South Dakota

Sioux Falls, SD

This is the part of the trip that I was dreading the most.  I was in Madison, WI and now I am in Rapid City, SD after having passed through another time zone (and having woken up at 6:30am).  Lonnggg dayyy.

Mile 1,090: Leaving Weston's in Madison!

Mile 1,120: Got some gas in a cute town called Sauk City, population 3,410.  Eventually I drove through Baraboo, WI which had a "Bethesda Thrift Shop" (Bethesda is also my hometown).  I like these small side routes over the big interstates because you get to pass through small towns rather than miles of trucks, concrete walls, and nothingness.

Mile 1,230: Passed over the massive Mississippi river and entered Minnesota.  Lots of farms in WI... lots of farms in MN too!  Who'd have guessed it?

Mile 1,330: Got a warning for going 80 in a 70 in MN.  I don't have cruise control so when I go down these hills I sometimes speed up a bit.  At least it wasn't a ticket!

Mile 1,400: Subway and gas in the middle of nowhere.

Mile 1,520: Sioux Falls--gas is only $3.27!  Too bad I didn't get gas there.  People always say there is nothing in the middle of the US.  But that's not exactly true.  There is a ton of farm land, wind turbines, and a few really small towns with a gas station.  Speed limit is 75 mph too!

Mile 1,600: Mitchel, SD.  Wanted to stop at this "Corn Palace" to take a break in the middle of SD.  Waste of time in my opinion.  Maybe good if you have kids.  First time Trip Advisor has ever steered me wrong!  Maybe I should have read more about it.  But I keep passing signs for "Wall Drug".  Not sure what it is but maybe I should have stopped there or the Buffalo/Wild West place!

Mile 1,620: I lied about the nothingness.  There is nothing out here.  Not even power lines.  Just bales.  Lots of bales.

Mile 1,660: If you don't know this about me, I hate thunderstorms.  I always have.  I eventually got over the fear somewhat (kind of sort of) because I always knew I could go indoors within five minutes back home but when you're in the middle of South Dakota and you can see for miles it feels like reverse claustrophobia.  You're pretty certain that the closest shelter is a highway overpass and is probably another 20 miles away.  To add to this, your car just might be the tallest thing in the area so, assuming you're taller than your car, don't get out.  Some billboards have lightning rods of sorts I think.  A torrential down pour hit and I could barely see 20 feet in front of me.  A lot of people were pulled over.  I had to stop driving a few times because I simply couldn't see.  Winds were crazy--I'd never seen things flying around before except at sailing camp (namely, boats).  I stopped to call my mom and ask her to make sure that there wasn't a chance of tornadoes.  I eventually carried on at about 45 mph and passed over the Missouri River.  It's really massive.  The bridge was flooding a bit.  Fortunately, the couple hundred bugs that had perished on my windshield were all washed off at least.

Mile 1,680:  Out of the rain!  Beautiful Day by U2 coincidentally came on the radio.  Then a woman came on the radio to give a weather warning (a bit too late for that) and says that there are gusts up to 60 mph!  Told people to get inside a "sturdy shelter" and to stay away from windows.

Mile 1,740.5: I bet that third hill over there is 3 miles away.

Mile 1,743.4: Ah, it was 2.9 miles away.

Mile 1,800: Badlands and bison (or cows maybe?) in the distance to the south.  I wonder if they're wild?  Plains are slowly turning into mesas and moguls.  It looks like somebody threw a blanket of grass over the west the way the land lays.

Mile 1,850: Civilization!!!  In the distance.

Mile 1,880: Mount Rushmore.  Still sunny at 8pm!

Mile 1,910: Budget Host Inn in Rapid City, SD.  Not pretty but fairly cheap.

Sioux Falls Park

 

Corn Palace.  I'm still not sure what it was all about.

Started to have a bad feeling about the weather.

Mile 1660: SO MUCH RAIN AND WIND

Mile 1690: Plains.  At least there's no rain!

Approaching the end of the plains.

Mile 1875: Keystone is the town Mount Rushmore is in.  They have a lot of touristy things and hotels here.

State flags on the left, me on the right!

Entrance facing the monument.

Some rangers and the flag at the entrance (entrance is behind me).

The view of the Black Hills from Mount Rushmore

Leaving the Black Forrest hills and returning to Rapid City, SD.  A lot of terrain changes around here.

Mile 1900: Budget Host Inn.  Doesn't look sketchy at all.  My car is definitely one of the newer ones in the lot!  Or at least it's one of the less rusty ones.

My room.  Smells weird.  No AC :(  So grateful for my friends along the way thus far!