Bike Trip now Western Tour

Leaving Rapid City this morning we headed east, with Pierre, SD as our destination. Why Pierre? I don't really know; it was just the next city in our path of travel. We looked at the route and decided to hit Wall Drug and Big Badlands Lookout on the way. Neither of those two spots were far off the route, but we usually find a way to add more miles to the trip. This seems to be the theme of our lives, whether we are on two OR four wheels.

We pulled into Wall, SD, knowing it would be place we would pass through quickly. We had been there in the past, but thought maybe it had improved some in the recent years. It hadn't, and we passed through it quickly. If you were to remove the touristy souvenir shop, food, and other traps, there wouldn't be much left. We walked the street and headed back to our vehicle to keep moving. The air temp was already heating up and we knew the day would be getting quite toasty.

We headed out for the Big Badlands Lookout. We didn't realize it was in the Badlands National Park, but it was. Just before we arrived, we stopped to get some gas. I have memories of driving through South Dakota thinking a quarter tank would be plenty. Fool me once... While we were at the gas station, we also bought several buffalo hot dogs. They really were quite delicious. Maybe it was real meat, instead of the stuff we usually eat.

We got to the park gate, paid our fee and entered. We stopped at the lookout and withstood the 25-mph wind and sand blowing around. Since we were already in the park, we decided to drive the loop and see the rest of the park. I looked at the map and realized that we would end up back in Wall at the end of the loop. No one ever called us, or me in this case, smart. We started the trek and 35 miles later we were back in the town of Wall. However, by now I realized how the town got its name, it is located along the wall of the badlands. Also, for those who don't know about Wall, SD, it has an interesting history.

From Wikipedia: "The small-town drugstore made its first step towards fame when it was purchased by Ted Hustead in 1931. Hustead was a Nebraska native and pharmacist who was looking for a small town with a Catholic church in which to establish his business. He bought Wall Drug, located in a 231-person town in what he referred to as "the middle of nowhere," and strove to make a living. Business was very slow until his wife, Dorothy, thought of advertising free ice water to thirsty travelers heading to the newly opened Mount Rushmore monument 60 miles (97 km) to the west. From that time on, business was brisk." Wall Drug became famous and successful because they gave away free ice water to travelers. Who would have thought. Now they are still a popular little town simply because someone came up with a creative marketing idea.

Along the Badlands Loop we saw a lot of interesting terrain. It is a barren and feels so forsaken. Every landscape has its own beauty, and this is true for the Badlands, but it is a barren, forsaken, rugged beauty, to say the least. Having finished the loop, we returned to the highway and headed east towards Pierre.

The landscape changed from the rugged Badlands to hayfields, corn fields, sunflower fields, and lots of prairie lands. Again, in many ways this was beautiful, but in its own way.

Our plan was to find a campground just north of Pierre and spend several nights there. However, the temperatures climbed to 98 degrees today and won't drop below 90 until later this evening. The thought of paying $35 for the campground vs. $83 for an air-conditioned hotel, didn't seem like much of a choice. We opted for the hotel and comfort. We did stop at a supermarket to pick up several things and as we were heading out to the truck, a man by the name of Howard, called to us and said, "you all are from Indiana, and I see your coffee trailer. I own a coffee shop just around the corner." We chatted for a while and promised him we would stop in at his 4-seat coffee shop in the morning. He was quite a guy with hair out of control but was quite passionate about his shop. We might even get a chance to chat even more in the morning.

This is another day in the books.Read more