Yesterday morning we left the reservation. We stopped to say goodbye to Rosie and gave her our leftover food (which was much more than expected!). One of the photos is of Katherine with student, Derek. During one of the beading sessions, Katherine kept coming over to admire Derek’s beadwork and swatting him with the fly swatter. It was cute, and I think Derek has a bit of an admirer!
We drove out through the Badlands, and saw a cow on the road. Always exciting and always my goal to get my photo with some random cow on the road. I tried, but I scared the cow into running away. Oh well! There is always next trip. Part of our drive took us by acres and acres of blooming sunflowers–just beautiful. We also stopped at the Red Shirt Table Overlook, which is one of my favorite places on the reservation. After group photos, we headed on.
We drove through Keystone which was FULL of bikers. I have never seen so many motorcycles in my whole life! I was sure that I was going to take a few out with the 15-passenger van, but no lives were lost (a good thing). After a brief stop at Mt Rushmore, we went hammer down to Sioux Falls. We were on the every two hour between stops rule this trip which worked well. We got back into the Hampton Inn, and then went to dinner at Granite City as a large group. It was nice to have this time for relaxation and reflection with the students.
This morning we left Sioux Falls at 0630 and traveled (again, hammer down) to Peoria without incident. I am SO happy to be home. Missed my peeps big time. I am taking the kid to get his driver’s license tomorrow.
I have much on my mind after the trip, as I always do! So appreciative of the students work and willingness to be flexible and go with the “current plan”.
Nursing Students at Pine Ridge 