LFS: The Storyteller

©2013 Text & Photos by LeeZard Wednesday September 11 – Worthington, Minnesota-Pierre South Dakota South Dakota Sunrise My next destination is Pierre (peer), the capitol of South Dakota. It is a long haul, 240 miles on I-90 and another 30 on two-lane highway but there aren’t many decent-sized cities in North Dakota (state pop. 833,354 in 2012) and there is good camping nearby. I also like to visit state capitols; I still haven’t given up on interviewing a governor or two. While the U.S. Census considers The Dakotas part of  the Midwest, the rest of us – even the Dakotans – think of it as part of The Old West. The billboards along the way confirm that. In fact, I’ve never seen so many billboards. For miles on end there is one nearly every hundred yards and most of them tout some tourist attraction, souvenir  shop or hotel with a  Western theme. There are farms sprinkled along the way but they are few and far between; I rarely...

Monday September 9 – Caledonia, Minnesota-Worthington, Minnesota As I break camp this morning it is cloudy and cool, the temperature is in the 60s. I am surprised then when I walk into Elsie’s Bar and Grill, my Caledonia headquarters, and hear people talking about a forecast of record breaking temps around 100°. There are Elsie’s kinds of places in almost every small town I’ve visited, even the dying towns. It’s the place where the ol’ boys go for a sunrise breakfast, hot coffee and to talk   the weather, tractors and hog prices. You can get two over medium, bacon, hash browns and coffee for $3.95, biscuits and gravy $4.95. If you’re in a hurry, you can sit at the counter. The skinny bleached blonde waitress in jeans way too tight for her age, a face heavily made-up to hide the hard lifelines and a cigarette raspy voice will take your order and call you honey. The bar is in the back and later in the morning the older ol’ boys will filter in and start playing poker...