The Trekkers are in South Dakota, and are doing a great job in having high mileage days (about 80 miles). The land is flat and the weather is nice, and the occasional prairie and reservations towns are a much appreciated reprise. After realizing that a visit to Mt Rushmore would have included an uphill battle of 25 miles (turning the visit into a whole day event instead of a 2-3 hour visit), the group decided to skip the carved rocks and to continue east.
The group is headed to Sioux Falls (South Dakota's biggest city), and are passing the time by creating road games and stopping at the many quirky places along the way...
Among the places they've visited:
Wall Drug, Wall SD
Located at the fringe of the Badlands, Wall Drug became a famous stopping point for travelers because of its offer of free ice water to anyone who visits. It has since become a massive complex-a mall even-that includes lots of souvenirs, home wares, an apothecary, eatery and outdoor amusements like the one below:
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| Wall Drug |
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| Wall Drug-where coffee will set you back 5 cents! |
A town inspired from the movie Dances with Wolves, which was filmed at the spot that is now 1880 town. Many of the film's set relics were gifted to the owner of the land as a thank you for allowing the movie to be filmed on the property. From there, artifacts and authentic buildings from around South Dakota were brought together and assembled to make 1880 Town.
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| Original Wells Fargo post |
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| 1880 Town's main stretch |
Skeleton man walking a skeleton dino, Murdo SD
The group couldn't figure out why this creation was perched roadside...
Time zone change!
Yes, they have moved on to the next time zone!
If the group continues to have early mornings and high mileage, they should be on to the next state in the next 4-5 days. Sioux Falls is pretty much at the border of Minnesota and Iowa, so they will have to decide their next state soon...
July 23- We started our day with a generous amount of oatmeal and
sunshine. We zoomed through the last 10 miles of Wyoming and made it to
South Dakota, our sixth state!! We entered the Black Hills National
Forest, sweating out our weight in water climbing up the rolling hills.
We couldn't find shade for miles as lunchtime quickly approached, but
luckily a rancher let us hang out on the shade of his property just in
time to avoid sunburn. We celebrated by cracking open a watermelon and
enjoying it spoonful by spoonful, with John gulping down the last of the
deliciously refreshing juice. We continued onward, following Route 16
towards Custer, and made stops at the Jewel Cave where we learned about
the vast cave systems underneath the hills! Later that day we arrived in
Custer, where we explored an old trading post that sold a variety of
animal skulls and cowboy paraphernalia. We treated ourselves to sundaes
and a full strawberry rhubarb pie at The Purple Cow before riding to
camp and making a full spaghetti and meatball dinner, complete with
garlic bread.
