We skipped Mt Rushmore too. Dorks.

Maryland -> California, August 1997.

Where the heck is Wall Drug? It's in South Dakota, along I-90 near the Badlands.

It's a bizarre little bumper-sticker place in the middle of nowhere, kind of like the Mystery Spot only without the gravitational anomalies. It's a kitschy highway rest stop, kind of like South of the Border only without the sombrero key chains. "FREE ADMISSION to this 76,000 square foot American Experience includes the Backyard with its Branding Iron Arcade, animated T-Rex, panning & mining experience for fossils and gemstones, Train Station Water Show & fun picture-taking props in a picnic area. Gourmet coffee shop! Pizza Parlor!" Now how much would you pay? But of course we had to stop, and we ended up spending way too much time there. Dorks.

Our next stop was the campground in the Badlands. We lucked out and got the last site in this bizarre little circle, then two of us hiked up to the top of the hill to take a picture. At some point we noticed a buffalo wandering (roaming?) about 50 feet outside the left side of this shot:

Our friend was in the tent napping. We feared for his life, but also for ours and therefore stayed put (dorks), and thankfully the buffalo roamed along. We didn't sleep much that night.

And then along I-90 in the Black Hills - some of the most amazing non-mountainous, non-canyony, non-national parkish scenery I have ever seen.


We toured the wind cave and headed up to Devil's Tower, where, upon realizing that to go up the monument we would have to pay $4/car, we just took a photo from afar. There were 3 of us in the car. It would've cost us $1.33 each to go up the monument. Dorks.