As we left Chicago on the afternoon of July 10th, we dazed and amazed our fellow traffic sitters with an impromptu dance party which erupted in the CRV as a result of our silly moods and a hip Beck song. We cruised along interstate 90 until we reached the Mississippi River on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. As luck would have it, not only is camping allowed on the river, its also free. Neither one of us wanted to pass up such a great opportunity, and since it was getting late we decided to set up camp for the night.
On the morning of the 11th we packed up and headed for South Dakota. Minnesota had some nice farms and all that jazz, but ultimately we didn't find much to do there. South Dakota on the other hand is doing all they can to ensure that tourists have plenty to do on the way to their destinations. As we drove deeper and deeper into the black hills we found ourselves being greatly entertained by the abundance of wacky billboard advertisements. Among them and the two where we actually stopped, were The Corn Palace, The Badlands National Park and Wall Drug.
As we approached the town of Mitchel SD, we couldn't help but pull off to experience The Corn Palace, the worlds largest and only corn palace. From all the advertising, I was expecting to see a palace made entirely out of corn, but i was quite disappointed to see that only sections of the building were in fact made of corn. Actually they weren't even made of corn, it looked like they just stuck the corn on the walls to make it look like they were corn walls. Even though the palace wasn't actually made out of corn, it was still very impressive. Each wall has a huge mural of the many destination locations in the United States, a theme which coincidentally fits in perfectly with our EPIC ADVENTURE! The theme of the corn murals change every year, and inside the palace you'll find pictures of the palace and themes from every year since its creation. Approximately 275,000 ears of corn are used to create the murals for the palace each year. If your into wacky tourist destinations, this is a great place to stop.
In case you were wondering, we did not chose to drive through South Dakota because of the many wild and wacky tourist destinations. In fact South Dakota is the home of one of Americas finest and most underrated destination spots, The Badlands. As we approached Interior, SD the land was as flat as it had been for the past 1700 or so miles. But as we inched forward toward our first outdoor destination, it became more and more apparent of the stunning beauty of The Badlands.
Looking back about two days when we were parked at a rest area in Indiana (The Amish one)and having lunch. We were approached by a fellow traveler and lover of the outdoor setting and we got to talking about our trip. When the guy heard that we were heading out to The Badlands he got very excited and began describing his own experiences there. He tried to explain how the massive formations just popped up out of nowhere and began describing how you can see the erosions effect on the creation of the entire park by the rings that wrap around the massive clay peaks. As we arrived we finally got a real sense of the imagery that this guy was trying to explain. It simply is not something that can be explained, you just have to go there.
One of the coolest things about the park is that while there are designated trails and overlooks from the loop road which provide some pretty amazing vistas, the real magic can be seen when you venture off trail and do some of your own exploring.
Everywhere you go in the park there are peaks, plateaus, valleys and prairies that invite you over for a visit, and when you arrive they treat you to yet another amazing view. The tricky part of navigating the park on your own is not so much getting lost, but rather not breaking apart the formations that you scramble along. The whole park is made of a tough clay that if pulled on to hard will fall apart or crumble, and although your average visitor might not be able to notice, every time it rains the park is reshaped ever so slightly.
The wild life here is also amazing. In one day I was able to view from a very close distance (less than 20 feet) an array of animals that I have never before seen in person. First on the list was a porcupine which was spotted by Joe as we scrambled down and away from a trail to check out a valley. After that we came across what we think might have been a marmot, but we didn't get a good look before it scurried under some rocks. We also saw some birds, I know nothing about birds so ill skip the description. One of the things that I was really looking forward to was seeing some Bison, and boy were we spoiled. At first we came across a few bison grazing in a field which was wonderful to see. But as we drove on we came across an entire herd that had taken over one of the overlook sites. It was a truly amazing experience and surprisingly enough this was exactly how the guy from the rest stop in Indiana described his encounter with the bison.
But what good are bison, marmots and porcupines when you don't have any prairie dogs to chuckle at them? No good at all, thats how good. Luckily we had more than our share of prairie dog encounters and while i could talk about the cute little creatures all day, Ill just let you all view the photos and videos once we upload them all.
So after we camped for free at a wonderful campsite at The Badlands's, which is just another reason why the park is so great, we headed over to where I am currently sitting right now and blogging from. With advertisements as far as Kenya, Wall Drug attracts people from all corners of the world. Why stop here, you might ask? well there are way to many highlights to list so ill just say because there is no other place like it. This "drug store" is about four blocks long and sells everything from ancient Indian artifacts to modern day cowboy gear as well as 5 Cent coffee. There are also many things to do within the walls of Wall Drug including shopping for three wolf T-shirts, (please read review of said shirt here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Three-Wolf-T-Shirt/dp/B000NZW3KC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1247342569&sr=8-1
)you might also choose to dine, ride the jackalope, or hang with the T-Rex. Thats right folks Wall Drug is home of the last remaining t-rex and jackalope.
After a full day of exploring the town of Wall, a destination in and of itself. We are on our way out to Glacier National Park.
I hope you all are enjoying our notes from the road.
