South Dakota

Aug 12
After our successful sighting of a bear yesterday in Glacier NP, we set out to Custer State Park full of the expectation of seeing lots of bison today. And we weren’t disappointed – ok, the bison were minute because the large herd was very very far away, but we saw some solitary dudes hanging out very close to the road in the shade of some trees. Also visible in the park were pronghorns & white tail deer, and donkeys, lots of donkeys. Once we had completed the scenic wildlife loop, we drove through the Badlands, the northern part of the park (as we were leaving) was much more picturesque than the south where we had entered.

We had spent last night in a wigwam – which I was very excited & pleased about – it meant not having to put the tent up in the dark or taking it down the next morning – which I hate doing . We ended up in a wigwam because everything – and I mean everything in South Dakota – within a 100 mile radius of Sturges was full of bikers at the Sturges rally – according to the guide up to half a million bikers descend on South Dakota for 1 or 2 weeks in early August every year – so we timed our visit not so perfectly . All the motels were full so we resigned ourselves to camping again but then we came across a pretty fancy looking campground and when I went in to enquire they only had wigwams free – and it cost only a couple of dollars more than a tent spot - I was delighted we got to stay in one.



We drove on to Mount Rushmore & then hit the Wall Drug store that had been advertised on interstate billboards for several hundred miles before we got there. Mount Rushmore is a total tourist trap that we didn’t want to get sucked in to. It’s free into Mount Rushmore but you have to pay $10 for parking and as we only wanted to snap a quick pic of the monument, we just drove a bit further down the road, parked illegally and took our pics. Back in the car, we hit the highway and then took a quick stop in Wall Drug. Wall Drug is another tourist trap, but omg, it’s HUGE. It takes up a whole block and has another outlet on the block behind the main street full of junk for sale as well. I bought a couple of magnets and then we got on the road again.

We had decided to stop in Mitchell for the night because they had a drive in movie theatre. Again I was very excited about getting to experience another quintessentially American pastime. We saw “Despicable Me”, which was hilarious, and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, which was absolutely terrible. What I found fascinating about the drive in movie (and what I had wondered about before we got there) was how the sound system would play? Would we have to leave our windows down (with all the mosquitoes)? And Americans find my questions hilarious, but there aren’t any drive in theatres in Ireland, so its a valid question from my point of view – anyway – the soundtrack for the film plays over a RADIO FREQUENCY. INGENIOUS! 