Custer State Park

Marilyn and I had never been to Custer State Park so we decided to spend our last afternoon in South Dakota there.  There is a lot to do within the 71,000-acre preserve, such as hiking, camping, hunting, boating, swimming, and birdwatching (there is even a playhouse with performances during the summer) but we decided to take two of the many scenic drives.  We started with the Wildlife Loop but it was a bust because we did not see any of the 1,400 buffalo who roam freely throughout the park (we didn't see any wildlife at all).  However, our next scenic drive on the Needles Highway was absolutely spectacular with needle-like rock formations made of granite that rise up through the pine and spruce trees.

This tunnel is called the Needle's Eye (it was nerve-wracking to drive through because it is very narrow).

The entrance fee is $25 per car and we spent about five hours in the park but could have stayed all day.  It is a beautiful place and I definitely recommend visiting (go here for more information).

Crazy Horse

My family would usually visit the Crazy Horse Memorial every time we went to Mount Rushmore (they are very close to each other) and it was always interesting to see the progress from year to year.  Marilyn and I decided to visit again on this trip and we both noticed that a lot of work has been completed on Crazy Horse's arm and pointing finger since the last time we were there.  It is quite impressive.

In addition to the monument, there is a Visitor's Center which includes the Indian Museum of North America (there are some beautiful artifacts and I especially loved a beaded dress) and the Native American Cultural Center (there are often live performances).  Marilyn and I decided to see the film describing the Oglala Lakota war leader Crazy Horse, the commission by Chief Standing Bear to the Polish sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to create a memorial to him, and the laborious process of blasting and carving the rock.  It was so interesting to learn about the contributions of his wife Ruth and about how involved his children and grandchildren continue to be today.  Admission varies from $10-$35 depending on how many people are in your car and there is a separate $5 fee to take an optional bus ride to the base of the mountain.  I highly recommend visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial (go here for more information).

This is a model of what the monument will eventually look like.

Wall Drug

As we were driving through South Dakota on one of our trips back to Canada, we kept seeing hundreds of billboards for Wall Drug.  There seemed to be more and more of them the closer we got to the town of Wall.  My dad was so intrigued by these signs he decided that we just had to stop there.  It began in 1931 as a simple drug store operated by Ted and Dorothy Hustead.  They struggled to keep it going during the Great Depression so Dorothy had the idea to advertise free ice water to anyone who visited (you can still get free ice water!) and it eventually grew to become a sprawling collection of cowboy-themed stores, several restaurants, an art gallery with over 300 paintings, a backyard area with attractions for kids (including an animatronic T-rex and a giant statue of a jackalope), as well as the original drug store.  There is even a chapel inside!  It is a major tourist attraction and it draws over two million visitors every year but, honestly, I found it a bit underwhelming as an adult (I loved it as a kid and I remember buying a big sack of polished rocks!).  Marilyn and I still enjoyed it for the nostalgia (my dad loved it and had a bumper sticker that said "Where the heck is Wall Drug?" on his car for years).  Go here for more information.

I remember getting my picture taken on the jackalope (a portmanteau of jack rabbit and antelope) when I was a kid but I can't find it now.  Fun fact:  I thought jackalopes were real for an embarrassingly long time!

Mount Rushmore

I wanted to go on a road trip this summer but nothing was really piquing my interest until my sister Marilyn mentioned Mount Rushmore.  Even though I have been there several times, on family vacations when I was a teenager and a few times on my own, I got really excited about seeing it again (it is very awe-inspiring) and we started planning a trip.

The plaza leading up to the monument has flags from all of the states and there is a large viewing terrace, an amphitheatre, and a Visitor's Center at the base.  You can walk along the Presidential Trail for different views of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln and visit the Sculptor's Studio to learn more about Gutzon Borglund and how the monument was created.  There is also a cafe where you can get the world famous ice cream (I'm not sure why it is famous but it is really good).  Admission is free but there is a $10.00 fee for parking (there are two large parking structures) and it is valid for one year.

Even though I've been several times, I still find Mount Rushmore to be incredibly impressive and I recommend seeing it at least once in your life (go here for more information).

There is a turn-out where you can see George Washington's profile.  It is Marilyn's favorite view of the monument.

Devils Tower

After my family moved to the United States, we would go back to Canada on vacation every summer.  It took three days to drive from Utah to Ontario so my dad would always find places for us to stop and explore along the way.  One of my favorite places was Devils Tower in Wyoming (I was so excited to see it because I am a big fan of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind).  My sister Marilyn and I were on our way to Mount Rushmore on a road trip when we spontaneously decided to revisit some of our favorite stops from those summer vacations, starting with Devils Tower.  It added about two hours to the ten hour drive to Mount Rushmore but it was worth it because it is so cool!

It is a large butte (867 feet from base to summit) formed from igneous rock with hundreds of parallel cracks (which makes it very popular to climb).  It is sacred to the Kiowa and Lakota Native American peoples because, according to legend, it rose from the ground to save a group of girls from a large bear that was chasing them.  The bear's claws left the cracks in the rock when it tried to climb up to the girls but the tower grew so high that the girls eventually became stars in the sky.  It costs $25.00 to enter the park (which you pay on your way out) and there is a loop you can drive which takes you all around the tower and leads to a Visitor's Center, a path you can take to the base as well as some longer hikes, and several routes of varying degrees of difficulty for climbing the tower (you must register for a permit, which is free, and then check back in when you finish).  Go here for more information.

I loved seeing it again but, sadly, no alien space ships landed there during my visit!

Lady Gaga in Las Vegas

I love Lady Gaga and, even though I was able to see her Jazz & Piano show a few years ago, I have always wanted to see her in concert performing her own music.  I didn't think I would ever have an opportunity because she mostly does big stadium tours so I was beyond excited when she announced an arena tour in support of her latest album MAYHEM (which, in my opinion, is her best album since The Fame).  I was able to get a ticket to the opening show at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas last night and took a fun road trip to cross another item off my bucket list!  The concert was absolutely amazing and I am still on a high from it!  Every performance was very theatrical (the stage was even configured as an opulent opera house) with elaborate costumes, lighting, visuals, and choreography for each song.  The show was structured into four acts and a finale during which Lady Gaga periodically confronted a character called the Mistress of Mayhem (she is the personification of the inner chaos created by her trauma and fame as revealed in the opening manifesto, "The Art of Personal Chaos").  Act 1, Of Velvet and Vice, began with Lady Gaga inside a towering red Tudor gown singing an operatic version of "Bloody Mary" after which the skirt opened to reveal a steel cage filled with her backup dancers.  She emerged to perform "Abracadabra," with shortened versions of "Judas," "Aura," and "Scheiße" as an outro, and "Garden of Eden” with her on guitar.  This set concluded with "Poker Face" as Lady Gaga and the Mistress of Mayhem played a game of chess with dancers as pieces on a chessboard of lights on the runway jutting into the audience.  During Act II, And She Fell Into a Gothic Dream, Lady Gaga cavorted in a burial ground while performing dramatic renditions of "Perfect Celebrity" and "Disease" with skeletons all around her.  She then climbed out for "Paparazzi" (so symbolic) with an iridescent veil trailing her down the runway and then "LoveGame."  This set ended with atmospheric versions of "Alejandro" and "The Beast."  Act III, The Beautiful Nightmare That Knows Her Name, featured Lady Gaga dressed in a long black frock coat covered in black satin roses and a large headdress singing "Killah," "Zombieboy,"  and "LoveDrug" with a giant skull on stage and concluded with a burlesque performance of "Just Dance" with "Applause" as an intro.  Act IV, Every Chessboard Has Two Queens, included "Shadow of a Man," "Kill for Love," "Summerboy," and a very powerful performance of "Born This Way."  The Mistress of Mayhem pursued her during "Million Reasons" (also very symbolic) and then rowed her in a gondola down the runway for a solo version of "Shallow" (my favorite moment in the show because it was so cool).  She stayed on the secondary stage at the end of the runway to perform a solo version of "Die With a Smile" on piano and then gave a heartfelt thanks to her fans for supporting her throughout her career before going out into the crowd for "Vanish Into You."  For the Finale, Eternal Aria of the Monster Heart, Lady Gaga had her backup dancers perform surgery on her heart (her costume had a bloody incision that was stapled together) while she sang "Bad Romance" and this was followed by a recorded speech called "Monsters Never Die" which signified her victory over the Mistress of Mayhem.  For the encore, Lady Gaga sang "How Bad Do U Want Me," which is my favorite song from MAYHEM, starting from backstage.  I loved both the storytelling and the theatricality of this show and I was beyond impressed by Lady Gaga's incredible vocals (she is the ultimate performer).  I also liked her selection of songs because she sang almost everything from MAYHEM but also included the hits and a few deeper cuts that haven't been performed in a long time.  This is one of the best concerts I've seen and I am so glad that I was able to go!

Utah Shakespeare Festival 2025

This year I ended up taking a quick trip to the Utah Shakespeare Festival by myself on Monday and, even though I was only there for one day, I saw two shows had a great time!

My first show was a matinee of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.  I wasn't particularly interested in seeing this again because I've seen it so many times but I am glad that I ended up getting a ticket because this production is very different and I thoroughly enjoyed the innovative staging!  The set is configured as a music hall in the early 1900s complete with old fashioned footlights at the edge of the stage and a tattered curtain upstage.  There is even a piano player (Brad Carroll) on stage for the whole show!  The props include items that might be found backstage such as suitcases, large steamer trunks, canvas laundry carts on casters, moving staircases, scaffolding, screens, and racks of costumes.  These items are configured and reconfigured to become various locations by an ensemble dressed as vaudeville performers.  There are no projections so all of the members of the D'Ysquith Family (Graham Ward) who are ahead of Monty Navarro (Rob Riordan) in the succession to the earldom are killed using practical stagecraft that would have been available in the early 1900s (I especially loved the Reverend Lord Ezekiel D'Ysquith's fall from the cathedral tower and Asquith D'Ysquith Jr.'s skating accident because they are so clever).  The costumes are really fun and, as usual, I loved the gowns worn by Sibella Hallward (Katie Drinkard) and Phoebe D'Ysquith (Nicole Eve Goldstein) but I was more impressed by those worn by Lady Hyacinth D'Ysquith and Lady Salome D'Ysquith Pumphrey!  The D'Ysquith family crest worn by all of the members of the family is also very amusing, especially Lady Eugenia D'Ysquith's because it is so big.  I laughed out loud at Ward's distinct characterizations for each member of the family (especially his doddering Ezekiel) and I loved Riordan's over the top facial expressions.  Both Drinkard and Goldstein have beautiful voices and their renditions of "I Don't Know What I'd Do Without You" and "Inside Out," respectively, are highlights.  I'm not often surprised by a show I've seen so many times but this put a huge smile on my face and I would definitely recommend it.

The play I most wanted to see at the festival this year was Macbeth in the Engelstad Theatre because it is one of my favorites by William Shakespeare (second only to Hamlet).  This production is absolutely amazing and I loved how it really leans into the supernatural.  The set features a large stunted tree that dominates the stage and I think this is a perfect symbol for the theme of unnatural deeds leading to unnatural consequences (which is really emphasized in this production).  The Weird Sisters (Evelyn Carol Case, Kayland Jordan, and Kat Lee) appear as Druids, dressed in muted greens and browns with headdresses made of twigs, and they can manipulate nature with their powers (they are atmospheric and otherworldly as they haunt different areas of the stage).  Hecate (Caitlin Wise), the witch who rules the Weird Sisters, is often omitted from modern productions because the character is so intense and, in this one, she is terrifying because she appears to hover above the stage by using her large iridescent wings (each one is manipulated by two puppeteers and the effect is quite dramatic) and her voice is incredibly strident.  She appears in the usual scenes in which she chastises the Weird Sisters for acting without her permission (they cower before her as if they are in pain) and when she instructs them to create illusions for Macbeth (Walter Kmiec) but she also appears in several other scenes including the final confrontation between Macbeth and Macduff (Lavour Addison) which is incredibly unsettling.  The sound design, which features staccato drums and droning pulses, is ominous and the lighting design often mimics stormy weather (I wrote a paper about the weather in Macbeth in college).  Both Kmiec and Cassandra Bissell (as Lady Macbeth) give powerful performances because they visibly come undone from their guilt and paranoia.  The rest of the cast is outstanding with shoutouts going to Chauncy Thomas as Banquo (especially when his ghost haunts Macbeth) and Addison as Macduff because the scene where he reacts to the death of his children is heartbreaking.  Finally, the fight choreography is really cool because, other than the fight between Macbeth and Macduff, the soldiers seem to be battling invisible opponents.  I loved this production so much and I think it is one you do not want to miss!  These shows are performed in repertory along with Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Steel Magnolias through October 4 (go here for tickets).

Note:  Other highlights of this trip include eating *ahem* several tarts and running into my friend Joe (it was so fun to talk to him).