Month: October 2018

Interstate 90 across South Dakota is like a mini Route 66, with mom and pop attractions and tacky tourist stops hugging the freeway. It’s been one of my favorite parts of the trip so far- a classic Road Trip experience.

Some of the stops I made along the way: 

Downtown waterfalls in Sioux Falls- a series of waterfalls right downtown!  

Porter Sculpture Park in Montrose- metal sculptures, some whimsical, some disturbing, accompanied by poems that attempt to explain the message behind each sculpture 

The Corn Palace in Mitchell- workers were disassembling the corn murals on the outside of the building the day I was there 

Lewis and Clark Visitor Center and “Dignity” statue- small but informative museum 

Akta Lakota Museum- well done; lots of information to take in (and they sell sweetgrass braids!) 

Badlands Petrified Gardens in Kadoka- I almost didn’t stop here because it was drizzling (then raining), but once I was in the garden, I realized how lucky I was. You know how getting a rock wet brings out its color? I got to see the petrified wood at its most beautiful.  

Wall Drug- The place is basically a huge souvenir shop. But they do have a collection of paintings on the walls in the restaurant that you can peruse, if you don’t mind a few dirty looks from diners who think you are staring at them instead of the paintings above their heads.  

Ranch Store in Philip- You buy a bag of peanuts at the store, then walk out to the yard, which is a prairie dog village. The day I was there, it was raining on and off, so the whole yard was like a mud pit. But the prairie dogs still came out of their burrows, and when I held out a peanut, a prairie dog would gingerly walk over, then take it out of my hand. I was the only person out there feeding them, so I got to meet a lot of prairie dogs. I was having such a good time that I bought a second bag of peanuts.  

Badlands National Park- Loved the Badlands! What an alien landscape (to me). I kept saying (yes, out loud), “This is Amazing!” I even said a few times, “I can’t believe I’m really here!”, which surprised me. I mean, I drove hundreds of miles to get there, so I’m not sure why it was so unbelievable. And the Badlands hadn’t been a huge destination that I’d been looking forward to, so the feeling wasn’t “Yay! I finally made it!” Maybe the mystery of my reaction adds to the otherworldly feeling of the place.  

Mount Rushmore & the Rushmore Borglum Story museum that documents the making of the monument- I can appreciate the work that went into carving the sculpture. But the monument is so iconic that I already knew what it was going to look like, so when I got there, my reaction was, “There it is.” I walked a short trail, but there wasn’t a whole lot else to do there, so I didn’t spend a lot of time at this attraction.  

Custer State Park & Wind Cave National Park- both have wildlife driving loops that allow you to see bison and beautiful hilly landscapes

Photo: “Dignity” statue, Lewis and Clark Visitor Center and Recreation Area, Yankton, SD