2008 South Dakota

Beautiful wide open land & grazing buffaloes (in theory) - the first part of our vacation this summer took us to the “Wild West”, the real America. What a treat!

South Dakota 2008

I admit it: I’m a fan of America. I don’t mean society, but the landscapes. What a rich and diverse country. If you imagine South Dakota you think of endless corn fields. That might be true in the eastern side of the state, but only a few driving hours to the west you find yourself in a death-valley like place (Badlands) or the what looks like the Jura in Switzerland (Black Hills).

You don’t know where South Dakota is? Don’t feel bad, I didn’t either. There’s a map to the right... The Cohen Brother’s movie “Fargo” was filmed in North Dakota, and Kevin Costner’s aging “Dances with Wolves” was shot in South Dakota. Costner actually owns a bar and a restaurant in Deadwood; one of the film’s locations.

Driving through these endlessly stretching landscape is inspiring. One can only imagine how the first explorers must have felt like, who travelled for months by wagon. Unfortunately there isn’t much left of the Old West. Paved roads, new buildings, and to see a buffalo you’d have to look past the interstate.

Sarah’s parents and I got along great. They were so warm and welcoming, and really went out of their way to show us South Dakota. Sarah’s dad, Michael, is responsible for Sarah’s passion for stars. One night, we packed one of his many telescopes and went star gazing in the middle of nowhere. It was the first time that I saw the milky-way here in the USA. In New York the light pollution is far too great to see even a single star. Sad, isn’t it? It was Sarah’s parents who took us on a three day road trip, during which we almost got caught in the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, where some half a million bikers come together and party for the weekend. From every directions there were motorcycles pouring toward Sturgis, like ants to a colony.

We had a fantastic time, and enjoyed being away from the happening world of New York for a while. And doing absolutely nothing for once, was - ah - so refreshing.