Day 9: When you hit a Wall

Miles traveled today:346

Total Miles: 1948

We woke up early to get the pancakes and start our laundry. The only problem was all the fun things to distract us from leaving. We did not get the early start we wanted and that would haunt us for the travels of day 9.

They still love each other. Phew!

Our first stop was Mt. Rushmore. It is definitely smaller than the pictures make it appear. That being said it doesn’t take away from any grandness of it at all.

 

This might though….

The weather has been so perfect for the trip so far. Its been so nice. Just look at the sky!

That was pretty much it but we took a little longer for the boys to finish their junior ranger programs and receive their pins, Its always the little-longers that getcha…

So along we went. James had read online that the view of Crazy Horse was the same from the road so that was the plan. Only he didn’t see that once you turned there was no coming back… So we stopped at Crazy Horse Memorial.

After we stopped we were glad we did, there was so much more to do and see than Rushmore. The man who started the whole process worked on his own with his trusty (less than trusty?) steed Kaput. He’d have to crank her and then trek up ladders and steps only to hear her stop cranking and then go the 740 and something steps back down to start her.

While we were there, already late for heading out, a live performance came on. This family came out wearing jingle dress and other colorful garb and explained the powwow culture and how the jingle dress came about. You can read about it here

 

<<< Contemporary

Traditional >>>

   

Fancy Shawl (Crazy Woman) Dance

Dad sang and played the drum

It was at this point that we looked down at the time and had to run out on the performance. It was after 4pm MST.

So we got on I-90 and imagined ourselves pushing through to Sioux Falls. That was about the time that Wall Drug signs started popping up…

Wall Drug was a small store that used the power of advertising to save itself. They started with ice water and then just kept on going from there.

 

So we got dinner there, and souvenirs, and ice water, and ice cream, and photo ops. And looked at the time and it was after 7pm MST. So we ran to Francis (the Isata) and got back on the road. James and I watched as we crossed into Central Time and watched it go from 8:30pm MST to 9:30pm CT. Did I mention that we did not have anything reserved for the night? James had requested we leave some nights up to fate, so I obliged, As I was looking for a safe place for overnight we found that there was no campgrounds available on a Friday night. While searching though we discovered that Cabela’s in Mitchell, SD has parking for RV overnighters and we pulled in late in the night. The boys had all found nooks to sleep in and we are all happy for it.