Good Bye, South Dakota

I made what is probably my last routine trip to South Dakota last week. It was a smooth week, every flight left on time and every connection was made without a problem. I am a little sad that I won't be going there routinely as I really like the area. I think if I had to relocate, I would choose that part of the country. It's very pretty and not too populated. I actually even like the touristy part of the area. That's probably a carry over from living in Kimberling City.

I stayed in Deadwood this trip because the Hampton Inn there has the best beds and it was off season for tourists, so the room rate was cheap! Two days of the trip were in Spearfish. The first day at noon, I visited the 'historic fish hatchery'. It was a beautiful fall day with the leaves turning every possible color. The only fish hatchery I am familiar with is the one at Tablerock Lake. This was a OLD fish hatchery and really pretty. It had creeks and old rustic buildings and a big pond around an old building. You could go downstairs and look through glass to see all the great big trout swimming around. I didn't do that because some school children were there for the afternoon and they had squatting rights to the window. The hatchery runs were empty...not a baby trout in sight. I guess the end of October is not the time to be rasising baby trout. The trivia for the day.....Trout are not native to South Dakota. Even though the streams and rivers are the right temperature and the evnironment good, trout were not found there until people began to stock them into the rivers.

The second day in Spearfish I presented an inservice at 6:30 AM and when I was done with that went to eat breakfast. The Director of Nursing recommended a cute little tea house called Two Pines. It was picturesque and had wonderful tea. I read the paper while I ate my scone and discovered the Passion Play of South Dakota is on the real estate market. The editorial I read was hoping that whomever bought it would continue to use it as an open door theatre rather that turning it in to condos. Well, I didn't realize that Spearfish was the home of the South Dakota Passion Play. I always knew the first Passion Play was in South Dakota, but since I started going there last spring, never gave it a thought. I have been to the Passion Play in Eureka Springs and that is a DESTINATION. I hadn't seen one billboard or sign anywhere about the Passioon Play in Spearfish. I asked the staff at the nursing home and they told me how to get there, so that was where I headed at noon. It is right there on one edge of the town and rather sad. I turned down the street where I finally found a sign with an arrow pointing the way and figured I had at least a couple of mile drive, but no..it's right there and rather small. There is just one building (in need of paint) and a large privacy fence so I couldn't see inside. Two cars were in the parking lot and that was it!! According to the staff, the play was presented this summer, but it isn't what it was at one time. The family who started it have all aged and/or died and the current generation has moved away and isn't interested in continuing the tradition. According to the article in the paper, only the property is for sale and not the play. I don't understand what that means, but overall..I think it means the Passion Play of South Dakota is done. How sad.