9. SOUTH DAKOTA & COLORADO

RAPID CITY (April 17th)

Despite a tricky bit of Chicago traffic, our Uber driver got us to O’ Hare airport in good time. Then, having got through a reasonably efficient check in and security process, we boarded our flight and left on time at 0940. One thing worth mentioning is that the seats on USA internal flights give you a lot more leg room than you would get with the UK or Australian airlines, so that always makes the flight easier. Also, the wi-fi is always free and works well.

Our trip to South Dakota, really was a flying visit, just the one day. The plan was to land in Rapid city, pick up the hire car, drive to the hotel (Holiday Inn Express), then immediately head to Mount Rushmore to see the Presidents memorial in the afternoon. We would then return to the hotel, have a few hours chill time, go out for dinner, then go back to the memorial to see it lit up in the evening and then fly to Denver Colorado at lunchtime the next day.

Could this be done without any hiccups, we hear you say. Of course it can……well almost. The only hiccup was it was bloody freezing when we landed, 3 degrees and -3 with the wind and we weren’t exactly dressed for it (ha, ha). There were patches of snow on the ground, proper brass monkeys.

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial features 60 foot granite sculptures of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and represents the USA’s birth, growth, development and preservation from over 150 years of history. They were carved between 1927 and 1941 (big job) supervised by sculptor Gutzon Borglum (who got all the credit). He chose the site for its high quality granite, the size of the rocks, its southeast facing exposure for maximum sunlight and to boost the South Dakota economy (more pub quiz stuff for you).

We put on a few more layers of clothing and drove to the monument which was about 30 minutes from the hotel driving through the bitterly cold South Dakota black hills, which was Sioux Indian country and Keith was riding shotgun. We went through a small town called Keystone (where the local police are apparently quite funny), went through the entry gates to the memorial and parked up. Suffice to say the memorial was spectacular and it’s no wonder it took nearly 15 years to complete. We also got very lucky as despite the cold weather the sun came out, so as usual everything looked even more amazing in the sunshine.

After lots of photos we had an ice cream, as if we weren’t cold enough! and then headed back to Keystone, booked a restaurant for dinner, then went back to the hotel for a swim and a chill.

Returning as planned, dinner was in a restaurant that looked straight out of the Wild West and even more bizarre there was the saloon next door complete with swing doors. We all tucked into the buffalo stew that came in a bread bowl and Ian also had the 12 ounce buffalo steak, which was very nice.

Then it was off to the memorial again to see it all lit up and it was just as spectacular. There was an added bonus of seeing two adult deer munching on the grass just as the sun was setting, fantastic. After warming up in the gift shop, we headed back to the hotel in pitch black darkness (well done to Ang for driving that bit) and after a very busy day headed off to bed.

DENVER ( April 18th – 20th)

Our flight to Denver, Colorado was only 45 mins long and was departing at a very pleasant time of 12am, giving us plenty of time to have a nice big breakfast before checking out. As we were loading the car, the bitterly cold wind blew off Keith’s cap and we hadn’t seen him move that fast all trip as he chased it down the hill (ha, ha).

Off hiring the car, checking in & going through security was easy peasy, but we were all a bit surprised to see that we were going to be flying in a very small plane. There was a slight delay as apparently the Captain had misplaced the big key to wind it up! He eventually found it and because the plane was so small Ian managed to bang his head getting on board (ha, ha).

Once airborne it was a bit bumpy, but we landed safely, picked up an Uber and headed off to our hotel, the Staybridge Suites in Denver Cherry Creek. Our rooms were not ready and we had an unnecessarily long wait past our check in time (what a nause) which resulted in us getting a couple of free room nights!

For dinner Den found us a nice little Italian around 15 mins walk from the hotel where they served an amazing and very large Calzone.

Our first trip, the next day, was into the Rocky Mountains National Park. We were lucky as they had received a big snow dump the previous week so the mountains were all capped with snow and looked amazing. We left around 8-30 in the lovely sunshine with a few other tourists in a mini van and headed off to the mountains. The van got warm very quickly and Ian was sat across the aisle to Juan from Chicago. Juan was a very pleasant chap and also quite large and he seemed to be giving off about 100 Mega Watts of heat to warm up the van even faster. We made a few stops for scenic photographs along the way and arrived at the town of Estes, which is about 7,500 ft above sea level (Birmingham is 500-1000 ft).

For those of you who like horror movies, Stephen king modelled the Overlook Hotel from his 1977 bestselling book & Kubrick’s 1980 film, ‘The Shining’ and later on ‘Dr Sleep’, on the Stanley hotel in Estes, where he and his wife stayed during a weekend visit. Going inside the hotel it looked like it was straight out of the film with the outdated carpets and wallpaper and even the same rubbish music piping through the halls & corridors, great stuff.

We then drove up the mountain to 9,000 feet where there was a lake we could walk around, before returning to Estes for lunch and coffee and then returning back to our pick up point in the city, stopping to see some of the local wild Elks on route. We headed over to a nice Thai restaurant for dinner, stopping off at bar on route.

The next day we were scheduled to do a half day trip, however due to sickness in the tour company we had been upgraded to a full day at no extra cost, so we thought okay, lets do it. We set off from the same pick up point and headed to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre which is a spectacular natural rock formation about 16km south of Denver. It’s used for concerts, music festivals, shows, school proms and many other things, seating about 9,000 people. Hall of fame artists who played there include the Beatles, U2, Sting, John Denver, Willie Nelson and many more. In fact the stage was being prepared for Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube who were playing that evening.

From there we travelled to Loveland Pass and the Great Continental Divide which was at 12,000 feet above sea level. The views left you breathless, literally, as the oxygen levels were starting to get a bit thin up that high. To put it in perspective, Everest base camp is only a few thousand feet higher, well actually 5,500 feet higher to be exact (ha, ha). Having said that the driver recommended we stay for around 15 mins for photos.

We set off and descended quickly to around 9,600 feet above sea level and the ski resort town of Breckenridge. This place was amazing full of ‘boujee’ restaurants, bars and shops surrounded by the incredible mountains. It even had a small ‘boujee’ Starbucks (those guys get everywhere). We had lunch in one of the ‘boujee’ restaurants before setting off back to the city, stopping off for a few minutes to see a giant wooden troll built by a Danish Sculptor (don’t ask).

Since we started our North America trip, Den had been waiting to buy a new phone to upgrade her IPhone 1. She had meticulously researched this while we were in San Francisco and found that Denver has the lowest sales tax across the USA. She had to wait several weeks but as the big day had finally arrived she excitedly toddled off with Ang to buy one. Keith was set to be the real winner though, as he was in line to get Den’s old phone which was a significant upgrade to his 1998, Nokia 3310, so he was well made up. The trip was successful and Den returned to the hotel very happy with her ‘boujee’ new Iphone.

In the evening, we had a few light bites (after our ‘boujee’ lunch) and played a few games of UNO and cards. We were checking out the next morning and heading off to the airport for our flight to Detroit, Michigan, which is the staging point for the border crossing into Canada.