2,032 miles
We've finally had our first puker. I’m surprised it took a week for the first kid to barf. The RV is certainly functional, but a smooth ride it is not. Think, Uhaul with a ton of random stuff totally unsecured in the back. It’s noisy, it’s bumpy, and if you’re traveling through South Dakota, it smells like sh!t.
And yet, it’s glorious. We’ve been on the road for 7 days. Friends have asked if we’re having “so much fun.” I mean, we’re having a blast, but that’s not the first thing to come to mind. We’re having an amazing, surreal, crazy experience. That’s what comes up first. We’re currently cruising through Wyoming on our way to an alpaca farm in Montana where we will stay the night before heading out to Yellowstone. There is a high wind warning on the roads, which makes it a white-knuckle drive for James. High winds in a 32’ long by 13’ high RV might as well be a hurricane warning. But boy is it beautiful. I’ve always dreamed of getting out to “big sky country” but never understood what it would really look like. I get it now. The sky is HUGE. The landscape with plains on all sides, followed by rolling hills, followed by snowcapped mountains in the distance. I’ve never seen anything like it.
For the past 3 days we’ve explored the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. On the drive into Hill City, we took the Badlands loop, which felt like driving on the surface of the moon. The sheer unfamiliarity of the land was both disconcerting and awe-inspiring. We did spend a lot of time driving slowly, looking for sheep, and unfortunately that resulted in arriving at Wall Drug (our next stop) ONE MINUTE after closing. It was a sad moment, as we had been following the billboards for 300 miles and anticipating the 5c coffee, free ice water and donuts. It’s just an excuse to return!
Prior to that, we stopped at Porter Sculpture Park, located randomly in the middle of a field off the highway. It was an awesome display of huge sculptures, all made by an artist named Wayne Porter, who was totally self taught. Very cool stuff. Later we stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. I actually blame that silly "Palace" as the true reason we missed Wall. That’s mostly because I found it to be totally dumb and I can’t believe we wasted an hour there. Alas, it is where I got my dope hat, so it wasn’t a total waste.
And then we were in Hill City, about 30 minutes from Mt. Rushmore. We woke and went to see it the following morning. The girls
were so excited to see Rushmore. James and I thought it would be cool enough, but we actually found it to be totally awesome. The sheer greatness of the carving was magnificent. Boulders at the base piled their way up the mountain, dotted with holes
where the original builders popped in the dynamite. The girls taught us about a secret room in Abe’s head, and the fact that Teddy’s mustache is a whopping 20’ wide. We overheard a tour guide explain how the sculptor utilized shadows to create life in the eyes as well as the appearance of lenses on Roosevelt’s glasses. We finished the visit with the original recipe for vanilla ice cream (thanks TJ). It was delish!
Later that day we visited Crazy Horse, a monument 70 years in the making and yet not even close to completion. It is an incredible story of perseverance and integrity on the part of the
Native American people, and the dedication of one white artist and his family to tell some of the story. The monument was what it was, but the Native American museum housed there was incredible, and the girls really loved seeing all of the beautiful art and artifacts. It’s hard to feel super patriotic after a visit to Crazy Horse, so I’m glad we went there after our visit to Mt. Rushmore.
In between our two cultural experiences, we paid a visit to Bear Country USA, which was also great
fun (much to James and my surprise). Bear Country is a drive- through wildlife park where you can see elk, big horned sheep, and lots of bears in their *kinda* natural environment. It was fun being on the lookout, and at the end we got to watch a handful of adorable cubs wrestle, climb trees, and eat lunch.
I’ll close here as this post has gotten long, but here’s a sneak peak into the next leg of our adventure:
A beautifully written American travelogue. Thanks for sharing your adventure