Day 2 of Labor Day trip

The second day of the trip we found ourselves on the road a little after 9.  We didn't have far to drive this day, maybe a little over 3 hours total if we took the most direct route and didn't stop but we planned on making many stops.  We noticed that a lot of the "traffic" in that part of the country consists of tractors and other farm equipment.  Usually we see those types of vehicles only on the backs of trucks on the interstate.  Within 30 minutes of leaving the hotel we ran across a huge field of sunflowers.  We had seen fields like this before but didn't think this far west we would see any.  The sunflowers were definitely past their prime, maybe they would be harvested soon but they were still beautiful.

We next drove towards Murdo, SD, where there was an interesting museum we had read about.  The Pioneer Auto Show.  The museum was more than a collection of old cars, it had almost everything you could think of in terms of Americana memorabilia.  Sure, there were old cars, lots of them from Model T's right through 70's models.  They even had a car made out of wood!  But there were also lunch boxes, appliances large and small, farm equipment, tools, telephones, razors, gas pumps, license plates, and the list goes on and on.  We spent probably two hours exploring the 40 or so garages that housed all of this stuff and we both agreed that it was pretty impressive.

Old beer memorabilia

1929 RV

We then hit the highway again and made great time with the 80 MPH speed limit towards out next stop of Badlands National Park.  Along the way we started seeing signs for Wall Drug.  More about that later.

Badlands is a really cool place.  The rock formations that make up the park kind of rise up from the surrounding grassland and you can see them coming from miles away.  When you get close up and touch them and walk on them, they are made up of a soft, clay like rock that really just crumbles when you touch it or walk on it.  As a result it erodes pretty quickly compared to other rock formations.  We pretty much drove through the park, stopping many, many times at the various pull-offs to take pictures and walk around.  We were able to see some bison, but only from a distance.  From a wildlife point of view, we saw tons of prairie dogs, one of our favorite animals.  They seem very social and love to warn each other of danger by whistling at each other while standing on their hind legs. Although they really are nothing more than cute looking rats, they are very interesting and fun to watch.

Buffalo in the distance

Next stop was Wall Drug in Wall, SD.  Today it is a tourist trap but it started out as a drug store in the 1930's in the middle of nowhere.  Business was slow until the wife of the owner decided to start advertising free water on signs near Mt. Rushmore, over 60 miles away.  After that business started picking up and today there are signs advertising Wall Drug hundreds of miles away on I-90 and just about everywhere else in the region.  It is no longer just a drug store (there is a drug store there) but more of a mixture of many stores, almost like a small mall.  And it is a tourist trap and they still offer free water.  We stopped for a bit before hitting the road again for one last push towards our hotel for the night in Rapid City, SD.