No tub, but high speed in my room

I should've remembered from our trip to Memphis a few years ago: Sleep Inn motel rooms don't have bathtubs in 'em. But this one has what none of my rooms has had on this trip: high-speed internet!

We're in Sioux Falls, South Dakota tonight. I did all the drivin' today, from Rapid City, and I have to say I'm feelin' less than literarily inspired. Allow me to instead fling a few pictures your way (I'm told a picture is worth a thousand words, but it won't do shit for you when you're gettin' paid by the word).

Here's my first view of Mount Rushmore as we drove into the park the night we got in (if you look at the large photo, you can see some prez faces off to the left:





Now, on to more pressing business: the business of assless chaps, the running theme of, apparently, my life. I was asked once if pink chaps exist. In Deadwood, I found proof positive that pink leather is alive, well, and something I will never put against my body if I have a choice in the matter:



I don't think the pictures do justice to the gaudy neon glow of my sunburn, but here it is for the sake of full disclosure and historical documentation:



You can see where my camera strap was. I am a geek. I burned the bejeezus out of my tattoo, also, which annoys the fuck out of me because it was so totally avoidable:





Yesterday was a day chock full o' sights. We started off the morning by headin' to Wyoming to see Devil's Tower, then we came back through Spearfish Canyon, and finally, we spent a few hours in Deadwood (as evidenced by the aforementioned pink chaps). They stage gunfights in the middle of Main Street at regular intervals, and as the faux gunfire rang out, I joked to Jim, "Hell, we came on vacation to get away from the gunfire in the streets." Completely kidding. A kindly lady heard me and turned around, a concerned look on her face.

"Where are you from?" she inquired, no doubt so she could avoid it as a future vacation destination.

"Just north of Detroit," Jim replied, doin' a tremendous job of holdin' back the laughter I knew was simmerin' just under the surface.

Nice Lady patted Jim on the arm and said, "Well, God bless you, I hope you have a relaxing vacation." And then she hurried off, presumably so she wouldn't be in the line of fire if any of our homies spotted us. Then we let the laughter bubble and it was good.

As I keep reiterating, I have many, many pictures of South Dakota's natural photogenicism, and they will be posted when I damn well feel like it. Tonight would not be that time. I will instead leave you with a shot of Devil's Tower:




For the record, I was not drawn here by any strange compulsion, and did not sculpt any mashed potatoes leading up to this visit.