The Wrong Turn

When we woke up Thursday morning there was a slick layer of ice encrusting the Black Hills. Roads were closed and we were unsure as to whether or not we would even be able to make it out of Deadwood. By 11 am we decided that we would brave it and head on our road trip to visit Grandma down in Houston, Texas.

My mother has traveled the world and has driven across country on more than one occasion. I figured that she was prepared.

We decided that we were going to drive to Rapid City then head south on 79 down to Nebraska to avoid the icy road conditions in the Black Hills. I asked mom if she had GPS.

“Oh I know how to get to 79 but I have GPS on my phone. I hope I remembered to pack my phone.” I, a little bemused, shrugged the comment off. “Plus I printed out directions off Google Maps.”

When we got to Rapid City, mom seems like she knows where she is going. Then we started heading towards Mt. Rushmore and it just didn’t seem right to me. So I check the directions she had printed out and it looks as if we had missed the turn to get on 79.

“Mom, do you have a map in the car?”

“Oh… I think so. Look in the pocket on the door.”

I get out the map and sure enough we are headed straight towards Custer, where the black ice and road conditions were at their worst. A very sketchy 45 minutes later we had made it out of the hills and to 79 without ending up in a ditch… barely.

“Mom, where are we going next? Do you have a map of Nebraska?”

“No. I have the Google directions.”

Oh, boy… this was going to be a long trip.

A New Inspiration

There's nothing like a 25 hour road trip with your mother to get the creative juices flowing on a blog that you haven't touched in 8 months. Nothing. Before I launch into the trip; here are some updates from my life post last blog post.

1. I am now Business Manager of very busy restaurant in Spearfish, SD called The Spearfish Chophouse and Whiskey Bar. The job combines my love of everything culinary and my MBA but let me tell you it is a blog in itself... yes, you will be hearing more.

2. I have revived my theater career. This summer I made my triumphant return to the stage as Annie in Annie Get Your Gun (the other red head) and recently played Eliza in My Fair Lady. Next auditions are for RENT in one week. It's a new director and new theater group so I am a little nervous.

Well... on to the trip. (Mom may hate me for this)