From "The Good Life" to the Bad-Lands, and yes, Wall Drug. Day 2

"Get a close one, Marge."

"Shut-up, Frank. Just don't let go!"

. . . after packing up camp around 7:30, we prepared ourselves for our first full day of driving. Our fist views of South Dakota were through the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Vast lands and rolling hills, but there were very few farms that we could see. It was a very desolate atmosphere, with only huge pieces of farm equipment loaded onto semis that met use randomly. From the moment we started West on Interstate 90, the anticipation grew, for sites of mother nature, historic presidents carved in stone, and . . Wall Drug. It's not that we could help it, there were signs every 5 miles advertising 5 cent coffee, homemade donuts, and free ice water, which we later found out, originally put them on the map.

Before any of that, however, South Dakota's 1880 town would not be overlooked, and well, I almost pulled over. Having never been to Pioneer Village, thanks dad, I had never been to a historically rebuilt, or restored old town, with old saloons, and old churches, and old skeletons of t-rex. Reluctantly, I drove on by.

Soon our focus was back on more important sites, Wall Drug road signs. Not able to quench our thirst with the free ice water just yet, our turn came for the Badlands National Park. Out of nowhere, we were surrounded by mini-mountains in a desert setting. It was as beautiful as Stacy had remembered, and for my first impression, amazing. The fun thought for me was to picture the faces of early pioneers, who, coming across these random canyons and rock mansions, must have been wondering just what they were doing out here. Stacy did a wonderful job of making sure we took photographs from every lookout and turn off spot. I just wanted to get to the Ancient Hunters Lookout. The pictures should pick up where words cannot at this point.

Without realizing it, the heat had climbed just into 100 and along with the hills, provided the first real test for the Subaru. We quickly learned that our trip would go as fast as the car would let us, with whatever fuel we could find. I was getting at least two tanks of gas to Stacy's new Volkswagen Tiguan's one. Not a ratio I was to particularly proud of, it was all that we had, so we embraced our handicap and trudged West.

Our next stop would now be Wall, South Dakota. What to say about Wall Drug. . . The town is famous for the drugstore. It takes up nearly the whole town! What it is now famous for I do not know. How we were able to spend almost a whole afternoon there is an even stranger question. We got bumber stickers, a coffee mug, slices of pizza and a malt, and of course, the free ice water. Now I know what is meant by the saying, "It is what it is." Anyway, on to Mount Rushmore!

Stacy just said it best, there were mountains, we rushed through it, and we wished there was more. All of the state flags were blowing proudly in the wind, all except for Nebraska's that is. It was all tangled on the pole. I was not happy. The four faces of American history in the side of a mountain was definitely worth the trip, the photo, and the memory, but, eh. Let's keep going.

We finally made it into Wyoming. We made the decision to skip Devil's Tower. We were still far from Sheridan, where Stacy's cousin Scott and his family were expecting us. Even with the choice to press on, we didn't make it in until 10:00. It had been a long day of driving and stopping, all of it worth every minute. This trip was really starting off as well as could ever been expected. Having a bed to look forward to, and a shower, were the small things that we found very fortunate.

If the days ahead were to be anything like the day we just went through, then we knew that it was going to be great. Driving in two cars, at first seemed lonely, but the two-way radios we used for communication linked us perfectly. Except for the times we couldn't understand what the other was saying, it was always nice to know that we were just one click away.

Tune in next time when we explore the winds of Wyoming, running out of gas, forest fires, and Yellowstone.