South Dakota Synopsis

Mira calls the casino "silly games." "I wan' go play silly games, 'genn, mama!" We stayed at the Prairie Winds casino's new hotel Friday night (23 February).

Saturday we drove north and west a bit, on the twisty highways that travel by Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. The contrast between the cut-out, curving hills and rolling rocky formations compared to the flat nowhere land of Nebraska that we call home was stark. Torrin was struck by the comparative beauty of the landscape--at one time Sunday afternoon as we traveled through the area again, this time on our way home from Rapid City, he marveled that "I think I want to marry it!"

We spent some time in Pine Ridge, aside from the casino stay, as well as a jaunt seven miles north-ish to the site of Wounded Knee. Torrin was amazed by the dogs running wild. Trash proliferates, littering the streets and subconsciousness. It's like visiting a third-world country that just happens to be plucked in the middle of the United States. Graffiti disfigures traffic signs so that one cannot read the speed limit. Burnt down bungalows are left to rot, and frames of once-were mobile homes sit abandoned, their contents subject to the elements. Lawns are composed primarily of muck, trampolines are scattered like rodents, children cry in the streets, and there's high speed internet access in the basement. The cleanest building on the main drag was the Alltel store.

Go figure.