Sunday: The psychotic drive by Crazy Horse and rushed viewing of Mt. Rushmore

(David) Billings Montana. Our wake up call was 10:30, and we were out on the Road by 11. A considerably earlier start than the previous days. (we're trying...trust us.) We stopped at a PIta Pit (in which I wasn't aware there was one outside of Flagstaff, who knew?) and that consisted of breakfast/lunch. The drive through Montana/ Wyoming was.....well, rather uneventful. Unless you count the fact that, with a quarter tank of gas that on average gives about 75 miles, we had just 75 miles to go to the next gas station....(according to Bernard, a BP....you can tell where this is going right?) Well, said Matt, it's time to put this to the test. And we were still going. About 10 miles outside, the gas light came on. Now it was getting exciting. As the gage started to drop past empty, we got to the small town...and while there WAS a gas station...it wasn't a BP (there was a sign that said "Our grandfather: Amoco." I didn't know Amoco had any kids before it's name change. needless to say, Bernard doesn't update with the times too well. It's a struggling economy Bernard, things change, even if you don't want them too.

Reaching South Dakota, it was....well still rather uneventful, that is until you hit the black hills. (they aren't REALLY black as Matt discovered, they just call them that ;) ). We found Crazy Horse and pulled in for a 20 dollar entrance fee. Thats ok, it was worth it to see. It looks kinda small from where you stand, but you had to think it was a few miles away still. And getting that image straight, that monument is HUGE. They said the 4 faces of Rushmore could fit in Crazy horse's head. That made me wonder how big Rushmore was. After checking some license plates (a fruitless effort) we went in to watch a movie about Crazy Horse that was rather informative. There was a picture outside the little theatre that said "Crazy Horse from Space." I was looking at it, and the guy came up and said that's what it looked like. Except there was one photo that was definitely NOT from space and I burst out with "That's not from space!" He kinda looked at me funny and pointed to the other pictures. Why would they title it "from space" if it wasn't all from space? I think he thought i was saying the rocks weren't from space itself or something. After jumping through the museum (and picking up a bit of blasted rock from a pile for guests) we made our way around to Mt. Rushmore. Driving up the very windy road, we came up to the heads. I don't know whether it was because we were a bit far again, or just the fact that I saw crazy Horse first, but Mt. Rushmore seemed lacking in comparison. They were still really cool, but they postcards, and images in books and what not make it seem a LOT bigger and, i don't know, just different. Needless to say, we drove past, turn around, drove past slowly so Matt could get pictures, parked on the profile view of washington, and drove by it once more before heading to Rapid City. (We weren't really up for paying another entrance fee at this point, plus the sun was getting low in the sky.

Taco Bell was delicious, as usual. We made our way through the town and Bernard wasn't being helpful with locating our campsite. So, we pulled into a Mcdonald's that had wifi and sat in the parking lot for a few minutes to get an idea of where it was. Pulling out of the Mcdonald's, The sun was in my eyes and i started to pull forward around what i thought was the median (after driving on so many median highways....not to mention Reno got the worst of us and it's avenues. Quickly realizing that i was heading into a curved curb of driveway for the business across the street, I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting it. Except the colleged age "lady" behind me drove past and we could clear see her mouth the words, "What the F***!" as she drove past and stopped at the light. I hope she doesn't kiss her mother with that mouth, what an improper thing for a lady to say. We drove up past her to turn right and i waved with a big smile. I don't think she saw, but she may have just been avoiding us. Oh well.

(Matt)It's all about Wall Drug on I-90 near Wall, South Dakota. In case the signs to and from aren't enough, remember Wall Drug can be found off Exit 108.

"Have you dug Wall Drug" - No question mark: It's as if they expect us to like it before we even come by to visit. WHAT THE HECK IS WALL DRUG? HOW IS ONE SUPPOSED TO DIG IT BEFORE THEY'VE EVER STOPPED BY? With all of the annoying and creepy looking signs, why would one want to? What exactly is in a "Western Art Gallery"? Does coffee cost 5 cents or is it free?

After driving by a quarter million signs (more or less), all of our questions were left unanswered as the last sign revealed that wall drug was open from 7am to 7pm. "YOU MADE IT! -WALL DRUG" Yeah... too bad it's around 8:30 pm and you're not open. (David) The sun's even still up. (Matt) Apparently they're not big on tourism despite the fact that they have a museum, a diner, a general store, and probably a small movie theater. The store, covering at least a block and having signs two blocks away indicating the store's location and parking, was completely dark as we drove by. Even though the towns population of a dozen were all noticeably relaxing along the three block downtown strip, the infamous store was retired for the night. What a horrible disappointment! We totally wanted to see it! OUR LIVES ARE NOW OVER! Needless to say, Wall Drug was a worse suspense killer than the fourth twilight book.

(David) Ruth, Matt came up with that all on his own.
(Matt) I wrote it with you in mind, David. I don't truly have that comparison as an opinion. (David) NO, I just think it's anti-climatic, not a suspense killer.
(Matt) Alright.

Anyways, after our lives were completely ruined, we got back on the highway (begun with a reminder of our horrible catastrophe by a few more Wall Drug signs) in search of find the Bad Lands and a camp site. They were very naughty as they seemed to be hiding from us, especially in the dark. They eventually appeared after unhelpful signs like "Exit 117" with no guidance to where the uninformative sign was leading us astray. Whatever it was, it was only a mile ahead... After leaving the highway at Exit 131, we came across another Wall Drug sign ("35 Miles ahead") Way to go Wall Drug. Thanks for stabbing us in the chest, then in the back, and turning the knife on the second attack. After seeing the sketchy entrance of the Bad Lands (the dark distorts everything), we decided to turn around (again), and probably had another rude lady swear at us from a following car. At least the returning presence of Venus and the Moon was there to comfort us through the dark land of tragedy and turmoil.

We later encountered Belvidere. "Belvidere: We name our streets after letters of the alphabet because we're not creative enough to think of other names." And "Belvidere: because we like to post railroad signs just to confuse you when you can't find any tracks." Soon after, we found a rest area that actually had signs of life, and we also learned that camping at rest areas in South Dakota is against the law. Also, after briefly resting considering a nap and checking the map, we got back on the road to find that South Dakota (and probably North Dakota) is divided between Mountain time and Central time. No one make fun of a Dekotian (plural: Dicoten) ever again. Their lives are torturous and confusing while constantly trying to decide what time it should be.

(David) Stopping in Mitchell, i picked up a toothbrush which i found out i had left at the motel or something. and we were intending to stay the night until Matt got in the drivere's seat and said we were making it to Sioux Falls. Fine by me, i like night driving. So another hour or so later into the night, we arrived and would have our last night at Motel 6. We were going to camp tomorrow if it was the last thing we did.