In a surprising turn of events, I'm completely in love with the state of South Dakota.
The trip up from Wyoming was a little bit rougher than expected. In addition to an unexpected oil change on the rental car, for much of the drive through Wyoming I was fighting being blown off the road by 50+ mph wind gusts. And because I lost over an hour to the oil change and was too stubborn to adjust my agenda accordingly, I ended up on the road later than I wanted to be.
The upside of that was that I got to see Devil's Tower set against a great sunset backdrop.
Eventually I arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota, my destination for the night. The temperatures were arctic and the streets snow-covered, but my hotel was great and I treated myself to a delicious dinner of buffalo ravioli. Afterward I ventured to a local saloon where there was a great live band playing. It was some much needed relaxation after a long day of stressful driving.
Deadwood is a great town. I'd love to see it in the summer when everything is open and it's full of life. As it was, even in the frigid November temperatures I found myself tempted to just stay there and go off the grid. If this was the kind of trip where I just drove until I decided on a place to stop and set up camp, Deadwood would have been the place.
However, this is not that kind of trip, so I continued on the next day. To make up for my previous day of frantic driving, I spent the next day meandering my way through South Dakota with no set agenda. I had breakfast at a local restaurant in Sturgis, most famously known for the huge motorcycle rally the town hosts every summer. Sated, I moved on to Rapid City, where I found a great local record store and made some purchases, including some purple vinyl to add to my collection (how I'm going to get all my records home on the train from DC remains to be seen).
From Rapid City, I went to Mount Rushmore. I expected to be underwhelmed, but it really was beautiful. There's just something about it that makes you feel like you could stare at it forever.
What was not really worth the price of admission was the Crazy Horse Monument. Whenever it's finally finished I'm sure it will be, but right now we're far from that. And the view you get from the $11 visitor center admission is really not any better than what you can see from the highway for free. Once they get around to finishing the rest of it and it's not just his face, I'm sure it will be great.
From Crazy Horse I kept heading east and stopped at the infamous Wall Drug Store. It was mostly deserted this time of year, but I managed to get a good deal of my Christmas shopping done, so that was nice.
I stopped for the night in the town of Kadoka, South Dakota. To call it a town is really generous, but it's a good base for hitting up Badlands National Park in the morning.
Which is what I did first thing this morning. And all I can say is that it is stunning and unlike anything else I've ever seen. Driving through, you feel like you've landed on another planet. Seeing it dusted in snow only added to the feeling. I also got a healthy dose of wildlife encounters. Once again, words can't do it justice, so I'll leave it to the pictures.
The trip up from Wyoming was a little bit rougher than expected. In addition to an unexpected oil change on the rental car, for much of the drive through Wyoming I was fighting being blown off the road by 50+ mph wind gusts. And because I lost over an hour to the oil change and was too stubborn to adjust my agenda accordingly, I ended up on the road later than I wanted to be.
The upside of that was that I got to see Devil's Tower set against a great sunset backdrop.
Eventually I arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota, my destination for the night. The temperatures were arctic and the streets snow-covered, but my hotel was great and I treated myself to a delicious dinner of buffalo ravioli. Afterward I ventured to a local saloon where there was a great live band playing. It was some much needed relaxation after a long day of stressful driving.
Deadwood is a great town. I'd love to see it in the summer when everything is open and it's full of life. As it was, even in the frigid November temperatures I found myself tempted to just stay there and go off the grid. If this was the kind of trip where I just drove until I decided on a place to stop and set up camp, Deadwood would have been the place.
However, this is not that kind of trip, so I continued on the next day. To make up for my previous day of frantic driving, I spent the next day meandering my way through South Dakota with no set agenda. I had breakfast at a local restaurant in Sturgis, most famously known for the huge motorcycle rally the town hosts every summer. Sated, I moved on to Rapid City, where I found a great local record store and made some purchases, including some purple vinyl to add to my collection (how I'm going to get all my records home on the train from DC remains to be seen).
From Rapid City, I went to Mount Rushmore. I expected to be underwhelmed, but it really was beautiful. There's just something about it that makes you feel like you could stare at it forever.
What was not really worth the price of admission was the Crazy Horse Monument. Whenever it's finally finished I'm sure it will be, but right now we're far from that. And the view you get from the $11 visitor center admission is really not any better than what you can see from the highway for free. Once they get around to finishing the rest of it and it's not just his face, I'm sure it will be great.
From Crazy Horse I kept heading east and stopped at the infamous Wall Drug Store. It was mostly deserted this time of year, but I managed to get a good deal of my Christmas shopping done, so that was nice.
I stopped for the night in the town of Kadoka, South Dakota. To call it a town is really generous, but it's a good base for hitting up Badlands National Park in the morning.
Which is what I did first thing this morning. And all I can say is that it is stunning and unlike anything else I've ever seen. Driving through, you feel like you've landed on another planet. Seeing it dusted in snow only added to the feeling. I also got a healthy dose of wildlife encounters. Once again, words can't do it justice, so I'll leave it to the pictures.
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