Day 71-August 4, 2016-Western SD and Wall Drug Store
Drove 219 miles in 5-3/4 hours. Lost an hour when we passed pack into Central Time Zone
Nice day, 85 and sunny
There’s not much to be said about I-90 in Western So. Dakota. We passed through Sturgis, getting ready for the big motorcycle rally next week, the 76th year of the biggest motorcycle rally in the world. Started seeing “Wall Drug Store” signs, just about the only signs on the highway for about 100 miles. Stopped at Wall Drug because it’s the thing to do (the only thing). Started in 1931 by Ted and Dorothy Hustead. They bought a drug store in Wall, SD, named because it’s on the northern ridge of the Badlands that looks like a wall. Business was bad because they were in the middle of nowhere, just folks passing by going west on the dusty, hot road. So they decided to give away free ice water. It caught on and now the “store” encompasses an entire block. They still have free ice water, free coffee and donuts for vets, 5 cents if you’re not a vet, restaurants, gift stores, fireworks, shooting gallery, gold panning, western boots and leather, home décor, jewelry, pottery, candy store, stuffed wildlife on the walls and ceiling, ice cream, fudge, camping supplies, silversmiths, photo studio, art gallery and a chapel that had a wedding going on today. Outside there’s a splash pad for the kids with a Mt. Rushmore theme, playground, frontier town, huge jackalope, life sized animated T-Rex, chuck wagon, and life-size cowboy statues throughout. And then there are all the stores on the other side of the street. Like I said, it’s the thing to do. We got coffee and donuts, ate lunch in the RV and continued on the second half of our trip today. No more Wall Drug signs, kind of boring. We passed through the Badlands and Petrified Gardens, then an exit for the Pioneer Auto Show where we could see the original General Lee and a Harley owned by Elvis among 300 other vintage trucks, cars, etc. The 1880’s Town offered a real western town, used in movies and TV shows but we didn’t stop, just kept driving through grasslands with black cows, some marching with a purpose to get somewhere, others bunched up against the fences, never found out why. Passed a few farms, mostly bright yellow canola fields. Listened to the book on tape some more. Harry still doesn’t realize we’ve already heard it. It’s almost finished, just a few more chapters to go. Got to the campground in Presho, SD, “The Pride of the Prairie”, population 588, about 5. Just plugged in the electric, we’re leaving tomorrow. Threw in some laundry, then had dinner, read and sat outside for a while. It’s a really nice campground, about a mile off I-90, but lots of grass and trees, quiet, almost empty. Off tomorrow to drive the eastern half of SD.