Iron Mountain Rd
We had a heck of a rain last week. There was damage to some of our trails. Water was pouring down the steps to our visitor center so wildly that it wasn’t safe to go up or down the steps. Power went out in our facility. We have backup generators and can get people out of the cave with our elevators. But we don’t allow anybody to enter the cave while power is out. There was lots of confusion, as the powers-that-be tried to decide when the power would go back on, which tours to cancel, etc. In addition, our internet is not on backup power, which meant we could take information for a refund, but we couldn’t actually issue a refund for people who paid with credit cards (which is most people). It all turned into a lot of extra work for the ticket sales folks.
Iron Mountain Rd
We did simple things this weekend. Yesterday we drove scenic Iron Mountain Road. It had pigtail bridges. Two single-lane bridges and a couple of view points gave framed views of Mt. Rushmore. We also played put-put, visited some attractions, and in general had a good time.
Today we drove up to Rapid City and did some chores. Even on vacation, one needs a haircut. The surprising thing is that there aren’t enough car dealers for the population in this area. I know this because one needs an appointment to get an oil change at the Honda dealer. Most dealers won’t even make an appointment for an oil change.
Pigtail Bridge (from the Internet)
We even managed to see two movies this weekend – Spiderman and Wonder Woman. Both were good, but we enjoyed Wonder Woman a little more. We saw Spiderman at a theater in Newcastle, WY (24 miles away). This is a quiet little town with no tourist attractions at all. But they do have one movie theater. It has one screen, they change their movie once a week, and they show the movie once a day at 7 PM. I can’t imagine how they can afford to show a movie as recent as Spider Man. The show we attended had about a dozen people. We paid $17 for two tickets. The guy that owns it must be donating his time and his personal fortune to the city.