Did you know there's a Flintstone's Themepark in South Dakota?!?

Well, there is!  This past weekend we were on a casing break.  I took this opportunity to meet up with Whitney in Rapid City, South Dakota (halfway between my rig and Denver).  Casing is when they run steel pipe and cement it into place to stabilize the wellbore.  Here's a website if you want to learn more, http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=casing.  This is done by another company so we're allowed to leave location.  Annnnd...we're still on the payroll so it counts towards my 86 days!

Sooo, back to the important part.  South Dakota has a Flintstone's Themepark.  I think I was slightly mislead, because I thought it was going to be for all ages and possibly have a pub.  Wrong.  After further investigation, it's closed during the winter and appears to be for anyone ages 6 and under.  So what I'm saying is it's about the right maturity level for me, but I'll have to come back in the summer.

Other points of interest were Mt. Rushmore, The Black Hills, Fort Hays (where Dances with Wolves was filmed), and Deadwood (recognized for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok....anyone remember the movie Wild Bill??).  Now, Deadwood is a small historic town with several gaming halls.   The most notable being Kevin Costner's Midnight Star Casino.  It's pretty much like a tiny Planet Hollywood, but it only has Kevin Costner's memorabilia and you can gamble....which we did.....unsuccessfully.

All in all, it was a good trip!  South Dakota, surprisingly, has a lot to offer and looks like it would make for some pretty sweet camping in the summer.  Nonetheless, it was a great excuse to get off the rig for a bit.

Final thought...Jackalope do not really exist, but everyone in South Dakota will tell you otherwise.

In the words of Jay Z, On to the Next One....

On to my 3rd rig.  This one's roughly 50 miles from the nearest Walmart.  I'm just outside of Tioga, ND and things are looking up!  Word on the street is that there's a 24 hour gym in town.....

And....For everyone in Texas/Oklahoma complaining about the snow....This one's for you....

"Cooler than a polar bears toe nails!"  And, that was a good day.  I've finally started to adjust to the cold weather.  I can tell if it's really cold or really, really cold just by how crunchy the snow is under my feet.  That, and, whether or not it hurts my teeth when the wind blows.  Oh, and for those of you keeping up, my windshield crack has expanded to roughly 5 ft....
 
TO BE CONTINUED......