Strike another state off the list. Only two of the lower 48 remain for the Fink to set paw in: Washington and Oregon. Until yesterday, ND was on that list as well. Yippy!

Carry me baaaack to the lone prairieeeeeee

We slept in a bit yesterday morning in Murdo, and had a leisurely breakfast. I went for a swim an hour or so later, and then we hit the road and eventually crossed into North Dakota, which, of course, looked like this…

We constantly observed how this land must have looked to the Indians (and later, the squatters known as the United States Federal Government), and marveled at the fact that in thousands of years, it is largely unchanged.

I think I counted exactly two towns in a 100-mile stretch. That’s a long time between potty breaks, lemmetellya. Well, we found a small gas station/post office at a lonely intersection in the middle of nowhere. The photo with the Finkmobile is the view from the entrance. Just prairie, truly as far as the eyes can see. Pretty!

But I have to backtrack a moment, fiends. Let’s go back to South Dakota — actually, back to the 1880s.

We left Murdo, and about 15 miles down the road was a place called 1880 Town, where buildings and artifacts from the post-Civil War era have been lovingly preserved and on display to travelers for many years. We are so glad we decided to stop! What an amazing place.

Kevin Costner’s character lived in this hut (that’s also his makeup chair)

The Dances With Wolves display was impressive. I don’t know how this nice old man named Jake and his wife came to own this huge collection of props from the 1990 film, but they have a bunch.

The coolest part was walking down the street and visiting the various restored — and in some cases, unrestored — buildings. And this isn’t some manufactured, made-up diorama; these are actual structures from the Civil War period, including a beautifully preserved saloon. Awesome stuff.

One thing’s for sure: I’ll never complain about my classroom or my kitchen ever again.

They also had a couple of trains — one of which was an authentic 1950s diner! We didn’t eat there, but walked through it and took photos. Ah, too many photos to post this morning and not enough time. We need to get breakfast, showered and on the road to Teddy Roosevelt National Park, where we’ll spend some time hiking around.

More reports from the field tomorrow! Hugz to you all.

Good morning, fiends!

OK…so, it’s not that we don’t love moving in nature, and witnessing our great country in its most expansive, beautiful, serene state. But truthfully, after 8 hours of this:

Nebraska farm and grazing lands

…and this:

South Dakota beef ranches

…we were ready to relax here:

Range Country Inn — Murdo, SD

While the Thriller watched a hockey game, I took the iPad and sat out on a park bench, under a covered porch. A light rain started, and the temperature dropped to a super-comfy 72. A few minutes later, the sun appeared, and woo! A rainbow! And later, the clouds cleared away, but a piece of the rainbow hung around:

Always after me Lucky Charms…

It’s a relaxing and beautiful place, with the South Dakota Cowboy theme going on everywhere. We loved our leisurely breakfast in the rustic lobby, with all kinds of animules staring lovingly down from the walls to stimulate your appetite for meat. Yum! We both dug the whole experience.

Today, it’s on to North Dakota, but it won’t be such a grueling drive. Not sure what kind of trouble you can get into in the lovely town of Dickinson, but you can be sure we’ll try and find some — or maybe it’ll find us.

Check in with you tomorrow. Off to the pool, the shower, and the road to the rainy north. Ciao!

This whole getting-to-where-you’re-going thing can be tedious. I wish we didn’t have to spend 8 hours just getting to South Dakota today, but hopefully, some of the trip will be scenic.

The extent of “stuff” we hauled into the beautiful Candlewood Suites in Salina, Kansas was comical. It was laundry day AND grocery day, so into the elevator went two suitcases, a cooler, various backpacks and tote bags (girl’s gotta have her makeup, snacks and 10,000 charger cables for phones, computers, etc.), all on one of those big metal hangy-uppy carts that you see bellhops pushing around.

Best thing, though — our room had a full size kitchen! So we got salads and fruit and yogurt and ate in. Watched True Blood and Mad Men, which rounded out the evening. Then the Thriller channel-surfed while I read myself into oblivion.

Actually, the best thing was that the forecasted thunder/hail storm never happened. Believe me, we were both up wondering about it every time the air conditioner compressor kicked on or off. Oy. Checking the weather that’s happening in the Dallas area and into Oklahoma right now, it’s a good thing we left when we did. Lucky ducks so far.

Checking the weather for the ever-volatile Nebraska: North Platte is calling for thunderstorms today, and thunderstorms in North Plate tend to be juuuust a bit different than thunderstorms in hometown Ohio. But we should be fine. And a high of 79 vs. a high of 103? Fine by me.

So off we go, to the showers, the breakfast nook and the road. Talk at ya from Murdo, SD, where we’ll unpack the wagon all over again.

Finkmule

Hoo-eee, it’s been awhile since I’ve been in the studio.

Last night, BoomR and I test-drove my chops, laying down some tracks in a late evening session. When we finished at around 11:30, two tunes were ready for mixdown. [varying degrees of] Success!

BoomR’s equipment, studio space and engineering expertise were, of course, a joy to work with. Loved how he made this voice sound better than it actually is. Ah, Merlin…ye be a fine magician.

Today, the Thriller is off to Austin for a much anticipated visit with three of his children (we haven’t seen them since Simone’s wedding, last October), who are driving up to Pflugerville to meet him for lunch. Fun! While he’s doing that, BoomR and I plan to finish up with the recordings, then lay down the order for tonight’s gig at Chamberlain’s. Also fun.

Meanwhile, while the other side of the house is still in morning coffee mode, I might put on me swim bloomers and take a couple of laps in the pool. Then it’s off to warm up these clanky pipes once again. Off we go — enjoy your Saturday, fiends.