did for lo' and behold there was a Sonic in Rapid City, YUUUUUUM, we had an early lunch and if you haven't had a cherry lime-aide from there I suggest you try it. Driving west again we managed to avoid the rain and enjoy a beautiful rolling drive through cowboy/cattle country. Since the weather and roads were so nice we were able to get into Sheridan SD much earlier than we had originally planned. True to form we stopped at the tourist info to see what was happening in town for the 4th of JUly celebrations. Met the most delightful and enthusiastic info lady we have talked to on our trip so far. She was a fountain of information and a hoot to talk to. She told us that there wasn't anything happening in Sheridan but if we wanted to see fireworks we could head back to Big Horn. The town was having a celebration out at the Equestrian Club "where all the Polo players were". She told us if we wanted to see cute guys and some fireworks to head out there. It was excellent advice! The club is set in the foothills and just a beautiful spot. The town had organized food and music to entertain the crowds until the fireworks that night. There was such a small town america feel to the whole night; people greeting each other with a smile or a pat on the back, kids of all ages running around playing football or soccer while their parents visited. There a cowboy back playing for the crowd and the were fairly impressive with foot tapping songs and sad ballads. Did I mention the cute cowboys EVERYWHERE? Honey, I didn't see any of the cute polo players but the cowboys were out in droves. And wow, can some of those boys dance! The later it got in the evening, the more couples got up to dance, some of the couples had obviously been dancing together for years. I don't know when the kids start learning to dance out here but once they hit their late teens they can really move. During the fast numbers there was flipping and spinning all over the place. At times it almost felt as if we could have been on the set of a movie set in a small town with the lights and dancing in the twilight. When dark had finally fallen, the town of Big Horn out on a extremely impressive fireworks show. They had their bursts set to music and for the most part the music suited the fireworks. The shock came for us at the end (or what we thought was the end). There was a fantastic burst of fireworks, fast and furious, and then a pause where we could see dozens of emergency lights flashing in the area where they had been lighting the fireworks. All of a sudden there were these huge blasts of flames exploding, we thought that something had gone wrong with some of the fireworks. Apparently they like to set off firebombs as part of the show, you know the huge blasts of flames you see in the movies when a car explodes? well that is what we were seeing. We were kinda in shock but it was part if the show, and then they followed it up with a frenzied final burst of deafening fireworks. Then came the mayhem of trying to get out of the field, while parking had been easy and organized getting out was anything but. We finally were able to get out the back of the club but it meant following a very dark and winding country back road. It was ok if you had someone to follow, but slightly scary if you weren't, I was actually glad to be stuck in traffic again. We made our way back to Sheridan for the night, watching a few random fireworks as we cruised along the highway, thoroughly pleased with our 4th of July.

Quotes of the day: "Oh the polo players, they are in town and 'oooh' (insert delicious shiver here). Those Argentinians, so dark and ooh" & "North of Toronto, must be mighty cold up there." - from the tourist info lady :)
"Like shootin' fish in a barrel" C "They are everywhere, we can't escape them" KJ
"Ok, so we're finally in cowboy country, all we need now is a rope and duct tape" K
"I think they may be a church group" R "What gave it away? The giant cross they were carrying?" C