Another Trip to the USA / Dignity of Earth and Sky

High on an eastern bluff overlooking the Missouri River near the town of Chamberlain, SD, stands the most amazing monument; a 15m tall 12 tonne sculpture of a Native American woman with a traditional Lakota Star quilt composed of 128 stainless steel diamonds unfurling behind her.

It was commissioned to commemorate South Dakota’s 125th year of statehood. 

Dignity of Earth and Sky was designed and created by South Dakota born Dale Lamphere who has built 60 public sculptures around the USA including the Arc of Dreams in Sioux Falls.

But it is more than just a tourist attraction.

It appears the monument has been accepted by the Native American population. A group of Lakota Sioux on their annual pilgrimage to the Wounded Knee battle site have stopped there. There was also a two day gathering of Native American women there to celebrate the power and importance of women in Native culture.

It is certainly an impressive piece.

Many environmental aspects needed to be considered with the design.

Structural engineering measures ensure Dignity will withstand 200km/hr winds and special automotive coatings will make sure the colours remain true for decades.

Absolutely worth stopping for.

Another Trip to the USA / Black Hills Adventures 2

Day 2 of our family stay in the Black Hills saw us heading for the Needles Highway. 

Eighteen years ago we had abandoned this trip due to the difficult nature of the road but now we had an experienced driver.

The Needles Highway is a spectacular drive through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen and rugged granite mountains. The road’s name comes from the needlelike granite formations that dominate the horizon along the highway. The road was carefully planned by former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, who marked the entire course on foot and by horseback. 

Construction was completed in 1922.

The highway passes Sylvan Lake and twists and turns as it climbs its way to the top through tunnels driven through solid granite to a unique rock formation called the Needle's Eye, an opening created by wind, rain, freezing, and thawing

The views from the top across Custer State Park are amazing

We arrived back in Hill City later that evening and lined up with the crowd of diners at the iconic Alpine Inn. 

It was our second visit here.

In 1883, the discovery of tin near Hill City attracted enough English capital to organize the “Harney Peak Tin Mining, Milling, and Manufacturing Company”.
The company built the Harney Peak Hotel for use by its mining executives. The hotel was a favorite spot for Sunday diners and a rendezvous for mining, timbering, and railroad men active in the area.
The mining company ceased operations in 1892.
Surviving two major fires, the hotel and dining room remained in operation until 1934.
Waldraut (Wally) Matush came to the USA from Stuttgart, Germany in 1961, moved to Hill City in 1970 and acquired the Harney Peak Hotel in 1974. 

Over a ten year period, the Hotel housed a variety of businesses until it became home of the present Alpine Inn in 1984.

Wally is the “Matron Saint” of the Alpine Inn and plans are to bury her in the basement when she dies so that she can haunt the building with the rest of its ghosts.
In 1996, Wally turned over the reins to her daughter, Monika, who carries on with the traditions started by her mother.
The menu is simple.
One starter choice: Iceberg wedge with ranch dressing.
Two mains choices: Bacon wrapped Filet Mignon with baked potato and Texas toast or German dumplings with Swiss cheese. 

Dessert choices: Too many!  

The cause of severe decision crises.
We shared an apple strudel (Sorry Dr. M), our hosts a triple berry ice-cream pie.

Atmosphere and service are great, food is delicious and the prices, even for wine, are extremely reasonable.

We all enjoyed the evening immensely and a fitting end to our Black Hills getaway.

Thanks again to J&K for their generous hospitality.

Some Important Spring Farm Work

My old friend Stirls came down for a few days to help with some farm work.
The most important job was a complete revamp of part of the southern boundary fence that had been bush fire damaged back in 1999/20 and temporarily repaired.

It had also had suffered further demise by a number of flood incidents and major tree fall over the last 3 years.
It was quite a big job. Chainsawing tree debris, resetting strainers, installing new posts and straining and attaching new barbed wire. But for two days it was pleasant working in the bush in cool spring weather. 

No snakes seen the entire time. The noise and activity must have frightened them off. 
A minor job was to fix the main cattle yard gate. It hadn’t swung properly for 20 years but now it does. Just needed the post it was hanging off straightened and reinforced.

Our northern house paddock boundary fence needed some rotten posts replaced which was easily done. But then we decided to restrain the wiring to make it look a bit more presentable to the outside world which took another half day.

A number of bushfire burnt trees from 3 years ago still remained along our western house paddock boundary fence.
It was time to remove them.
There was some reasonable fire wood amongst it all so we sorted that out from the rest which was then taken to the ever increasing burn pile which can only be lit up in April next year when fire restrictions come off.

The co driver wanted those burnt trees replaced with some screening plants so instead of paying through the nose at the local nursery, I thought we’d try transferring some small native plants (lilly pilly), that would eventually do the job, from our bush. There’s plenty of those that have sprung up after the fires along the creek banks.
Transplanting native plants is always fraught with ‘danger’. They just don’t like it but I felt that if they we small enough (max 1m) and we got enough root ball it might just work. Anyway we did that, traipsing up our big hill a number of times with the selected plants, dug suitable holes and planted, watered and staked them. I expect a 50% failure rate but we’ll see.

Our endeavours were not helped on the last few days by an unseasonal howling westerly wind with gusts up to 70km/hr. These caused a lot of damage other places to our north so we got off a bit lightly I think. Gusts up to 100km/hr were recorded in our major town Nowra.
We experienced one short blackout which didn’t interrupt our life much.

Another Trip to the USA / Black Hills Adventures 1

Our accomodation in a family holiday home near Pactola Lake was amazing.

It was relatively remote, winding dirt roads to get there, and high up surrounded by pine forest with 180 degree views across the Hills.

Here’s a sample below. For a more expansive look click on this link.

The weather was very changeable. It even snowed on us one morning.

Our hosts were very generous with their time, taking us places that they knew very well with some a little off the beaten track.
On Day 1 we drove into Deadwood and the old part of town.

The city had its heyday from 1876 to 1879, after gold deposits had been discovered there, leading to the Black Hills Gold Rush. At its height, the city had a population of 25,000, attracting Old West figures such as Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane, and Wild Bill Hickok who was killed there.

Then we drove the Spearfish Canyon Highway turning off to Roughlock Falls.

From there we went even further west almost to the Wyoming border.

The road into Spearfish from the falls turnoff is just as spectacular as the first half from Cheyenne Crossing.

At Spearfish we eventually found somewhere to eat at a great bar, Stadium Sports Grill.

So many businesses in the tourism areas close for the season on Labor Day in early September.

After lunch we headed for Bear Butte State Park.

Bear Butte is a geological laccolith feature located near Sturgis, for 2 weeks in August, the motor cycle capital of the world and is an important landmark and religious site for the Plains Indians tribes.

Bear Butte is called Matȟó Pahá, or Bear Mountain, by the Lakota, or Sioux. To the Cheyenne, it is known as Noahȧ-vose ("giving hill") or Náhkȯhe-vose ("bear hill").
The mountain is sacred to many indigenous peoples, who make pilgrimages to leave prayer cloths and tobacco bundles tied to the branches of the trees along the mountain's flanks. Other offerings are often left at the top of the mountain. 

The site is associated with various religious ceremonies throughout the year.
It was a very cold and windy afternoon there so we only walked to the beginning of the trail up the mountain.
We were the only ones at the entire site and I could actually feel, despite the miserable weather conditions, a certain peace and calmness standing there.
Certainly not a place we would have visited without our knowledgeable local ‘guides’ recommendation.

Another Trip to the USA / The Black Hills, SD - Crazy Horse Memorial

Eighteen years ago I enjoyed a visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial.
It is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, South Dakota.
It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. 

The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion.
I had heard progress had been very slow and wondered whether another visit was worthwhile.

We drove to the gate and realised that indeed not much had changed and, as we had already seen the associated museum and exhibits, we turned around and headed for Hill City and a coffee.
There we found another impressive horse.

Another Trip to the USA / The Black Hills, SD - Mount Rushmore

Our first stop on the way from Rapid City to the monument was Keystone. 

What an absolute tourist trap and ugly place that has become. 

Thankfully, virtually nothing was open apart from a few shops selling obscene t-shirts, tacky souvenirs and jewellery.

We had thought about doing the 1880 Railroad trip but opted instead for a olde western photo shoot which was fun.

So guess we fell into the tourist trap just a little.

A trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota is not complete without a visit to Mount Rushmore.

This was my second visit.

It never fails to impress.

Despite the cold temperature and strong winds we did the base walk which gives you and even closer look.

It’s a bit of a strenuous walk up and down stairs but well worth the effort.

Then there’s this pic (not mine) from the air which is also very impressive.

Another Trip to the USA / Rapid City, SD - The City of Presidents

Visitors to downtown Rapid City are greeted by the City of Presidents, a series of life-size bronze statues of the nation’s past presidents along the city’s streets and sidewalks.
There are 42 of them.
You know who is not there yet. We were bigly disappointed 😉
We walked a couple of blocks and found the ones we were most interested in.
They are all beautifully sculpted and cast.

Another Trip to the USA / A Break in the Black Hills

About 6 hours drive west of Sioux Falls are the Black Hills and the state’s second largest city, Rapid City.

It’s a fast straight drive, speed limit mostly 130km/hr, across the flat prairie.

But there are a few ‘must do stops’ on the way, if you have the time, like the Corn Palace at Mitchell and the statue of Dignity of Earth and Sky at Chamberlain (more on her later) over looking the mighty Missouri River.

And of course there’s the Badlands National Park and for some good old fashioned kitsch fun, Wall, home of the Wall Drug Company.

We stopped there for our Buffalo burger and a poke about in some of the many stores.

In Rapid we oriented ourselves with downtown, got coffee and visited a quilt store and book shop until it was time to book into our hotel. 

The bookstore was offering for free books that had been banned at the local high school. Good to see the first amendment in action there. Not so much at the so called educational institution however

We were back in town later in the evening for a great Mexican meal at a restaurant whose sign on the Interstate made a visit irresistible.

Next morning we visited a coffee shop, run by a West Australian man, that had touted big Aussie breakfasts on their website. It was not to be. The menu had changed to standard American fare. Coffee was good however.

Then after a walk around the streets to see the Statues of the Presidents (see separate post) and another "five minute" quilt store stop, we headed out into the Hills for some tourist activity and to catch up with more family.

Another Trip to the USA / The Falls at Sioux Falls

Just outside downtown Sioux Falls is the 52ha Falls Park.
Here, the Big Sioux River cascades down 30m of pink Sioux Quartzite giving the city its name.
The area is of some historical significance.

The remains of the seven-story Queen Bee Mill, a brainchild of South Dakota's first senator, Richard Pettigrew, lie on the east side of the river. In the autumn of 1878 Pettigrew decided Sioux Falls needed its own mill so farmers could avoid the cost of shipping wheat to Minnesota or Wisconsin.
The mill opened on 25th October 1881, and consisted of a seven-story main structure built of the quartzite quarried on site. At the time of its construction, the mill was one of the most advanced in America. However, by 1883, the mill had closed, a victim of inadequate water power and a short supply of wheat.
On 30th January 1956, fire swept through the structure, destroying the wooden roof and interior floors.

The quartzite building still standing on the east bank of the river is the Sioux Falls Light and Power Company building, completed in 1908. The building housed three 500-kilowatt hydroelectric generators and used the dam and the millrace from the Queen Bee Mill. 

In subsequent years the plant added additional coal-fired steam generators. The building was abandoned in 1974 and donated to the city in 1977 before remodelling took place to create the Falls Overlook Café.
Originally constructed to provide power for the Queen Bee Mill in the 1880s, the dam was raised in 1908 to supply power to the hydroelectric plant. 

Today the millrace is a viewing platform.

It was a cold day, -10℃ when I took the above video and the severe drought had reduced the flow over the falls significantly but a visit to Falls Park, no matter what, is always a rewarding experience.

It’s possible to visit the falls here virtually, 24/7.

Another Trip to the USA / Sioux Falls SD - The Sculpture Walk

SculptureWalk Sioux Falls is the largest annual exhibit of public sculptures in the world.
Curated by a blind jury of local dignitaries and art enthusiasts, works are loaned by the artists and installed in the spring throughout downtown Sioux Falls, to be continuously displayed all year. The public votes for the “People’s Choice Award” from May through September, and the favorite sculpture is purchased by the City of Sioux Falls to become part of its permanent collection.
Also, industry experts select “Best of Show” awards, which honor works achieving the highest levels of artistic merit and creativity. 

‘Elk’ won the Peoples Choice Award which was a bit of a surprise.

But SD is a hunting state.
And my fave ‘Volereta’ (see last pic), won second prize for Best of Show.
This year was the 19th exhibition and was as good as ever. 

We ‘did’ it twice!

And my favourite of the whole exhibition

Another Trip to the USA / Sioux Falls SD - The Arc of Dreams

They say Sioux Falls is an arts and culture hot spot in the heart of America.

Certainly from what I have seen this could be true given the number of museums and galleries that exist in a city of just 200,000 people.

My interest there has been mainly in the visual arts with the Sculpture Walk around downtown always on my to do list.

But a few years ago I read about a new project.

Back in 2016, the Arc of Dreams, a giant stainless steel sculpture by South Dakota Artist Laureate, Dale Lamphere which would span the Big Sioux River was mooted.

The initial design immediately caught my attention. 

There was some controversy with divided opinions as to the work's relevance to the city.

But in the end the community made this dream a reality. 

In March of 2017, the Sculpture Walk organization put out a request to people to help support the work.

It became a project that has been funded entirely by private donations.

I followed it’s construction on the web through local media, both press and TV.

It was quite an engineering feat not only to put it together, deliver it (from Denver) but to install which was finalised mid 2019.

The overall sweep of the sculpture was inspired by a blade of prairie grass.

With a span of just over 90m, the centre of the Arc has a 5m gap, 26m above the river, symbolising the leap of faith dreamers need take to see their dreams come true.

And I couldn’t wait to see it.

And what a wonderful addition to the city it is.

Couldn’t be more perfect. 

Another Trip to the USA / The SD Family

The main reason for the USA trip was to reconnect with family in New York City and South Dakota after a nearly three year absence due to Covid.

In SD we ‘rotated’ around the siblings’ accomodations and visited the mother on a regular basis and went on a clothes shopping spree with her. Thanks for the coupons!

Sister Karyl drove in from Montana to complete the set. 

But one of the first things we did on arrival was get our Omicron specific bivalent vaccination shot. It was not available in Australia before we left. It was free in pharmacies with no nationality restrictions.

In Elkton we caught up with sister Kelly and Mark as well as their daughters’ families.

A bit of excitement was the multiple sighting of a mountain lion in the close vicinity. 

Hunted but no trace found.

I got to go out to the family farm to ride the combine harvesting soya beans. 

Love big machines.

A couple of the grandkids are into football so we spent an hour at the South Dakota State University stadium in freezing temperatures watching them run around. Despite the cold it was fun.

And a house in the vicinity had their usual OTT Halloween display

At Lake Hendricks with brother Kevin and Lisa, autumn was beginning to show and despite a few windy days it lived up to its reputation in the sign below.

It was beautiful out on the lake and we got the traditional tour thanks to the bro keeping the pontoon boat  a little longer in the water than normal. Boats and docks are pulled out of the lake when winter approaches. The co driver got to do some paddling as well trying SUP.

Kevin and Lisa arranged a get together with their sons’ families. It was a full on day with lots of food, laughter and an important football game on TV to watch. Lisa was into the Fall and Halloween decorations. I’d never seen pumpkin carving being done before and the grandkids were really into it.

At Trent, Kay and Scott had organised a mini Thanksgiving dinner with their daughter, her husband and grandchildren which turned into a bit of an extravaganza which I didn’t mind at all. It was all very delicious.

Scott took me for a ride in friend’s oldish red Mustang convertible which has always been on my bucket list. We ended up at a local winery for a tasting and enjoyed a flight of reds. Even bought a few bottles.

Kay runs an on line quilt fabric supply site and every Saturday morning presents a live webcast on Facebook for about 30 minutes or so. It’s very chatty in a way only quilters seem to do. As a bit of variety she asked me to introduce the program. No doubt it was a surprise for regular viewers to see a man with a strange accent there when they tuned in. But it was fun. And, no, I won’t be supplying the link. The embarrassment of seeing myself doing that has not yet abated.

During this time we ate out with family and friends at two lovely venues, The Knotty Pine in Elkton and in The Stone House and Quarry Lounge over the border in Pipestone, Minnesota. The co driver and I did our usual date night at Morries’s in Sioux Falls. Still as good as ever.

An observation in the few wine shops we went into. Australian wine was generally on the lower quality and cheaper side and on the bottom shelf which was a bit disappointing. Regrettably mail ordering wine into South Dakota is not allowed by law so I couldn’t get the folks to sample some better ones.

Another Trip to the USA / NYC to SD

After good night’s sleep and breakfast at the La Guardia Plaza, we took the hotel shuttle to LGA Terminal B.

This airport has recently been revamped. Previously it had a pretty poor reputation.

Self check in at United was a breeze and security took a few minutes.

This is how an airport should operate. 

SYD take note!

The waiting areas were spacious, signage was excellent, seating comfortable plus there was a huge range of food and merchandise shops.

And how about this fountain?

Our flight to Chicago was an hour late departing but we had factored in a three hour transit time in ORD so there was no stress.

The full flight passed quickly and we disembarked into T1 and a virtual zoo.

Have never seen Chicago O’Hare so busy. The throng of people, even in T2, was difficult to manoeuvre through.

I think we were two of the few wearing masks.

After a quick lunch we boarded another full flight to Sioux Falls, SD. 

The planes were getting smaller.

On time arrival at FSD to be greeted by some family members dressed up for the occasion.

It had a lot of airport staff, passengers and rental car people grab for their phones.

It was a nice welcome back after a three year absence.

After renting a car from the amused agent, we were on the interstate north reaching our Elkton BnB and Kennels accommodation about an hour later.

We had a nice dinner and catch up chat.

But soon jet lag began to creep in so it was time for bed.

Another Trip to the USA / Getting There

Incident free trip up to Sydney to a hotel across the road from the international terminal.

Up early next morning with the advice we would need a minimum of 3 hours for check in and exit formalities due to the chaotic situation at Sydney Airport.

We decided on four.

Lucky we did as it took just under three hours to get to our gate.

Check in was fast but emigration and security was extremely slow. Only half the gates are open due to post covid staffing problems.

We had time for breakfast and for the co driver to collect her tax refund on her electronics she was taking with her.

The three hour flight to Auckland on Air New Zealand was very pleasant despite the plane being full.

A quick security check to enter Auckland airport transit, a shop for some more duty free goodies, then onto the non stop 16.5 hour Air New Zealand flight to New York City (JFK).

Luckily we both had two spare seats beside us so we could spread out and sleep.

We also had an internet connection most of the way.

We arrived in time and I spent an hour in the immigration queue before grabbing our bags and getting a taxi to a La Guardia airport hotel.

A room service pizza and a beer before hitting the sack.

It was a long long day.