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Date Posted: 12:17:24 07/05/02 Fri
Author: Sam IV
Subject:

U.S travellin' y'all

Hey there,

I recently went on a camping trip in another country and went through some of the most worrying areas:
Middle America.
I started in Winnipeg which is basically the Adelaide of Canada. It's smack in the middle and there are heaps of churches. Our trip was directly south across the U.S border and firstly into North Dakota. Crossing U.S customs and immigration in the current political climate is pretty interesting. We (myself, my cousin Claire, her boyfriend Chris and her penpal from Holland Sabine), had our passports examined multiple times, visa questions asked and plenty of direct questions about how many firearms and explosives we had. I felt like replying "why none, we're heading to South Dakota. Surely we can get some there?"
Probably wouldn't be well receieved.
We got through and headed into the farming areas followed by the badlands that stretch a long way. In a sense it wasn't that different from driving in Australia, there was loads of bugger all inbetween our stops.
We packed enough food to sink a battleship but that didn't stop us going to Maccas after we discovered that we put the esky in first and loaded all the luggage on top of it.
It was there that I discovered my very first Maccas where they didn't know about credit card transactions...
Travellers cheques also confused them...
I was hungry enough to consider giving barter a try when the manager recognised the travellers cheque and cashed it for me.
We eventually stopped for the night at a motel. Then saw the prices. Then went to another motel. Repeat process. Eventually we stayed in a dodgy little place with a guy who must have served in an artillery unit given his projection, serving at the front desk. I wouldn't have minded so much but it seemed that he gave the wake up calls the following morning as well.
It was a pretty nice place but I had my suspicions since there seemed to be an endless supply of barely clothed young women and older men going in and out of the other wing of the motel.
No I didn't check it out.
We left around nine thirty in the morning and to give you an idea of the weather it was already 34 degrees. It would eventually reach 43 but we were in the car for most of the day.
This was the day we reached South Dakota, a state which really wears it's politics on it's sleeves. And front, back, side, cuffs and anywhere else you could conceivably fit an American flag. There are prominent billboards on the highway of things like "SOUTH DAKOTA DOES NOT WELCOME ANIMAL ACTIVISTS, ABORTION: THE CHOICE THAT KILLS, IF YOU BRING ILLEGAL DRUGS INTO SOUTH DAKOTA, YOU'D BETTER BE PREPARED TO STAY A REAL LONG TIME."
September 11 has had a real insulating effect on this place. There are jesus T-shirts, Bald Eagles with flags in every window, Bald Eagles with bullet wounds in every zoo, people had trouble understanding my accent and there are some you can almost see nodding their heads and saying; "you know, that Bush fella sure does make some sense."
But the scenery and countryside is fantastic.
It's a glorious place to go and enjoy yourself if you're into the outdoors. Unfortunately I didn't get to go outdoor rock climbing because of the cost and the heat stopped the tours. But I had a great time seeing bears, wolves and deer in places where they literally spray you down when you get too hot. It's great!
We cooked our dinner in our snug campsite each night in the shade of the enormous campervans in the opposite parking area. These things are HUGE. I was amazed at the way they could create a tide in the local lakes. People here go camping with sattelite TV, air conditioning, proper refrigeration and the kitchen sink.
Well my time just ran out so I'll say more in mount rushmore later.

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Replies:

Mt Rushmore -- Sam IV, 08:26:11 07/06/02 Sat
- Re: Mt Rushmore -- Bet, 06:55:57 05/14/04 Fri
- Mount Rushmore -- Beth, 06:58:25 05/14/04 Fri
Re: U.S travellin' y'all -- SpiderTeo, 05:43:25 07/09/02 Tue