Cowboys and presidents
The only negative about the Grand Gateway was it did not include a free breakfast buffet so we had to make other arrangements. Cindy spotted a sign for the Morning Side Cafe which shared a strip mall with a 24 hour video casino. The sign said they served breakfast and lunch, great.
The inside of the place had no real decorative theme, was sort of dirty, and staffed by a woman and a man who was the cook. One one wall there was a steer skull. On one ledge was a collection of toy cars and on the ledge below that a collection of John Wayne paraphanlia. You may think this description made us not like the place but actually was just the opposite, I like local, small eating establishments.
I was unsure if the man and woman were married or something else. The woman had an outwardly grumpy appearance but she treated us nicely. The man, who was also the cook was more interesting. He seemed even more grumpy and cooked in silence. He had on a long sleeve shirt, a leather vest and a hankerchief tied around his neck. He was thinly built and sported a scraggly moustache. Cindy quietly asked the woman if she minded if she took a picture of him. She said in a funny way “It’s not like he has anything to say about it”. The woman and man started joking back and forth a bit like an old married couple afterward where she gave him the finger and he threatened her jokingly with a knife.
It was funny seeing the regular patrons coming in, sitting in their regular seats and having the waitress prepare their regular order without them having to ask for it. It was just old fashioned and cool.
The guy caught up on his orders and decided to put on his cowboy hat and walk outside for a smoke. As he walked by Cindy thanked him for cooking our breakfast. Surprisingly he was very friendly and nice, thanking her for coming in, the opposite reaction I would have guessed when we first walked in. When he came back in from his smoke break he was just as gracious, happy to pose for a picture with Cindy. He told me he hoped I wasn’t mad because he had his arm around my girl.
Cindy and I were all smiles as we left, knowing we just picked up another one of those random memories that only a road trip can provide.
The drive to Mount Rushmore was relatively quick. Cindy was very appreciative of the raw beauty of the area as well as her first glimpses of the monument itself. The temps were in the 60’s which felt great to me but chilly enough for Cindy that she went back to grab her coat just in case.
Even though I had been there before I still was awestruck by just how incredible of an achievement Mt Rushmore is. We had just started walking on the Presidential Trail when we had our first wildlife sighting, a mother and baby white mountain goat. They were just hanging on the steep incline chowing down, apparently not bothered by us at all.
I had decided to wear the Iowa Hawkeyes shirt I bought just for the hell of it the other day. I didn’t expect it to generate so much attention. I got asked at least a half dozen times about it. Evidently this area is an Iowa STATE fan base. One of the park employees joked with me, saying he was surprised I don’t have a bloody nose yet from an Iowa State fan.
The walk along the Presidential Trail and th entire 3-4 hours we spent at the park was just beauitful. I loved both admiring the monument and learning more about how it was made which is nothing short of amazing to me. Seeing it with Cindy was even better since she is so appreciative and grateful. It just makes sharing experiences with her fun.
We headed out of the park a little after noon and wound up having lunch in a town named Custer. We again lucked out and had lunch at a rustic place that served us two of the best black bean burgers we ever enjoyed. It was in a word, awesome. We are now pushing across Wyoming to a town named Cody which will be staging our two day visit to Yellowstone out of. Yellowstone is an incredible place. I can’t wait.