This is serious country, people. Not "rural" as in RUCA-qualified but still home to a TGI Fridays, but for real, no neighbors, living off the land, cowboy and western country. Actually, my hometown area is classified as a frontier county, or an area populated on average with fewer than one person per square mile. This means we drive a lot to reach the other 25 people (approximate) in our community.
Today my parents and I visited my grandmother, golfed nine holes, spent some time at the lake, relaxed at home, and went out to dinner. For these Labor Day activities, we drove 110 miles cumulativly, and made an appearance in four towns, three counties, and two states. We were not road tripping. This is a completely normal amount of driving for one day in Northeastern South Dakota.
We had planned to eat and play some pool at the relatively nearby Genoseo tavern, but unfortunately, the barkeep was on vacation. This tagged 32 extra miles on to our drive to dinner. Try to imagine one-third of the restaurants within a fifteen mile radius being completely shut down for one family's Labor Day vacation. This is our reality.
The Geneseo Bar, in operation since 1906. I fully intend to hone my pool skills within its hallowed halls.
We happily relocated to Claire City, the site of my first job ever as a waitress in the Farmer's Inn Cafe, and ate some supper at Deano's Steakhouse. The food was great as per usual, and it was fun to sit with my parents as they greeted every single person in the restaurant. That's small town dining. At one point my mother pointed out a rather boisterous table in the restaurant as well-known gopher hunters.
Exterior and interior views of Deano's.
"Gopher hunters?" I inquired. "Like, completely serious, non-ironic gopher hunting?"
"Yeah! Stacy, get over here and tell us about the gopher hunting contest." So Stacy gamely joined our table and regaled us with tales of the fourth annual gopher hunt held in July 2007.
Each year, in teams of two, my SD neighbors pair up, grab guns (Stacy uses a 22) and spend four hours shootin' as many gophers as possible for cash prizes and unlimited bragging rights.
The trick, as Stacy discovered, is to use the gophers' brutal insticts against them. It turns out these rather cute and docile-looking animals are actually cannibals. Therefore if you shoot one and place its bloody carcas on a gopher hole, you can attract a whole swarm of 'em to shoot. (Incidentally, the gopher hunt starts and ends at the nearby liquor store, quite possibly the location where the idea for the hunt was first hatched.) The winners this year shot 182 gophers. In years past this bounty would have to be validated with the entire gopher, then just the tail, and now just the right hand, as the little buggers have opposable thumbs, according to Stacy.
As she said, it's maybe sort of a weird activity, but hey, we make our own fun out here.
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