Oh Rosebud….. I’m baaaaaack! Boy getting here was fun though – not really. I left Denton, Texas for this hitch and arrived in Rapid City at 9:30pm. I got my car and then stopped for groceries for the next few days. Then headed southeast for Rosebud. Well….. the GPS took me in a direction I haven’t yet been and the last 22 miles of the trip was on gravel unmarked roads. I was fighting sleep and dodging wildlife in the plains in the dark. When I arrived I thought it would be late but I forgot the base is in a different time zone so I lost an hour. I get to the hangar and its 1:30am. Then…. I can’t get in. There had been an mistake and the key was missing. Now I’m stressed. I finally go in touch with someone in the hangar who thankfully was awake and let me in. For a minute I thought I was spending the night in my rental car.
Spent the next few days flying with a newer guy who was just awesome – Marquis. We did a few flights and go to drop off at the children’s hospital on Halloween where the building looked like a castle and the staff were all dressed up even the therapy dog!
The hitch was short since I tagged it on after my training time in Texas. It was a good time. I was able to get my workouts in and one day we got to fly around and behind Mount Rushmore. I looked behind there from the air… I think Nicolas Cage is lying about treasure behind the monuments.
Rosebud is becoming one of my favorite places to work for many reasons. I picked up extra days next hitch at a new base I’ve never been to before. Can you guess where?
Seek adventure and get busy living.
-Ben