WOW! This was quite a day! We weren't able to blog on Sunday because we literally were moving NONSTOP from 7a.m. until we crawled back into the camper at 10:30p.m. We started our day in Sioux Falls with big plans to see and do a ton of stuff. About an hour after leaving the campground, we excitedly veered off the highway to visit the world's only Corn Palace (complete with my full barrage of 'corny' jokes, which at least I thought were funny). As it turned out we had an absolute blast and along with pictures taken with Cornelius (the corn palace mascot...get it?), we finished off our visit with corn-on-the-cob-on-a-stick, which was perfect.
South Dakota was a place like we had never seen before. The wide open spaces were somehow reaffirming and comforting. It's nice to know that there are still places in this world that are as untouched as the day God made them. In some stretches we would drive for hours without seeing a single other person except the gas station attendants (we see a lot of them unfortunately). Our goal was to get to Mt. Rushmore but we have decided that our 'goal' is not written in stone. Several hours into our trip we saw a sign that said "Buffalo Burgers, You HAVE to try one!" So we again veered off the road and ate at Al's Oasis where all of us snacked on buffalo burgers...which contrary to buffalo wings tasted nothing like chicken.
Back on I-90 we couldn't wait to get to the badlands, one of our top places we wanted to see. But before getting to the badlands, I have to say that at some stretches of highway we could see so far, and the sky was so big that it looked like we were going to drive right up to heaven. I drove for hours in total awe.
The badlands, well now that is something our family will NEVER forget. It has been described as similar to being on the moon. A full palet of reds, browns, tans, yellows and other extraordinary colors layered in the form of castles and sci-fi landscapes. We took well over two hours just to play in the 25-mile loop. It was amazing and we got out many times to scramble up the mountains (carefully avoiding rattlesnakes!). This loop spilled out at Wall Drug which I can only describe as an entire Old West town under one roof. As they describe, they have ten of everything including a HUGE T-Rex, singing monkeys, old gold-digging fortune tellers and everything in between. It was a riot and we had a blast.
After leaving Wall Drug we realized that we still had several hours to Custer, SD and it was best to head straight there so that we could be in time for the 9p.m. fireworks (due to dryness, Custer was the only town near Mt. Rushmore (about 15 minutes) that had fireworks. We pulled in around 8:50, hopped in the jeep and made it downtown for some of the best fireworks we've ever seen (perhaps it was the fact that we were in a tiny little town in South Dakota as a family that made it so special).
We arrived back at the campground around 10:30 and everyone passed out (well Michelle and I drank a little vodka and watched a few episodes of The Office in the back room before passing out too!).
Tomorrow, on to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wyoming and then Montana!
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