04-10-2013

How long will this snow go on?
 
Discussions around the coffee bar in the motel lobby this morning centered around how long will this continue and how much more snow are we going to get. Of course, none of the participants really knew the answers; they were all just like me: travelers from “somewhere else”. Each had their own story as to why they were here, where they were going, and why their situation was worse than the others. I felt a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that as much as I wanted to move on, I am not desperate to move on; it is not a critical issue for me. I can stay another day or two if necessary.
 
Decision time!
 
It seems to me that the southwest corner of South Dakota has the worst travel conditions; the area around Rapid City. The southwest corner of the state is also where I had planned to go as a “side trip” to inject some pretty significant “non Lewis and Clark” locations, such as The Badlands and Mt Rushmore. I am now thinking that if I wait here long enough for the southwest corner to clear up, I may not be able to adequately cover the remainder of the Lewis and Clark travels by May 1. I have not decided yet, but I am watching the conditions very closely to make the right decision. As of right now, I-90, the main East-West highway that would go to the Rapid City area, is closed by the highway patrol. They actually have gates at each onramp and the gates are closed and locked. They have been closed and locked since Tuesday evening.
 
[alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5865289317292676225″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”80″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center” max=”100″]