Wall Drug.....Felt like it was going to be a let down after all the roadside build up. Sort of like South of the Border. It wasn’t....I liked it a lot. Never though I’d buy a pair of boots there either....but I did. I enjoyed all the goofiness of the place.....a nice diversion to the monotony of the road. The “world famous” doughnuts were just average and talking to all the foreign workers was fun.
The Badlands were impressive.....I did get a little bored after a while. The 95 degree temps weren’t helping either. It became a little monotonous after three hours. Saw a Western Kingbird and flushed out a Nighthawk. I usually see night hawks migrating on the last night of adult tennis lessons in late August at home. The ranger in the visitor center wasn’t so helpful with birds...he just wanted to tell me all the wonderful birds he saw while working at the Badlands......mixed up priorities I’d say.
Visited the Rapid City visitors center next.....I needed a game plan for how I was going to attack the Black Hills.....lots to see, but stuff is a little spread out. I assumed the lady knew what she was talking about so I took her advice and booked a campground that she said was nice and secluded.......man was she wrong. I had an empty dog pen 4 feet from the camper on one side and a pop up trailer on the other...and to top it off the site was unlevel. I imagined the experience of putting the wood blocks under the rear wheels at 11pm upon return from Mt Rushmore with whatever was sleeping in that cage 2 feet away. I decided to bail out of the whole thing despite the prospect of a hot shower. The owner was pretty cool about it and gave me my money back. There were a few ding a lings nearby that didn’t hear out whole conversation who added a few comments meant to sting but I kept my mouth shut, took the money, and beat it out of there. I ended up spending the night in down town Hill City where I had my quietest night of the trip....I think 3 cars drove by all night......for free.
Got a tip on a great place to eat and it did not disappoint. The line was long and it had only one choice on the menu.....filet mignon served with a quarter of a head of lettuce with ranch dressing, baked potato and toast.....all for $10. Best meal I’ve had in a very long time.
Anyway...Rushmore. It was awesome. Saw a mountain goat with baby a mile before the entrance. The monument was lit up after and but of patriotic overload.....almost to the point of ridiculousness. It was very cool. The best part was when they got all the vets in the crowd up on stage and made them say their name and branch of service. There were about 100 of them in the crowd of over 2000. I wondered if Dad would have gone up on the stage.......my guess was that he wouldn’t have. He was never overly enamored with his days in the Air Force....but times were different back in the late 60’s.
The Badlands were impressive.....I did get a little bored after a while. The 95 degree temps weren’t helping either. It became a little monotonous after three hours. Saw a Western Kingbird and flushed out a Nighthawk. I usually see night hawks migrating on the last night of adult tennis lessons in late August at home. The ranger in the visitor center wasn’t so helpful with birds...he just wanted to tell me all the wonderful birds he saw while working at the Badlands......mixed up priorities I’d say.
Visited the Rapid City visitors center next.....I needed a game plan for how I was going to attack the Black Hills.....lots to see, but stuff is a little spread out. I assumed the lady knew what she was talking about so I took her advice and booked a campground that she said was nice and secluded.......man was she wrong. I had an empty dog pen 4 feet from the camper on one side and a pop up trailer on the other...and to top it off the site was unlevel. I imagined the experience of putting the wood blocks under the rear wheels at 11pm upon return from Mt Rushmore with whatever was sleeping in that cage 2 feet away. I decided to bail out of the whole thing despite the prospect of a hot shower. The owner was pretty cool about it and gave me my money back. There were a few ding a lings nearby that didn’t hear out whole conversation who added a few comments meant to sting but I kept my mouth shut, took the money, and beat it out of there. I ended up spending the night in down town Hill City where I had my quietest night of the trip....I think 3 cars drove by all night......for free.
Got a tip on a great place to eat and it did not disappoint. The line was long and it had only one choice on the menu.....filet mignon served with a quarter of a head of lettuce with ranch dressing, baked potato and toast.....all for $10. Best meal I’ve had in a very long time.
Anyway...Rushmore. It was awesome. Saw a mountain goat with baby a mile before the entrance. The monument was lit up after and but of patriotic overload.....almost to the point of ridiculousness. It was very cool. The best part was when they got all the vets in the crowd up on stage and made them say their name and branch of service. There were about 100 of them in the crowd of over 2000. I wondered if Dad would have gone up on the stage.......my guess was that he wouldn’t have. He was never overly enamored with his days in the Air Force....but times were different back in the late 60’s.
Get nice, fella! Hope you keep on posting and we'll have some tales to share...
ReplyDelete-MF-
Sounds like you had a memorable time in South Dakota...glad to hear it. :) And that restaurant, the Alipine Inn, right? It's one of my favorites in the state. Anyway, thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteWanda
South Dakota Office of Tourism
www.TravelSD.com