Sodbusting Our Way Through the Dakotas

On Memorial Day we started our trek to Alaska and left Indianapolis to make our way to Sioux Falls, SD. Our plan was to visit South Dakota’s Badlands and Wind Cave national parks before going to Mt. Rushmore.

Jane at the Corn Palace

On the way we stopped off in Mitchell, SD so Jane could see the world famous Corn Palace.

Mt. Rushmore in corn ears

The Corn Palace is decorated entirely with corn ears and stalks, and the display changes each year. It takes about 100 acres of differently colored corn varieties to produce the changing artwork displays. Farmer Jane was really impressed! We drove across the rolling hills of South Dakota on I-80 until we got to the Badlands N.P. scenic loop.

The Badlands

This was a 40 mile detour off the interstate through the park. We stopped at the visitor's center and got the stamp and view a video about the park and its exhibits.

At the Badlands

We stopped and had lunch then followed the loop until it took us to Wall, SD. Here, Jane got to visit and shop at the famous Wall Drug store.

Wall Drug

Capt. Larry picked up a few items the found his way to the pharmacy museum and pharmacy.

At Wall Drug's Pharmacy Museum

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Because he was a pharmacist, he was invited to sign the special guest register and received a bumper sticker proclaiming "Where In the Heck is Wall Drug." We left Wall, and made our way to Hot Springs, SD, where we checked into a motel for the night.

Bison grazing along the road

The next morning we headed out for Wind Cave, N.P. We had visited Mammoth Cave, N.P. on the way up to Indy, but were surprised with this one. The park is really about the cave and the land above the cave.

Antelope in Wind Cave, N.P.

We saw some bison and pronghorn antelope grazing by the road on our way into the park.

Jane wouldn't throw this!

The cave underground is currently about 140 miles explored, but the formation was a lot different from some of the other caves we've been in.

Getting the stamp!

We learned that the physical requirements for almost all of the tours were beyond our capabilities, so we opted to collect the stamps and view the  park's video and exhibits about the cave. We left Wind Cave and headed up to Mt. Rushmore, which completely thrill Jane.

Finally, Mt. Rushmore!

This one one of the items on her bucket list. We viewed the exhibits, collected the stamp, and watched the video about how the monument was made. It was really interesting. We left Mt. Rushmore and headed up some back roads through South and North Dakota and spent the night in Dickinson, ND.

How about this picture, Millette!

The going was slow, because we were frequently stopped for road construction projects.