Dogs and Snakes, or Be Careful What You Talk About

First, I apologize for not having any pictures today. I've been spending a lot of my spare time over the last few days organizing and backing up pictures, and frankly, I'm tired of looking at pictures this evening!

Today was dog day. Both dogs got bathed. Mr. BoJangles got a hair cut and nail trim, and Princess Jasmine got her nails trimmed. They are both looking smart and feeling good.

I've been wanting Mexican food for awhile, but there aren't many restaurants in this part of the country that specialize in Mexican cuisine. I'd noticed a little place over in Hill City the last time we came through there, so Jim invited me to try it. The first clue things weren't going to go well was the cashier/waitress was so busy talking that she barely noticed us come in. Instead of greeting and/or seating us, she handed us menus as we walked in, without a word. We asked if we should just seat ourselves and she nodded.

It was awhile before she came by. I noticed on the menu that the chips and salsa were priced at $6.95. When I asked if this was a special appetizer and did regular chips and salsa come with our meals, nope, that's what you pay for chips and salsa. Not only that, but they didn't have sweetner for my iced tea, only sugar. So Jim drank both iced teas and I ordered a diet coke. The food was fairly tasty, however, I doubt we'll be going back to Rico's.

On the way back home, we decided to stop and visit the McFalls. They're getting a large pole barn built to garage their pick up and boat. We talked for awhile, and during the conversation, Mike mentioned a tourist attraction near Rapid City, the Reptile Gardens. I relayed that Jim declined to visit, since he's not a big fan of reptiles. We talked for several minutes about snakes and such. Eventually, we went outside to take a look at the progress on their barn. As we were walking around, all of a sudden, Jim jumped about 3 feet in the air! I thought he might have turned his ankle again, but - you guessed it - he saw a snake! It was a small green garden snake, but nevertheless, it gave him quite a startle! Pat said they'd never seen any snakes around here, until today. So, be careful what you talk about!

We headed home at that point, leaving the garden snake to the McFalls. I worked on pictures for awhile and then went back to travel planning. Really, we are going to be back on the road again soon!