Probably after living a long, decent, productive life.

I have spent the last ten years working (digging fossils) every July in South Dakota. Along with that I have bike toured around the state, including one great ride from Hot Springs to Sisseton. Now SD isn't perfect, no place is, but SD has really great people and some great country - two National Parks, two of the largest cave systems in the world ( Jewel and Wind, ranked #2 and 3), and fabulous paleontology and archaeology - just to hit on subjects of great interest to me.

The people? - throw another log on the fire and let me tell a true experience. My boss and I were test driving his newly refurbished Jeep on our lunch hour, when we had a problem with the clutch linkage. A trivial problem, and we were easy walking distance between both work and his home, but within five minutes three separate cars, all complete strangers, stopped to see if we could use any help. Try that in LA!

I know SD has drawbacks - you lack the mellow climate of Southern California, but also the crowded freeways and the frantic pace. There is both good and bad about that. I must admit I have never experienced a SD winter - some of the state got snow just a few days ago, right?

A year or so ago, the only Starbucks int the entire state was in Sioux Falls. There is now one in Rapid City. There is good and bad in that, too.

Entering the state capitol, Pierre, from the west, you cross the Lt. Com. John Waldron Memorial Bridge, dedicated to one of this nation's greatest heroes, but that's another story.

Phaedrus, I think you are very fortunate to live where you do. Then again, most of us are fortunate to live where we do. I am looking forward eagerly once again to my South Dakota Fix this July.....

I keeed! SoDak is a mixed bag. First off, the weather can really suck. A few months ago it got down to -32 F, and that's not wind chill, that's air temp. Obviously it's the luck of the draw. Some winters are mild. The last couple we had at least one two-week stretch where it never got as warm as zero F, day or night. And it's not like we catch a break in the summer- IIRC our state record temp is well above 115 F. And in the part of the state where I live (East River) the humidity is oppressive. Still, fall is nice. And we do have a wide variety of geographic features. In one days drive you can go from the Badlands thru the grasslands and river-break country up into the mountains (Black Hills). The Hills are quite beautiful, that's true.

Economically the state is pretty backward. Again, IIRC we're 51st in teachers pay (note: only 50 states!). Wages are low here well out of proportion to the modestly lower cost of living. I'm currently training for an IT career, and if I stick with that plan (considering dropping it to go to Paramedic school) then I'll probably have to move to somewhere more metropolitan. IT wages in SD are actually pretty good, there just aren't many jobs.

Worst for me is that despite being a fan of rustic pursuits I also like cultural ones. I'm a big fan of classical music and opera; I don't recall any opera ever being performed in this state. Our state symphony is competent and enthusiastic but hardly world-class. We get only a handful high profile artists here (Yo-Yo Ma, once...Cantus a couple times...Olga Kern a couple times).

Really it's the same everywhere- there's good and bad and we tend to focus on the bad. But believe me, I see the good. I like the low crime rate. I enjoy the lack of seismic activity (only minor tremors are geostatic rebound from receding glaciers, generally too minor to feel), and I live a smidge east of Tornado Alley. My location isn't likely to flood. If my house is underwater, you'd better be building an ark! And we have pretty decent parks, to be sure.

BTW, growing up my best friends dad was a paleontologist. He spend many years excavating in the Badlands. Small world!