I’m in Murdo, SD, tonight – or at least I think I am. Murdo is supposedly 275 miles or so from Gillette, WY where I stayed last night. But there’s a really weird vibe here. Sort of like the old Twilight Zone intro: “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension – a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.”

To give you an idea, the first lodging I came across was called “The Lost Souls Inn (and Anchor Tavern).” Wisely, I decided to skip that and head for a more recognizable brand. I checked in at a Days Inn, where I seem to be the only guest. When I opened my room, I was greeted with this piece of art hanging on the wall:

It appears to portray a headless guy on a horse, holding a lantern in his right hand, with his skull in the crook of his right arm. The image is actually a lot darker than this in real life – all I could make out initially was indistinct shades of black and the lantern.

Sorry for the angle of the picture – I couldn’t flash it from straight on or all you’d see would be the reflected light from my camera flash. And I didn’t want to take it out of its frame to get a better picture – that might make it mad… I wonder if “Murdo” is related to “murder”?

After leaving my luggage in the macabre motel room, I headed out to the “Buffalo Restaurant and Lounge” for dinner, as recommended by a menu laying on a table in the reception area of the motel. On arriving there, I was greeted by the bartender who was wearing a shirt that said “Have you seen my zombie”.

While I was eating my dinner, I overheard the only other patrons in the place, 2 elderly couples, talking about church today. One of them was saying “You know the usher, the little one? He makes his own guns out back.”

After rapidly finishing my meal, I went to wash up in the men’s room. There was a sign above the urinal that said “No chew in urinal – use bucket”. (Chewing tobacco)

Anyway, I’m back in my motel room now, where the headless dude is watching over me. Soon, night will fall…

Tomorrow I should make it past Sioux Falls, but whether it will be in this dimension or another, I can’t say. Stay tuned…

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 25th, 2011 at 7:36 pm and is filed under The Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.