Treasure in the Hills!
Story by Lynne Donovan, Support
Professional
Recently, I was able to share some
of my favorite places with my two
friends, Chantel and Kathy.
Together, we discovered many
treasures on our journey through the
Black Hills of South Dakota.
The Jewel of Hill City -The
Walker Homestead is an updated 1921
home located 2 miles east of Hill
City
adjacent to Mitchell Lake and Black
Hills National Forest.
It is one of my favorite places to
stay. I am really glad I had the
opportunity to share it with my
friends.
The neat thing about staying
here is that we could sit
at the kitchen table in our
pajamas and start the day with a
good breakfast of fruit and
cereal. Chantel loved the big
patio doors next to the rocking
recliner! When we were at the
Homestead, she sat and rocked
and reported about the traffic
on the highway across the
pasture. “Motorcycle. Truck.
Car. Car. TURKEY! Oh my Gosh!
There’s a turkey in our yard!”
You just are not going to hear
that if you are staying at the
Holiday Inn. Kathy really liked
having a home base where she
could relax in the evenings with
her arts and crafts. She
enjoyed being in a place that
was just like home – Disney
Channel and all!
Our Treasure Hunt -
Not only did I get to share The
Walker Homestead with the
ladies, I shared it with their
families too. After hearing all
the plans for our trip, Kathy’s
sister and brother-in-law rented
the house a few weeks before we
did! Believe
it or not, they
buried a treasure and drew us a
map, so we could find it!
Buried under a set of stacked
rocks, next to a
building, behind the big tree…
the ladies found a stash of
money! Great reward - cash for
souvenirs!
Tourists Riches - We did all
the things you are supposed to
do as a tourist traveling
to the Hills: Al’s Oasis, Wall
Drug, the Badlands, Reptile
Gardens, Crazy Horse and Mt
Rushmore. We challenged each
other to see who would spot the
first antelope, buffalo, deer,
etc. Chantel won most of
those!
She even knew when we were
getting close to the Chamberlain
Bridge. Kathy mostly shook her
head and laughed at our
“contests”. Come to think of
it, she shook her head and
laughed at our attempts at
singing too.
Custer was a favorite stop -
both the town and the park. We
found the Custer County Candy
Company and it is loaded to the
rafters with homemade chocolates
and more! Then off to the park
to look for baby buffalo and the
burros. Try as I might, the
ladies stayed in the car where
they preferred to watch me feed
the burros. One burro kept
peeking in the car windows to
see if the girls were hiding
more carrots. If you see
Chantel – ask her what advice
the Fortune Telling Chicken at
Reptile Gardens had for her.
Kathy discovered that Hello
Kitty loves the Black Hills.
too. She was delighted to find
a Hello Kitty Purse at Wall
Drug!
Home, Sweet Home -
It was a busy three days, but we
did have a lot of fun.
Now, we are back into our daily
routines enjoying the growth of
our friendship as a result of the
trip. Kathy and Chantel have put
together photo albums, so they
can tell family and friends
about everything we did. Me? I
am hoping we can get together
again and do a little more
treasure hunting next year!
On our trip. we discovered many
treasures. However, the memories
we made together were the best
treasure of all! After all,
"Memory is the treasure house of
the mind wherein the monuments
thereof are kept and preserved."
( ~ Thomas Fuller)
