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Welcome to my weekly update for July 24, 2022!
My birthday was last Monday and my husband’s birthday is this Monday so he took the week off of work. We spent the time in Rapid City, South Dakota. There is a lot to see and do there! We visited Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Black Hills National Forest, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, and more. It was a busy week! And hot. My car’s outside thermometer showed that it was 106° F (about 41° C) on my birthday. The forecast was for 105° F so I believe it was right. But we put on our sunscreen and hats, donned our masks in indoor spaces, visited the caves on the hottest day, carried lots of water, and had a fabulous time!
Slideshow:
All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2022
- Cathedral Spires Trail in Custer State Park
- Badlands National Park
- Roughlock Falls in Black Hills National Forest
- Inside Wind Cave National Park
- Mount Rushmore
Posted:
Ten of My Favorite Books Set in the Southern Appalachians
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston, read by Adenrele Ojo: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟
Read:
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
Links go to my reviews on GoodReads.
The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R. K. Narayan 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Dark Waters (Small Spaces #3) by Katherine Arden, read by Renee Dorian 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Currently Reading:
I visited a local bookstore in Rapid City, Mitzi’s Books. It was a cute shop with a good selection for its size. I couldn’t find any fiction obviously set in South Dakota (I rarely buy nonfiction), so I bought A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean since we’re really based in Montana this summer. I started reading it right away.
(Note to any booksellers out there, especially in touristy areas: I love regional sections in local bookstores! And I don’t just mean local hiking and tour guides. Spotlight local authors and fiction books set in your area! Malaprop’s, my local bookstore back home in Asheville, NC, has always done this and I’m disappointed that I don’t see it more often. But maybe it’s just me. I’ve never been a bookseller so I don’t know what other people look for and buy.)
The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack
Up Next:
I downloaded the third Murderbot book, Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells, so my husband and I may listen to that as we drive back to Billings from Rapid City. My sister is scheduled to fly in for a visit on Thursday so I don’t think I’ll get much reading done but I’ll get lots of sister time instead! Even better!
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
31 Comments
Happy belated birthday to you and your husband! We visited Rapid City several years ago when we lived in NE and took our granddaughter along (I think she was 10 or 11, so it’s been about 10 years!). We did a lot of the same things you did and hope to get back there again someday. I don’t think it was as hot, though. 106? Ugh! That’s awful. It was 103 in Portland yesterday, but 50 degrees cooler here on the coast. I think I’ll stop complaining about the chilly (and often times rainy) weather here!
I love finding local author displays in independent bookstores. I remember a great selection at Tanner’s in Sidney, British Columbia. Of course, I can’t remember what I bought there, but it was fun to get a few books from unfamiliar authors.
I remember those triple digits when we were in Portland. Luckily there were only a few of them. I don’t think anyone back home believed me that it was that hot in the PNW!
We only made it out to the Cannon Beach area a couple of times that summer. It was always cool and windy. Too cool for our Southern blood! We couldn’t understand the people who were out in their swimsuits 🙂
As always, I love seeing your photo slide show and hearing about where you’ve been traveling.
My birthday was July 20 so I am right in between you and your husband; happy birthday!
Happy Birthday to you and your husband! Thank you for bringing back memories of my trip the South Dakota forever ago (we went out there in 1995 to see my sister and celebrate my nephew’s 1st birthday). Such a beautiful place! I recommend a trip to Devil’s Tower National Park you’re out in Montana.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
I like the idea of regional sections in bookstores, too. Book displays like “New England Mysteries” or “Books Set in Massachusetts” are always very popular at my library. Glad you got to enjoy your vacation even with the heat! I’m not finding it as bad as other heat waves because the humidity hasn’t been terrible here.
Looks like a great joint birthday trip! I’ve seen bookstores highlight local authors, but not usually books set in the local area. It’s an interesting difference.
Happy birthday to you both! I’ve seen Mount Rushmore but none of the other places you mention. I’ll have to go back. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
That’s cool you and your husband have birthdays close together. Big celebrations 🙂 Love your travel photos.
Happy Birthday to you both!! What a great way to spend it. All of those places are on my one day list! Have a great week!
Your photos are amazing! Love seeing the sights.
Happy birthday! The End of Everything looks so good – putting it on my tbr! Hope you enjoy it!
I love that part of the country! The one place we haven’t gone was Wind Cave (there was a long wait to get into the cave the last time we were there and the kids were little, so we decided to skip it), but I’m hoping we can go there on our next trip to the Midwest. Have a great week!
Happy birthday, Jen, and happy birthday to your husband, too!
I’ve never traveled in South Dakota, but your photos make me want to plan a trip there.
I like regional sections in bookstores. I have never read a book set in South Dakota, but I have two books I hope to read one day from that part of the world on my list. One is a memoir by Tom Brokaw and the other is called Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog.
I know nothing about any sort of fishing, but I did enjoy A River Runs Through It.
Happy birthday to both of ya’ll! As usual, your photos are ah-mazing, especially #1 & #3.
What did ya’ll have good to eat in Rapid City?
Happy Birthday! I hope it was great!!
Thank you!
Beautiful pics! I love the look of Badlands- always have wanted to go there. One of these years… 🙂 and hope you had wonderful birthdays. Sounds like a fun trip!
Dark Waters looks fun. I want to read that.
I love Murderbot. 🙂
The whole Small Spaces series is really good. The last book comes out soon!
That’s an interesting suggestion that bookstores feature local authors and books, but I’m afraid it’s not the way of the future. My vivid memory is of a little bookstore on the main street in Kona Hawaii with amazing local books — and interesting people. Long time ago … a big Borders Books put them out of business, but it also featured lots of local books. Now I don’t think there is much of anything there. So many bookstores not there any more!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
The last time we were in Hawaii (in 2014), we stopped by a little local bookstore in Hilo. I looked for a local author there too and couldn’t easily find anything. I came away with Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. I like to support local bookstores as I travel but it would be nice to support local authors at the same time.
Great photos! It’s so great you could go see everything. I used to do more of that but this summer I’m just happy to stay inside more. I took my daughter there when she was 9 during a fall school break. Great weather but also many things aren’t open in October.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
We experienced closures in September last year in Alaska. Most tourist sites seemed to close immediately after Labor Day and my sister had just flown in for a visit. It was beautiful at that time of year though, with the fall colors just showing themselves.
Such interesting topography in South Dakota. I was gobsmacked by Badland National Park. Now I need to see the others you photographed.
Right? We’re just driving along through the prairie, with the Black Hills in the distance, then we turned into Badlands and bam! How was all this so hidden from the interstate?
Love the pictures!!! My birthday was Tuesday 🙂 Happy birthday to you and your husband…I hope to get to South Dakota someday, but thanks for sharing the pictures!!
Happy belated birthday to you!
Love pictures! 😀 Happy birthday to both you and your husband! I hope you enjoy celebrating and have a fantastic week!
Thank you!
Belatedly checked out your 10 best Appalachian books and I’ve only read a couple but plan to read more of these. Your travel photos are lovely! Such a beautiful part of the country.
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/sunday-post-8
Thank you!
Happy birthday to you and your husband. I want to go to all of those natural parks too.
Have a great week.
Thanks!