South Dakota

I should spend some time back tracking and talk a little about South Dakota. Now having seen Montana, I would have thought that SD was one of the most desolate places in our country. The land is so flat, and driving through the state all there is are corn fields surrounding you. For about 300 miles we saw signs for Wall Drug. The funniest thing really because it is very random and the billboards on the interstate marketing it are very entertaining. Brant had heard of it before, but for someone who had no clue, like myself, it really is just very random and the anticipation of seeing Wall Drug after driving past signs for 300 miles is entertaining. It's a small town drug store in Wall, SD that has turned itself into a little tourist trap. Wall is an old western town, with some shops and a population of 800. They had one of those Old Time Photo shops, and Brant and I had some great pictures taken. Here we talked to a young girl who was working the camera and learned a little more about her small town. For example, her school is a k-12 and there are 10 people in her grade. I can't imagine. We asked her if she has to travel far to get to school and she said personally no, but there are other students who travel 40 miles to get there. She referred to these folks as "people from the country"...not too sure where she thinks she lives.

Wall, SD was fun because we interacted with some locals but it was good to get back in the car and continue to Mount Rushmore.

Missouri is good for something

South Dakota is not.

Lots of microbreweries in Missouri. Especially around the St Louis area. We picked up a few different ones. Brant had a 'Lil Lucy's Hot Pepper Ale (jalapeño peppers added) and I had a Boulevard Wheat beer. I loved my wheat beer and Brant's pepper beer was really interesting in a good way. I wonder if I'll see these at home... Anyways, on to Montana today. Didn't make much progress last night. Left Mount Rushmore around 8pm and planed on driving a few hours towards Glacier. However, we passed up a gas station with 50 miles left on the tank because we were getting on another road only to realize that the next road was more like county road and not an interstate. We went 25 miles and saw no exit signs and certainly no gas. Worried, we turned around and went back to the gas station we passed up. Feeling that it was getting late and that driving to montana would mean no stopping for at least two hours because there didn't seem to be anything off of the road, we decided to stay put in South Dakota and spend the night. We're now looking at a 10 hour drive this morning to glacier. I'm exited to see Montana.

Wheat Beer brewed in Missouri:



Sunflower fields in South Dakota:



Mount Rushmore:


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Location:1st Ave,Spearfish,United States

Corn and Casinos

In South Dakota and I know understand why this area is called The Great Plains. Corn fields galore. It's quite interesting. Really nothing here. Stopped at a gas station that had a casino inside. Behind the gas station was a corn field. We played two dollars on the black jack machine (lost $1.50). And the ran outside into the corn field.

Location:Pleasant,United States

Night of driving

The past day of driving has been interesting. First of all, left Kansas City, MO and started heading to South Dakota. Got to around Omaha onto to discover that the road we were taking was closed. We got gas and I talked to the gas attendant about the road closer to confirm the detour route. Found out that the road was closes due to flooding. Interesting side story, I remember listening to NPR back in June about the flooding occurring in this area. Essentially, farm land and suburbia were being impacted by floods. The government had to decide between saving farm land, or saving houses in suburbia. They brought in the Army Core of Engineers and opened a dam that flooded the farm lands to try and alleviate the flood in suburbia. They had town hall meetings and consulted with environmental specialists - but this was the decision they came to. So, many farmers lost their farm land because now it is under water. Not only did they lose the use of the land this year, but it will take years for the land to recycle and be useable again. I remember hearing this story in June and feeling for the farmers. So it is interesting to be somewhat impacted by the local issue myself. Route 29 closed due to flooding ended up making a very interesting drive. multiple detours, lots of construction, and feeling slightly like you are driving in vain. All said and done, we did make it to our stopping location of Sioux City, IA right outside of South Dakota at 2 in the morning.

Along the drive last night I also saw a sign for Ouffit AFB which was cool to see because when would I have ever thought that I would be anywhere near Ouffit?

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Location:Pleasant,United States

Cliffard!

Omg. St Charles bar tender has a fucking Cliffard dog behind the counter.. This town may be after my own heart.



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Location:N Main St,St Charles,United States

Cop car

Oh sweet! Indiana has mustang cop cars. That was interesting. Don't worry - our horsey didnt get pulled over, but it was interesting seeing a mustang with police lights pulling over someone else. Nice Indiana


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Location:W Cr 550,Pendleton,United States

Bob Evans

Ever hear of a Bob Evans? I hadn't. Guess it's a chain. We're 4 hours into our 9 hour drive today. Left Twinsburg, OH at 630 this morning and are driving to St. Charles, MO which is right outside of St. Louis.



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Location:Ohio 48,Englewood,United States