Day 3- Murdo, SD to Rapid City, SD

Today we began our adventure through the remainder of South Dakota, and if you didn't believe us before that SD is, by far and large, a endless wasteland of just about nothing, here's some proof.



However, we did find this "scenic overlook" along the way. Someone had clearly mismarked it. It really should have been called "overlook".




Eventually we found our way to the Badlands. They we're very impressive. We'll link to more photos later, but Handler 1 screwed hers up and is really diappointed, so you'll have to wait a bit. Here's some nice shots of Handler 2's to tide you over.


Here's me on the "Notch Trail".

And the handlers.

We passed a number of prarie dog towns. These guys are absolutely adorable. They 'bark' to keep track of one another and to warn of danger (like passing motorcycles), but it didn't sound much like barking. More like squeaking. Very cute.

More Badlands.

Finally, we exited the Badlands in Wall, SD. It's a little town on the prarie with homes that look as though they've been lifted from Downriver. Anywho, Wall has one major industry: Wall Drug. What's that? Well, a long time ago this guy was having a hard time getting people to stop at his gas station, so his wife told him to put up a sign for it. He put up some signs along the highway advertising that you could get free ice water at his store. You could get free ice water at just about every other store, but they never bothered to advertise it. Traveler's flocked to the man's store and he figured out that success had nothing to do with product and everything to do with advertising. So he started putting up signs all across America, and even in foreign countries.

It worked, and now Wall Drug is one of the biggest tourist trap places you'll ever find. There's much to see there. The giant animatronic dinosaur...

The shooting gallery...

The fascinating wildlife.

All in all, a worthwhile stop.

And we didn't gorget to get our free water.

My handlers wanted to take a tour of Wind Cave, and we were running out of daylight, so we raced there as fast as we could. Our trajectory took us through Custer State Park, which is known for its abundant wildlife. We saw roe deer, pronghorn antelope and bison right by the sid eof the road. Unfortunately, there was no place to pull of and photograph anything, so we don't have much proof. Here's one of the shots we did get:

Here's the ranger showing us the only know natural entrance to Wind Cave. It's that little hole by her feet.

And here's some cave photos. Handler 2 really likes rocks.

After that we swung by Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument, but we didn't stop as we intended to visit it when there was more light out later. Instead we holed up in our historically appointed hotel. More on that in a later post.

Quote of the Day:

Handler 1- "Look a buffalo! You know how I saw that? Because I saw that other guy's car because HE STOPPED TO TAKE A PHOTO"