Sorry for the lack of posts/ We're in Spearfish

I am sorry we have been out of blog touch for a couple of days, but we had no internet access while in Badlands National Park. The same will probably happen again when we go to the other national parks in a couple of days, so don't worry (parents, this means you!).

I will post separately about our Badlands experience in a bit hopefully, but in the meantime, thought I would jump ahead to the town of Spearfish, which we are now in, on the western edge of South Dakota.

I wasn't expecting much, other than perhaps some pretty Black Hills scenery nearby. But the town itself was not expected to be very nice. So far, I am happy to report that I was expecting too little.

We pulled into town around lunch time and headed past the highway entrance conglomeration of the usual -- KFC, Subway, Ruby Tuesdays, etc. -- and went into the center of town, Main Street (what else?).

I had read, with a bit of a sense of foreboding as a Jew, that right around Main Street in Spearfish was the locale for one of the significant tourist attractions in Spearfish -- the Black Hills Passion Play, as in the Passion of the Christ. I guess I'm not expecting a synagogue in these small heartland towns, but I do get a bit edgy when the displays of Christianity share too much with Mel Gibson's work.

Anyway, with that as my expectation, I was more than impressed with downtown Spearfish. We had lunch at a Berkeley-cool coffeehouse called "Common Grounds" (sandwiches complete with sprouts and avocado!), visited the large and well-stocked natural foods store, noted that a "Sustainable Living Festival" is taking place in town, and found out about getting tickets to the "other" local play in town -- Angel Street (better known by it's movie title of "Gaslight").

I'm not sure I would want to live in Spearfish, but it actually is a nice place to visit!

We are in the 13th day of our 21 day journey, and about 2/3 across the United States. It really is a beautiful country, and we still have perhaps the highlights of Yellowstone and Grand Teton ahead of us.