We’re on our 5th day of tour and I finally just now got to do a post. There’s quite a bit to catch you up on.
The first night was uneventful, just the bus ride up to Hopkinsville, KY. The wi-fi at the hotel wasn’t cooperative, but there wasn’t much to say anyhow. On Friday we drove to our first worship service, at Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, KS. There were a few bobbles, but overall it went very well for a first concert. There was a good turnout, and we were fed well. They even had an ice cream social for us after the concert. A few hours of sleep later we were back on the bus to head to Mitchell, SD, home of the one and only Corn Palace. It is a small civic-center-like building with a basketball court and a stage. Every year they decorate the outside of the building with corn cobs of different colors to make a mosaic. Some of them are really creative! This year’s theme was rock and roll, so they had a mosaic of Elvis, one of Willie Nelson, and several others. It sounds pretty cheesy, and in truth it *is* pretty cheesy, but it’s still fun. We’ve gone to the Corn Palace every time we’ve made the trip to Mt. Rushmore, and it’s become a tradition to try to convince the newcomers that it’s a really important landmark.
Quite a few of our group decided to walk the couple of blocks from the church back to the Corn Palace at 9p to see what they call the “light show”, when they light up the turrets on the building. It was fairly underwhelming as a light show, but a success as a social event. Caleb Thome, in a moment of genius, brought his trunk-or-treat costume, an outfit that looks like an ear of corn. He wore it to the Corn Palace Light Show and was an immediate hit. He also wore it for warmup at the church yesterday, and even got props from the minister for wearing it.
Yesterday morning the choir sang for about half of the service at Mitchell First UMC, our hosts. They were a late add to the tour schedule, and their pastor was great about working with Kim on short notice. He was equally nice in person, as were all their members.
On Saturday night I was walking back from dinner and stopped to talk to a man who was sitting outside his apartment across the street from the church. We wound up talking for more than half an hour. He grew up in Mitchell, but had lived in some other places too. He told me a lot about the other religious denominations that are prominent in the area, and about the UMC in that part of the world. He recommended a book to me, “The Heart of Christianity” by Marcus Borg, and I made a note on my phone so I could go check it out. We were loading the luggage yesterday and I felt someone tap me on the back. It was the same gentleman, handing me the book that he had recommended. I’ve just started it, but it seems well worth the read so far.
Yesterday we rode up to Custer National Park for some touring and group time. We didn’t see much wildlife on the way into the park, but that all changed later. There’s a private company that will truck you back into the park on hay wagons and feed you a chuckwagon dinner when you get there. On the ride up, which took about an hour, we saw a lot of buffalo, prairie dogs, deer, and even a turkey or two. They even had a bluegrass band for dinner, whose members led singalong songs on the way up and imparted info about the park and the wildlife. While we were eating dinner, 7 or 8 buffalo wandered up right across the road from where we were. One even ventured into the woods about 80 yards from where were were eating. The guides said that the buffalo don’t normally hang around there, so I guess we were lucky. It was amazing to see them that close up!
We ate and socialized and danced a little bit and then headed back down to Keystone to the hotel. It was only about 10p MT when we got to the hotel, but our bodies thought it was midnight. Everybody I’ve talked to so far today slept well. It is very quiet up here, which helps.
We’ve got some free time this morning and then we’re headed up to Custer National Monument, to Rushmore Cave, and then finally to the amphitheater at Mount Rushmore to sing this evening. We’ll hang around there until they light up the mountain tonight and then head on back to the hotel. It’s always nice to be in the same hotel two nights in a row so we don’t have to pack up in the morning. Tomorrow we’re back on the road to tour the Badlands, stop at Wall Drug, and head to Chamberlain to sing.