Log Cabin Road — The Lex Factor

Jan 1

Jan 1 Log Cabin Road

South Dakota holds a very special place in my heart.

It has so much love, so many firsts, so much laughter and so much heartbreak all wrapped in it. Unless you know my personally or have been following me for a looonggg time you wouldn’t know that I used to own a home in South Dakota.

It was 2005 when my dad decided we were doing a mountain vacation instead of our typical beach vacations. Everyone knows that there are two types of families, the outdoorsy, wilderness vacationers and the beach, hot as possible vacationers...we were the latter. So you can imagine my surprise when my dad said South Dakota was the choice. A 13 hour drive later and we arrived in Hill City, South Dakota. Little did I know that little town would hold some of my dearest memories.

At the tail end of our vacation my dad pulled into a real estate office. I rolled my eyes because he always joked about buying a second home on every vacation to eventually move to full time. Something was very different about this time. He went inside and was gone for awhile. I sat in the car crying, thinking that he was gonna move us to South Dakota for good. We actually looked at a few properties that day but nothing stuck out. Soon enough we were back home in Chicago. I thought the South Dakota chapter was closed but boy was I wrong.

A few months later my parents and my best friend’s parents went back. They came home after a long weekend having purchased almost an entire mountain between the two of them. I was shocked, kind of excited but also not sure what this meant. Many, many turn around trips and a year later we had built a home up there. It was beautiful. The most stunning views and it truly felt like Heaven on earth. A different stillness than I had ever experienced. Our friends had built a home about a stones throw away as well. So together our families went to South Dakota every year for the 4th of July. We did this for over 10 years. There would be so many of us up on that mountain, from family to all our best friends. Some of my greatest memories and many firsts. Our first time building a home from the ground up, my first time shooting a gun, my first time cliff jumping, my first time highlighting hair, even my first kiss, that mountain is filled with firsts. That home holds so much for me. After over 10 years of love and laughter in that home we decided it was time to say goodbye. A home we thought would be forever suddenly wasn’t.

About three years ago we sold our home on Log Cabin road. It was a very emotional and heartbreaking process. I hadn’t been back to South Dakota in about 5 years and I had pretty much written off ever going back because it was too hard for me. Our friend’s still have their home up there, so when my bestie turned 30 this year she decided South Dakota was the destination. I wasn’t sure I could go back, especially to stay in the house next to mine. But I decided to do it and I’m so happy I did. I met the sweet family that now lives in my house and I was able to walk through smiling fondly of all the memories we had made in that home. It was definitely hard for me and I immediately started crying when I walked out of the house but I was so happy that I was able to overcome my emotions and go back to South Dakota.