I love the weather in Mississippi. We get four real seasons. Fall is not as awesome as the red maples of New England, but it is definitely fall. Winter brings out jackets, barren trees, cozy fireplaces and even snow.
Spring in Mississippi is a magnificent explosion of life. I’ll put a Mississippi April up against any month anywhere.
I define a pleasant month as a month when the highs stay below 90 degrees and above 60 degrees. Mississippi has eight such months, plus four full seasons. Few regions of the world can claim that.
We are blessed with our weather except for one little thing: our blazing hot and humid summers. We could argue that summers in the South are as miserable as anywhere in the world. They are a unique result of our low elevation, proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and long hours of sunshine.
Don’t get me wrong; a hot summer is a chance to enjoy the water, swim, ski, enjoy coffee outside in the pleasant morning time. It’s just ours is one month too long. Thank the Lord for air conditioning.
Statistically, the hottest, stickiest two weeks of the Mississippi summer are the last week of July and the first week of August. That’s when I try to find a cool place to visit.
South Dakota was never on my short list of places to visit. Leave it to my creative son John to pick that state for a trip to celebrate his graduation from high school.
Like many people, I assumed South Dakota was one of the most boring places in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it has two phenomenally gorgeous national parks right next to each other with the beautiful city of Rapid City in between.
Rapid City is a city of 70,000, Head west for 30 minutes and you are in the Black Hills. Head southeast for 45 minutes and you are in the Badlands. It is an incredible contrast.
One hundred million years ago, South Dakota was covered by a warm shallow sea. When that sea receded, it left behind a silty flat bottom on which the Great Plains grassland formed.
When volcanic pressure caused the uplift of the granite Black Hills, water from the Black Hills flow over the flat silty area of the Badlands. The erosion caused by the water formed huge silty canyons that create the eerie beauty of the Badlands.
The hills of the Black Hills are made of granite. The hills in the Badlands are made of mud.
Once again, I planned this trip by myself and the revenge of the travel agents continued. To allow for maximum flexibility, I didn’t book any rooms, only to discover we had arrived at the busiest week of the year when half a million Harley bikers arrive for the annual Sturgis Bike Rally.
“Good luck finding a room for under $1,000 a night,” the car agent guy told us as he handed us the keys.
My heart sank. I was certain our vacation was ruined. But I was also confused. Trip Advisor had indicated plenty of room availability during this week.
Panicking, I started booking rooms using my smart phone. Within an hour, we had rooms for every night at the places we wanted to stay at normal rates. My heart rate slowed and I let out a big sigh of relief.
We have yet to resolve the great mystery of our trip: with a half-million people in the Black Hills for one week, how were we able to get rooms? We don’t know.
We do know that a huge number of bikers camp at Buffalo Chip – a makeshift camping area with non-stop concerts, wet T-shirt contests, bike races and all sorts of entertainment that appeals to bikers. For one week, it becomes its own huge city.
Bikers, bikers everywhere. I am now an expert in biker attire. First off, you must have a sleeveless leather vest, with either bare skin or an old Sturgis bike rally T-shirt underneath. Facial hair is a plus, with your beard braided. Leather boots, check. Blue jeans, check. Ponytail, One earing. Bandana.
Almost all the bikes were Harleys, each with its own custom modifications. No two looked alike. They were beautiful machines. I figured there was around seven billion dollars in motorcycles within a 40-mile radius.
The bikers were quite nice and I never saw any bad behavior. I would say the average age of the bikers was around 60. I bet the vast majority of them were weekend warriors. Many had their “biker chicks” on the back. Think of it as the aging Woodstock of the biker culture.
What a change over 150 years! The thousands of miners and ranchers and gold panners of South Dakota barely had enough money to buy a drink at a bar. Now they ride around on exquisite feats of technology costing tens of thousands of dollars, parking where the livery stables used to be.
Unlike Mississippi which has Scotch-Irish, Irish and English roots, 30 percent of the South Dakotans come from German heritage and another 10 percent from Scandinavian heritage.
That makes the Black Hills a bizarre combination of Germain cleanliness, old western authenticity and tacky tourist. The weather was perfect. Dry highs in the eighties, jacket-cool at night.
Ever seen those movies where the cowboys ride over rolling green hills surrounded by mountains and dotted with trees? That’s the Black Hills. The Badlands were much more remote and rugged looking.
Both are part of the national park system, which means hiking trails, overlooks, scenic drives, visitor centers and all the wonderful amenities you would expect from a national park.
Rapid City has a vibrant downtown. The beautiful Rapid Creek runs through it. The creek flooded 40 years ago and claimed 350 lives in one of America’s most deadly floods. You can do day trips from Rapid City or move around and stay in picturesque smaller towns as we did.
You can fly to Rapid City from Dallas. The hotel rooms are abundant and affordable. Where else can we get two national parks right next to each other? Of course, there is also Mount Rushmore. That’s a bucket list item and perfect for a family vacation.
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Wyatt Emmerich is the publisher and editor of the Northside Sun in Jackson and the owner of Emmerich Newspapers.
