Wednesday 24 September 2025
As I awake after 4 days of drinking, confusion fills my head. Where am I? Who am I? Why do I smell pork rinds? As I roll over Jethro's face greets me with a huge smile and a faint odor of bourbon. "WHAT THE......!" I start to yell but he cuts me off in mid sentence. "Gladys was in the house so I came out to see you and tell you about all of today's activities. Bambi was right, you do sleep naked." he said. After the shock wore off he filled me in with the day's activities.
He said that we were going to take a beautiful drive through the Black Hills and then end up at Mt. Rushmore. After that he found a place that smokes the best ribs you will ever find. Then ending up back at the ranch for, you guessed it, bourbon tasting and games. I told him that it sounds great but why did he have to crawl into bed with me to tell me? He said he likes to cuddle.
After that awkward encounter we all got ready and headed to the bus stop. The route to Mt. Rushmore was going to be on the Iron Mountain Road. A 17 mile scenic route famous for its 314 curves, 14 switchbacks and three pigtail bridges that loop over themselves along with three granite tunnels that frame views of Mt. Rushmore. Once inside the busses we were off.
The drive was spectacular. No one got car sick. Here are some images taken from the interweb.
This is a pigtail.
One of the tunnels with the view of Mt. Rushmore.
In the back of the bus you just get the view of the back of Jethro's head.
I think he needs a haircut.
It was a very good ride though so we can't really complain. We got to Mt. Rushmore and it has been several years since we have been there. It is always breathtaking.
Mt Rushmore.
And in typical fashion everyone raced ahead of the cripple guy to get the best spot for viewing. All I got was the backs of everyone's heads.
L-R-Steve looking for the mountain, Debbie looking for chapstick, Leslie wondering why there are no Canadians on the mountain, Jethro thinks he sees a deer, Gladys pretending she's in handcuffs, Dave thinking that this is Crazy Horse, and Bambi wanting to be in handcuffs also.
I borrowed a picture from Jethro's blog of the entire group because I did not get one at all.
L-R-Debbie, Steve, Bambi, Dave, Jethro, Harry, Gladys, Leslie, Tango and Vicki. Why are we all wearing sunglasses? Do we think we are all famous and don't want to be recognized? LOL.
There is a hike that gets you closer to the mountain so a few of the group decided to do that. I was not one of them. So the remainder stayed back to explore the visitor center and gift shop, also to sit in the shade and enjoy the ambiance. With their return we headed out to our next destination. Elk Haven Horse Camp.
This was not far from Mt. Rushmore which was good, because we were getting hungry and thirsty. It is a working horse camp but the owner once a week will smoke ribs if you pre-order them. They were so good and one rack will feed two people. Get there early to get a table, which we did and we were able to enjoy some beers before the ribs. Like we haven't had any beer this week.
This picture does not do them justice but they were so good, Meat comas for everyone.
Moans and groans again could be heard from the group again. Some swearing that they vow never to eat again. Once back at the ranch alcohol was provided again. Bourbon tasting and what ever else you fancied. The dice games were brought out also and I think I won another shut the box game again which meant more cash again! We all stumbled off to bed with our pants undone. Another fabulous day in the books.
Thursday 25 September 2025
Five days of drinking. This reminds me of my military deployments. My military training is paying off.
"Tango. Tango." Jethro whispered into my ear. Note to self. Have Gladys lock the door when she leaves.
"What Jethro?" I sighed.
"These old people are tougher than I thought. No one has left yet. I'm starting to lose money now." he whimpered softly into my pillow.
"Maybe you need to have them start drinking earlier." I said.
Just like that a light bulb went off in his head. "That's brilliant!" he said. "Hold my pork rinds while I set up a brewery tour today!"
Off we went to the breweries. One after another.
The gang.
Fun fact for you. Did you know you can drink more if you get senior citizen discounts? Everyone except the Canadians. They still pay more. Sorry.
Fun fact here. This is Jim's second picture of the group not realizing that Harry was not in it until I asked where Harry was? So we waited for him to return and re took the photo. I got your back Harry. So many breweries later we ended up at the Lost Cabin Brewery. This is what I remember of it.
Kids in bars. Good times.
After that it was time to head back to the ranch. It was going to be a special night. Bambi's famous tacos for dinner. Mouth watering for sure. I know I went back for seconds. Again everyone was stuffed. Bourbons came out again along with more dice games.
How many days has this been. It's all kind of a fog.
"Tanglo, Tanglo. It's me Jefro. Tom, Tom, Tom, the day after today is going to be the most stupendilicious day every." Jethro whispered into my ear after a long day of breweries and bourbon.
"Why is that?" I said.
"We are going to see the big fluffy cows!"
