Day 12

Day 12, Friday July 3rd, 2009

Rapid City, SD

Tara and I took our time this morning, having worn ourselves out with the hike and spelunking from the day before. We were enjoying our coffee (made by the proprietors of the Garden Cottages Motel, 4030 Jackson Blvd, Rapid City, SD, great place) and watching the morning shows when we saw an advertisement that an Eyemart was holding its Grand Opening and there were deals galore. Since this Eyemart was situated near a TJ Maxx and a Target, Tara insisted we check out the deals and get new back up glasses for myself. Two and a half hours later, with the help of a fax from NYC, I had not only a very good looking backup pair, but also a great looking athletic safety pair that will undoubtedly aid in my dodgeball dominance when the season resumes in September. I was then rushed over to Meadowbrook Golf Course where I spent countless hours of my youth spoiling a good walk. The only club I brought with me on this trip was my brand new putter, so I rented a set of clubs, hit a small bucket of balls to warm up and preceeded to par 6 of the first 7 holes after not playing in almost 20 months. Of course all good things must come to an end and I shot a 12 on the final par 5 to score a 92 for the 18 holes. The course is in excellent condition and much the same as I remember except for a few key changes. First, they have renumbered some of the holes on the front 9 so that #7, 8 and 9 are now #1, 2 and 3 and the rest of the front goes in order from there. Second, the giant hole between the 10th fairway and (now) #4 is filled with water forming a nice pond. Third, they completely redesigned the proshop and added a restaurant called the Sandtrap that serves dinner until 9:30 each night.

Tara meanwhile returned to the shopping districts to while away the afternoon and found such deals as a silver Hobo clutch wallet that was regularly priced at $108 for a mere $14. She then met me for dinner at the Sandtrap for a very nice dinner. After a shower, we traveled to Downtown Rapid City for a couple of drinks with an old friend from Boy Scouts, Nick Horning. Following the exchange of lifestories and sincere promises that we will not allow 16 years to pass before doing this again, Tara and I retired for the night a little after midnight.