Interstate Adventures

We were looking for a place to buy flip flops because the Belle Fourche Reservoir in South Dakota took ours. The reservoir campground was supposed to provide us with a place to work and rest for the week.

When we arrived we were on day four of 100-plus degree weather. We needed to cool off before setting up camp. So, first thing when we pulled into our site, we put on bathing suits and headed to the water for a refreshing dip. As we walked toward the shore I saw jagged rocks strewn over dark tan sand. The water was the same color as the sand. I said, “I’m keeping my shoes on for this. I don’t know what is down there.” I had immediate second thoughts but saw people down the shore in the water. I figured I’d wade up to my ankles and see how it felt. 

As soon as I stepped in I sank. I looked at Bruce and he was sinking up to his calves. I put my hands on the ground for balance to pull myself out. Bruce could not find one of his flip flops. He had to dig around in the mud as he was sinking in it. Our shoes were encased in claylike mud and so were we. 

We showered off the side of the van and tried to hose down the shoes. It was impossible, they were a total loss. The sun was beating down on us so by the time we were finished we were sweating again.

We searched for relief from the heat. We did not know which was worse inside or outside the van. Both were about 101 degrees. I opened the refrigerator to get an ice-cold seltzer. It felt barely cool. As we sat together with the air conditioning blowing warm air, we wondered if the heat broke the van. We went back and forth about leaving for a hotel. I recalled announcing at the beginning of the trip that we were not staying at any random hotels. 

Even as the sun set, the air was still heavy with heat. We picked the first place that popped up in our search for nearby hotels, a Best Western in Spearfish, South Dakota. When we woke up the next morning Bruce disappeared for coffee. I thought he was going downstairs for hotel coffee but when he came back with a cappuccino and freshly baked blueberry muffin, I thought, what is this place?

Later in the day we took a walk on Main Street and visited an antique store with everything from cowboy boots to slot machines. We also found an Opera House with creaky floors that left you imagining what Spearfish was like in the early 1900s.

As we packed the van up for our next stop, Bruce said, “This place really hit the spot.”