"Everyone is a Winner in Winner"

Even though I got on the road late this morning, I feel like I have accomplished a lot today.

A key thing I realized is that I am allergic to Romance. No wonder that is missing in my life. How I know this is that once I finally got moving, I first had to get myself cleaned up and actually did that at a leisurely pace. I even took time to use the perfumed lotion I brought with me. That is when I got the 'sign' that I am allergic to Romance. I started sneezing right away and as the morning wore on, I began to get a headache. How can that be? Here I have been looking for and wanting more romance in my life, I try adding it and it makes me sick. Not a good omen.

Speaking of messages or omens that I don't want to pay attention to....I now recognize what it means when people use the expression "she looks like she is pored into those jeans." I have never been one to wear tight or form fitting clothes before, but I am doing so now. While I didn't have to lay on the bed or stand on my head to pull up the zipper on my jeans, it was a bit of a challenge to get them on this morning. I am going to have to revisit my goals when I get home or I am going to have to buy new jeans. Since I am going to be unemployed starting next week, I know which would be the smartest thing for me to do.

I also took time to get Alice cleaned up again. I remember when I first bought her, I used to give her a weekly car wash, and then I began to stretch the time between them. With the weather and the road that I have been on this past week, the poor thing has been dirty more than clean and now with the dent, I want to make sure that I am not looking like a hillbilly driving a dirty and dented car.

Or maybe I should be more worried if I look like a convict or potential criminal. I noticed this morning the hotel I stayed at was right across the street from the county jail. And this is not the first time I have chosen a hotel in such an auspicious location. Several times I have noticed that I was next door or across from either a police station or sheriff's office. Could be that I am subconsciously protecting myself or it could mean nothing at all. But, according to the Audio Book that I am listening to, "The Power of Intention" by Wayne Dyer, the things that happen to us are part of our creation in our thoughts and minds.

By the time I got on the road and leaving Custer, it was about time for lunch. Munching on granola mix and drinking water, I headed to Mount Rushmore. What an impressive monument. While we all know the presidents that are on the mountain, I don't remember hearing that they were chosen to represent specific aspects of the United States. The four represent the founding, growth, preservation and development. There was a lot of information on the artist, the workers, the park, the wildlife in the park and what it takes to maintain the monument. It is mind boggling on how they can have a vision for a mountain and make it a reality. It is true for Mount Rushmore and also true for Crazy Horse.

At the monument I did meet a very interesting family. I first saw the mother and the youngest daughter (about 5 years) in the bathroom, but saw the rest of the family as we were waiting to take the elevator back to the main level of the monument. The mother said something which made me ask if they really were one familty. And yes, they were. Mom, Dad and eight children; the Lawrence family. They said they were from Hawaii, and then said that is where they have been stationed for the past 3 years. They were on their way to Wright Airforce Base in Ohio and was doing it as a road trip. I found it so interesting that even the grown kids were moving with them. Dad has been in the military for the past 25 years and based on the age of his younger kids, he's probably not planning on retiring soon. What a nice family.

From Mount Rushmore I drove to Rapid City (which is a pretty big town) so that I could connect to Highway 44 that would take me through the Badlands, through an Indian Reservation and then on to the city of Winner. I was not sure how long it would take, but since i had a few more CDs to listen to and leave, I wasn't worried either way. It was going to be a good drive and very introspective, so I was at peace.

The badlands were fantastic. The mountains and formations are very different than what I saw in the Rockies, the Tetons, or the Black Hills. It was almost like looking at porous rock that is soft like salt or crystallized sugar and the shapes that would result if wind or water was shaping them.

Like most of the ranges and things I have seen, I could hardly drive more than 500 feet and think I needed to stop again and take more pictures. We live in a very impressive and varying country and it has been such a joy to see a part of it that I have never seen before. It was simply beautiful country.

Once out of the Badlands, I saw LOTS of pheasants. Several of them were walking very arrogantly down the middle of the road and I was very worried I might hit them. Instead, as I got close they would fly away to the edge of the road and then were hiding in the grass. I thought that they were immune to getting hit, but further down the road I saw a couple of dead ones in the middle of the road.

When I was looking at the map, I saw a town that I had to check out. The name was very intriguing. Really, after having been to Normal, I had to find out what Winner was like. Winner is an interesting town, and it was a wonderful evening for me.

Once I got there, I did my usual driving through town, getting the lay of the land and finding out where motels were and how close to things they were. Well, the town is pretty spread out, but I did think that the west end had more options. I found one of those independently owned motels, the price was fantastic and the owner recommended that I have dinner across the street at the Wildwest Steakhouse and Saloon.

Thank you Connie, (the motel owner) for your suggestion. Going there allowed me to be a winner and make someone else a winner too. How that happened is that I was sitting at the bar, ordered a beer, asked if they would put on the basketball game and ordered dinner. The two guys at the bar were okay with changing the channel and then began chatting a bit about the teams still in the playoffs. (Not an accident that I have been watching the games lately.) I also was talking with Colleen, the bartender about my trip and was just enjoying having some human contact after having been alone for the past 4-5 hours.

While finishing dinner, I was approached by one of the guys, whose wife joined him, to ask if I would mind drawing a name out of a bucket to see who was the winner of a car that was being raffled by KIDS, which is an organization focused on keeping kids in school. Since I was not connected to the project, I was the neutral party. (In reality I think I was the only "out-of towner" in the place since everyone was talking with everyone.) I agreed and found out that the car was a 1999 Camaro. I did give my contribution to the school organization and hoped I would not be the winner, ordered another beer and waited until it was time to draw. I guess this was a big deal as most people in the restaurant were there for the drawing. Once I was introduced as Regina, who is taking a trip, I drew Betty Sells name. Unfortunately she was not there, but everyone seemed to know who she was.

So how was I a winner in Winner? One of the women running the raffle came up after the drawing, thanked me for my part and gave me a cookbook, which was from one of their other fund raisers. I didn't have the heart to tell her I rarely cook anymore, but let me tell you, there were lots of things that would be great to bring to a party or get together.

Having done my part - I headed back to the hotel to relive the day, watch the end of the Lakers/Jazz game and just be me.