South Dakota

Tuesday morning started out leisurely. I took a quick dip in the pool, took advantage of the continental breakfast and we were on the road by 9am. I-90 through South Dakota is all farm land. The farms were nice to look at, but after several hours of nothing but farms I've had enough. The only thing getting me through this long drive was the billboards. Lots of them. They keep advertising two things: Wall Drug and 1880 Town.

1880 Town is a town set in the year 1880, it looks more like a theme park but worth a stop in the summer time. It was closed for the season. Wall Drug is unlike anything I've ever seen. It started as pharmacy (it still is) and morphed into an all encompassing restaurant, gift shop, theme park type place. They literally sell everything under the sun. Though we were the only customers at the time, (most of the place was closed for the season) there were several parking lots and even a place for tour buses. I can imagine it packed in the summer. My favorite billboard was the one advertising "Free Ice". Now it is about 40 degress outside and there is snow everywhere on the ground. I had to ask a local about the free ice and he said the temp can get up to 100 - 110 in the summer. That combined with lots of tourists (mostly to see the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore, not Wall Drug), creates a need ice.

Before we make it to Wall Drug, we drive through the Badlands National Park. This is probably as close to the surface of the moon as I will ever get. It is a vast nothingness of small mounds of a muddy clay substance. Each year several inches errodes from these hills, leaving a flat barren wasteland behind. Even among the nothingness, it is a beautiful place and somewhere Staci and I intend to return. You could spend an entire week camping, hiking and exploring this park.

After the Badlands and Wall Drug we stop at Mt. Rushmore. Another must-see experience. We watch a 14 minute video describing how the monument was made. We admire the monument from the amphitheater viewing area. The trail leading you closer to the monument was...closed for the season. There was still snow and ice on the ground. I was tempted to hike it anyway but my pregnant companion thought better of that. We left as the monument was closing.

We decide to drive a few more hours since it's still early. We finally stop in Buffalo, WY for the night. The trip through Wyoming had magnificent scenary. The setting sun behind the blue rocky mountains probably helped. Tomorrow we head for Montana.