Day 7: My Indian Name

I decided that since I’m in Indian country, I needed to come up with a good name for myself. Based on my navigation skills, the obvious choice seems to be Chief Needsamap (oh yes, I jump right in as chief of my tribe :) Each day seems to involve some goofup with directions. Today is no different as I got to see Wall Drug twice (so exciting, I couldn’t take it all in with just one visit!)

Wall Drug was my first stop, and I barely found it, too – maybe they need more signs (for those that have been there, you know I’m kidding; the signs start way back in Buffalo, WY, some 250 miles away). It was exactly what I expected. We got there at 8:30 am, so it was pretty quiet. The only fun was finding a jackalope out back. (oh and side note to Laine or Theresa: once you’re married, be sure to stop by Wall Drug – free donuts and coffee to newlyweds; nothing classes up a honeymoon like cheap, free road food, but hey that’s what they advertise.)

Wall Drug in all it's glory

A jackalope statue

The next plan was to drive through the Badlands. This was a Do-Not-Miss part of the trip. But I missed the exit for the western entrance (it turns out to be the same exit I used to get back on I-90 from Wall and silly me didn’t notice the signs!). So when I got to the eastern entrance, you can imagine I was confused. At that end I was expecting to find a giant prairie dog (which I did find) but I wasn’t supposed to see that until after the Badlands. But since I was determined to see the Badlands, I just did them backwards.

This statue is at a prairie dog ranch where you can feed them. Hailey wanted to feed on them.

The park is INCREDIBLE! (thank you everyone who suggested this as a stop) I would love to spend a few days here camping and hiking. The scenery is like nothing else. I just drove through and stopped at viewpoints because dogs are not allowed out of parking lots in national parks (stupid, stupid rule). Though, we may have violated that a little bit to get a better view at one spot (I’m not saying I did or didn’t; all I’m saying is that with the excitement of seeing Wall Drug a second time, I may have gotten a little fast and loose with the park rules… it’s all very fuzzy). I really wanted to check out Medicine Root Trail (how very Bastyr!) but I’ll just have to come back some day. I’m so glad I looped back for this park. It was worth it in every way. Everyone should see it if you’re out here. The pictures don’t really do it justice, but here are a few:

And then we were back at Wall Drug. It must have been that we missed taking a picture of this dinosaur that looks like he belongs at Dinosaur Park in Rapid City. But also check out the sweet kiddy slide also there. Don’t have too much fun kids! (oh and one more question about Wall Drug – who is the merchandise buyer for the store? Do they spend their days browsing cheap souvenir catalogs for new stuff? “Hey, guess what – now they have plastic belt buckles that will now last up to 5 days before breaking! We gotta stock those!” I’m just saying, it doesn’t sound like the kind of job that makes you want to wake up in the morning. I guess they get their real satisfaction from giving away 5-cent coffee to newlyweds.)

What kid would want to miss this?

Forget the dinosaur, let me go on the slide again!!! (it's about 3 feet tall and rusty. Every kids dream toy)

The next challenge was to get the following picture. It’s a skeleton man walking a skeleton dinosaur, just outside of the 1880 Town. There is no turnout and no access, so you either have to pull off the highway or just take it as you go (the website advises neither). I took the picture while driving and did okay, too… until I checked to see if I got the shot – then I found myself in the other lane. Oops. Good thing the road is empty for the most part!

Tough to see but that dino is on a leash.

Then we took a break next to a giant buffalo statue.

Then we found a tiny chapel at a rest stop. I commented earlier about the Bible-related road signs, so I thought maybe it was time for me to start anew and see if I could save myself from eternal damnation. After all, the sign does say “Welcome”.

The door was locked. Should that tell me something? I guess I'm screwed.

Then in Mitchell, SD I saw the corn palace. Not nearly as impressive as I’d hoped (it’s not actually built of corn, just decorated in places with corn). And about SD agriculture – going west to east, it starts off as cattle (but not surprising, you see free ranging cattle; no feedlot to be seen), goes to wheat (even billboards advertising winter wheat seed that produces 8% more yield! I missed the brand/maker but I’m curious if it’s GMO), and then corn – lots and lots of corn (in fact, I’m just about 30 feet away from corn right now)

The decorative detail is with painted corn cobs and husks

That was my day. That was probably my longest drive day so far, but I got to do plenty. I-90 in SD is about as straight and boring as they get (think I-5 in California boring). Tomorrow, I feel like I’ll finally get to “civilization” – I think because my cell phone will finally stop roaming for the first time since Spokane once I get close to Minneapolis.

And finally, food – today was much better. I stopped off at WalMart to get some food before starting the day, which allowed me some bananas (which I hadn’t eaten in close to a year) and PBJ sandwiches. At the hotel I got an egg and was going to get yogurt, but this is what they had:

Yikes! So I tried to find some at WalMart (no Nancy’s there! PCC it ain’t.) Imagine Reed standing at the dairy case looking for full fat yogurt (nope), without rBGH (not a one), or low sugar (try again). I (sadly) just ended up with Yoplait (sigh). But that makes today a much better food day – the only fast food I got was a bean burrito to have some beans (I wonder if Michelle Babb would approve :) with my canned salmon, arugula, and baby carrot dinner (with PB on bread for dessert!). Oooh, and I have a microwave tonight, so I can make nettle infusion for tomorrow (it’s been 2 days now).