The Johnsons' Journal

We started our day in Sheridan, WY on our way to Mt. Rushmore. We realized that Devil’s Tower was on the way and had to make a stop. This is the volcanic rock mountain that was used in the movie “Close Encounters”.

On the way there, however, Courtney had a run in with the Wyoming authorities. Apparently 75 just isn’t fast enough for us California folk. Luckily after some sweet talking and a stab for some Honeymoon sympathy, the officer let us go with just a warning.

We stopped for lunch in Rapid City at Firehouse Brewing before making our way up to Mt. Rushmore.

The place was nicely decorated, the food was pretty good, but we both agreed that the beer was lackluster. We had heard this before and weren’t expecting the greatest going in, but figured we should check it out as it was recommended in travel books and everything (and was the only brewery of note in South Dakota).

We finally made it up to Mt. Rushmore in the afternoon, took some time exploring the site, listening to a Ranger’s tour talk and sat through an interesting movie narrated by Tom Brokaw.

We had a good time, but it was getting late in the afternoon and we had an hour or so to drive still to get to our free campsite in the Badlands.

We still had time for one more stop though, Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota. Courtney had read about this place in her Road Trip USA travel book. It was basically a tourist stop that had grown into a block long circus of tourist trinket shops and sights like the “new T-Rex” that was out back along with umpteen other things that didn’t belong in a town of maybe 200. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, we arrived 15 min before it’s scheduled closing time. As it is not peak tourist season by any means, the place was pretty much all shut down when we got there. We missed out on our free coffee and donuts for honeymooners as advertised on highway billboards, but I got a sarsaparilla because I can rarely pass up a good root beer.

By the time we made it out of town and into the Badlands park the sun was set and we had a 12 mile drive on dirt road out to our remote campsite. We took it pretty slow as there were many deer out at dusk. We saw a cautionary sign on the way out stating “Beware of Bison”. We were skeptical as we had not seen any yet in about 5 miles of dirt road. As we turned off the main dirt road onto the access road for the campsite it became all too clear what they meant on the sign. In the dim, nearly extinct light of the day we saw black spots ahead on either side of the road. We wondered if those may be animals. As we approached it was obvious. We had just driven up to a herd of about 40 bison. One feisty fellow decided to greet us as we drove up, running into the center of the road about 20 yards in front of the Jeep, turned and stared directly at us as if he were the gate keeper. We stopped wondering what to do. Should I honk and try to scare him off? Should I drive closer and hope he flinches first? After a quick discussion, I decided on revving the engine, flashing the high beams and waiting him out. He slowly meandered his way to the side of the road and began eating grass again. I was proud and relieved that I had won this game of chicken with the wild life. We continued slowly, Courtney spotting for bison on her side, me on mine. There were no more troublemakers in the crowd. We continued safely the remaining half mile to camp, setup and cooked in the light of our headlamp and trusty lantern (thanks Kevin).

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In the morning we woke to a medium rain falling on our tent. The crisp morning air combined with a unsatisfying sleep led us to decide on staying in bed until the rain subsided. As soon as it slowed to a drizzle we sprang from the tent and quickly dismantled everything in case it picked up again.

We made our way back out the same dirt road we came in on, now only slightly more muddy, but much more well lit and void of wildlife.

We continued out to the main park look taking nearly every opportunity to stop, admire the views, and read the informational signs.

After leaving the park we made our way east towards Sioux Falls for the night and made one important stop along the way.

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. A building decorated annually entirely with corn.

It’s a pretty special place, if you like corn… I was surprised, there was really not much to do here, for it being such a huge roadside attraction, but it is corn after all, what more do you want?