A fun adventure in Rapid City, goodbye to our friends, and a lovely welcome and return to Keystone
So… The Pirate’s Cove was by far the most beautiful mini golf course we’ve ever been on! The attention to detail to create a fully immersive experience was really over the top, like almost Disneyland level (minus the animatronics). With a pirate theme, there were so many possibilities. It was fun to see a huge, thirty-foot shark hanging above the lake, a pirate ship floating in the water, several mannequins posed in swashbucklingly precarious positions, skeletons draped over buried treasure, hidden in caves and nooks along the course, and signs at each hole with actual historical pirate facts displayed on them. The landscaping was incredible, water features amazing, the holes were well-covered with shady areas and provided a bit of a challenge, but mostly just a lot of fun. We cheered each other on, learned that Rudy likes to golf ambidextrously, and hated Nate for getting three holes-in-one! Hahahah! The course was just long enough to walk off the WONDERFUL breakfast we had at Tally’s Silver Spoon.
After an amazing week with our friends, we dragged our goodbyes out a little too long and finally got on the road. Keystone is only up the hill from Rapid City, but it felt like a really long thirty-minute drive.
Because our merchandise has been doing so well (yippee!!!) We had to order more and have it shipped to our friend in Keystone, Clay King. He owns the Presidential Wax Museum, The Holy Terror Mini Golf Course, and Grapes & Grinds (our venue for the night). We were fortunate to have a place to be able to have merch sent. So I spent the time before the show restocking, organizing, and labeling the new stock. I actually didn’t mind, as I am getting to that point on tour where I am craving quiet, stillness and menial tasks. Folding, sorting, packing, labeling is just perfect for such needs.
(Jared here: As Jessi was organizing and folding the merch, I was in Grapes and Grinds working on various accounting and other computer-related things, with Rudy next to me, listening to music and watching youtube videos. We were seated next to the front door, which happened to have our poster on it. I was recognized by several people as “the guy on the poster”, but my favorite was a little girl (probably seven or eight years old) that was dancing around outside, then happened to stop and look at the brightly-colored balloons and crazy lady on the poster. Having taken in the full scene of it, she began walking away, glanced at me through the window, took a few more steps, then stopped, a puzzled look on her face. She looked at me again. Then the poster, then back to me, back to the poster, then her eyes lit up as the revelation struck her. Mouth and eyes agape, she looked at me and point at the poster. I smiled and nodded. She lost her mind, and ran over to her parents pointing at me and jumping up and down. That was fun. She made me feel special and earned herself a sticker.)
The show at Grapes & Grinds was actually really wonderful. But we have no images of it. We do, however have an awesome picture proving that CS fans are crazy!! This is long-time fan, Sandy Voll. She lives in Billings, MT and first met us in Tacoma when I was pregnant with Rudes. She has continued to surprise us with visits to shows extremely far from where she lives, driving in for the night, then heading home the next day. She has surprised us in Gresham, OR, Missoula, MT and now Keystone, SD. A huge shout out and thank you to Sandy for really “going the distance” and making us feel special.
Also note that, though the day temps are extremely hot, humid and barely breathable, it gets cool enough at night for a sweater. At least I think it does. So other than complain, I let my inner little old lady take the wheel and bundle up… more Blanche than Champagne Sunday, but I was cold!
The night was actually really successful, and we had several people who had seen us in past years, make their way back for this show. Our time visiting with Clay was awesome, as per usual, and we got more CS gear into the hands of new fans. We are nearing the end of our tour, so some of our social band width is depleting, but our joy of playing and sharing the music hasn’t waned a bit. This is a good thing because we have a five-hour gig next weekend in Carbondale followed by a three-hour one the next night! Before that, we hit up our beloved Missoula for just one little afternoon gig at the Missoula “Out To Lunch” series on Wednesday from 11-1. We hate that we’re gonna miss our Summer river fun with our friends in Montana, but this year had different plans for us.
