Days 6-7: Foggy Mount Rushmore
Day 6: Sioux Falls, Hills
On day six, we woke up in chilly South Dakota to find that it was time to leave! But I had an important date with a local park… We went to a local diner called Marlin’s Family Restaurant, and I had biscuits and gravy. We were definitely noticing people had a distinctly Midwestern accent. We hadn’t noticed any accentual changes until now.
Sioux Falls’ namesake is beautiful.. Nestled in a cute little park nearby a railroad crossing, these falls were gorgeous. I got some photos with my instant film camera, and then I decided to give my great Aunt B a call. It was a good start to the morning for sure.
Then we packed up our motor home and left Sioux Falls, travelling westward. We realized that the true rocky terrain was yet to come…
As I kept soaking in more and more of the beauty that is North America, we decided to stop at the Corn Palace!
We ate popcorn, bought souvenirs, and had a merry time. The photos don’t lie, the Corn Palace was a quaint little stop. I even bought a bag of popcorn to cook and eat at home!
Finally, we were beginning to see some mountain terrain. I was thrilled. I was glued to the window for hours upon hours. We were in the west!
I am in a wonderland… I love the mountains, but these mountains are beautiful in a completely different way to Appalachia. Anyways, we drove to the KOA, to find that it is the second biggest KOA in the US…
We unloaded and got to see a horse drawn covered wagon, actually 6 or 7 of them. We were thrilled to see them. I got a decent picture of them, and then we had dinner at the lodge tavern. I had a local South Dakota red ale, and it was delicious.
Then, we went to bed, and the next day of adventure was just around the corner.
Day 7: Foggy Hills
We woke up at 7am and got started early. We decided to go to Mount Rushmore. Well, it was very foggy. I mean, the pictures we got were absurdly foggy. But we were there, I suppose. It was cool to see such an iconic American monument at all.
Behold, behind a foggy veil…
It was a neat sight, but I was more interested in our next outing: Bear Country USA.
We saw tons of wildlife in this place. It’s a drive through zoo essentially. And I felt bad for the animals, but what can ya do.
As I was starting to wonder why it was called “Bear Country”, then we saw them. Big, black and brown bears. And lots of them.
All in all, it was a fun couple of days. It didn’t turn out exactly like we’d planned, but it worked out. And now, tomorrow we are going to Yellowstone. It’s the second longest drive of the trip. I’m so ready to see Yellowstone. And then the Rockies, and the rock concert!
See you, Space Cowboy