R and J in the USA

We entered South Dakota heading east on Route 212. Our first stop was at the Geographic Center of the United States of America! To be specific, it was actually 20 miles south of the geographic center, but the monument to it was located in Belle Fourche, South Dakota because the actual center is deep into private property. It was a great little monument, complete with a flag for each state. Our drive from Little Bighorn had been just long enough that we just missed the open hours of the Tri-State Museum located there. 

We made our way to Deadwood, South Dakota, a town famed for its vice and pioneering, gold-rushing history. We stayed the night in a hotel parking lot and hit the rugged streets of Deadwood in the early morning air. There were casinos up and down the street that we would later learn came in during the late 1980’s when Governor Mickelson passed a gaming law. We passed the brothel tours that were already out of season and enough saloons and whiskey shops to wet a lot of whistles. We stopped in a handful of shops and had a handful of fantastic conversations, learning about Deadwood and the way life looks to some folks in South Dakota. You can read about one of our encounters in our People Along the Way section. 

Before leaving Deadwood, we made a stop at the Tatanka: Story of the Bison museum. This was one of the projects that Kevin Costner had invested in creating as part of his efforts to bring the magic, recognition, and appreciation for the Black Hills and it’s first peoples to the larger world. There are striking sculptures there of the Bison and tremendous histories to learn about the Lakota and the tragic story of what happened to the buffalo and the people so tied to it when the white man came through. 

After a thorough education of native life in the area and the pioneers that overtook it, we made our way to Sturgis, South Dakota, the famed location of the biggest motorcycle rally in the world. It was amazing to imagine this little town descended upon by 700,000 bikers, but the town was clearly the right place for it, oozing biker culture everywhere you looked. We walked through a town that proudly wore that claim to fame on nearly every corner, with biker bars and t-shirt shops that radiated the rebellious and proud freedom-loving culture that accompanies two wheels, an engine, and the open road. We got to taste a little of that raw power, freedom, engineering, and artistry at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame.

Julie got a phone call from Ryan while she was resting in the van.

”I’m down the street at this coffee shop. They have some frozen gluten-free dairy-free cookies that they said they’ll cook up if you want ‘em.”

”Heck yea!”

Julie put in an order for three cookies and in 20 minutes, the best gluten-free, dairy-free cookie she had ever tasted was melting in her mouth. It was soft, chewy, and everything you want a chocolate chip cookie to be. Not always the case in the gluten-free, dairy-free department. 

Nearing the end of an already full day, we headed over to Rapid City to see the Dances with Wolves Movie Set. It was supposed to be open until 7:00 PM, but when we got there, the dusty looking old-timey remnants of what used to be a town appeared to be all locked up. We wandered around anyways and stumbled upon more than a few things that would make it onto our trip highlights list, including a delightful character who you can read about in our People Along the Way section.

We made the final push down into Custer State Park to stay at a campground for the night. It would be our first campground in a little while that still had the water turned on.

The next morning, we called an itinerary audible and headed down to the little town of Hot Springs, South Dakota, to – well – you can guess. We hit the Moccasin Springs Natural Mineral Springs where we delighted in not only a nice mineral soak, but also the most lovely hot showers we’ve had in a bit. 

Next and last stop for the day would be the Crazy Horse Memorial. If you don’t know anything about it, it is worth learning about at www.crazyhorsememorial.org. The most fitting word is, “Wow”. It was truly a tremendous site, and an awe inspiring story and effort. We made our biggest donation of the trip to it. On the trip we were hoping to make a few modest donations along the way in each state to efforts that were important to the local community. There was perhaps no effort that fit that description better than this decades and centuries long effort happening here.

We found a great place to park overnight at a trailhead in the gorgeous Black Hills. Julie stuck to her commitment to watch movies tied to different places with Dances with Wolves and North by Northwest on her South Dakota list.

We drove the 2.5 miles to Mount Rushmore when morning light came. It is a monument to four of the nation’s most influential figures carved into Black Hills, a place that is deeply sacred to the Native Americans of the area. Whether that bothers you or not, or whether you’ve never thought much about it one way or another, the monument is a stunning thing to see and an awesome tribute to the aspirations of this little democratic experiment called the United States of America.

Our next stop was Wall, South Dakota, to check out the famed Wall Drug. We wandered its fun and kitschy departments and hallways, grabbed a few more souvenirs, and had some entertaining interactions that you can read about in our People Along the Way section. 

Next stop, Badlands National Park.

How to describe the Badlands for those who haven’t been there?

What’s the best word? 

Is it “whoa”? Or, is “wow” a better approximation? Or, maybe “holy f&*% s^$#”?” Any would do really.

There are places in the Badlands to sit and imagine you are participating in an interplanetary exploratory mission. We found a little trail from an overlook to head out into them and sit and look over the landscape and we felt a deep peace.

We stopped by a visitor’s center and shook our heads at a stack of bright pink fliers that, still, in this day and age, are apparently necessary for the park service to spend time and money making. The fliers reminded people that, “Bison are dangerous.” We found out the sobering and disturbing fact that the plague is going through the park’s prairie dog population. We weren’t sure if we were hearing correctly so we asked, “The plague? Which plague”? 

“THE plague,” the ranger responded to our stunned and ignorant looks. “The bubonic plague.”

The park rangers have to spend some of their time keeping humans from feeding the prairie dogs because of the plague.  

We ascended the third of a mile up Saddle Pass to get ourselves right in the middle of the incredible spires and softly jagged hills, heeding the signs that warned us we were now in rattlesnake territory. 

We found a place to park for the night that made it onto our short list of best overnight spots. It was on an eight mile long dirt road on a ridge just outside of the national park that is open for boondockers. We saw it as we drove into the park, a line of 10-20 rigs of different sizes and shapes sitting on the horizon. When we joined them in the evening, our jaws dropped. This road sat at the top of a ridge overlooking miles and miles of badlands. We were definitely feeling our good fortune of getting to live like this for this time as we watched the sun set behind us and the brilliant sunrise come up over the ridge in front of us in the morning.

We got an early start in the morning to hit the state capital of Pierre. We drove through miles of open plains and farmland and found it all quite beautiful. We were impressed by South Dakota’s capitol complex and toured another stunning state capitol building, this one created by the same folks that did Montana’s in Helena. It was similar to Montana’s in a lot of ways, except for the nature of the paintings and statues and the color scheme. We chatted with the receptionist in the governor’s office and, as we do in each capitol, asked if the governor was in and available for a chat. So far, no dice. Governor Noem was in Sioux Falls for the annual pheasant hunt. 

We took in the monuments and learned a lot about the state and its history in a short time. We saw the beautiful monument of the fighting stallions that was a tribute to the eight South Dakotans who died in a tragic plane crash in the 1990’s, including then Governor Mickelson.

After our short stop in Pierre, we carried on east until we hit the town of MItchell, home of the World’s Only Corn Palace. It’s a small arena with a basketball court, a recessed stage, and an outdoor series of murals made entirely out of dried corn. The murals are redone every year on a different theme, this year’s theme being Notable South Dakotans. We read the plaques that described the history of the country by decade and how the corn palace has commemorated the changing times of the nation alongside it. 

We grabbed a few more souvenirs and hit the road to land in a crowded Cracker Barrel parking lot in Sioux Falls for the night before our South Dakota 5k. We got there at a fairly decent time, enough time to enjoy a night out for some Thai food. And, right next to the Cracker Barrel in the adjacent parking lot, was a movie theater. Julie cashed in her birthday coupon and got herself a movie date for the evening. Walking out of the movie (we saw “We Live in Time” and enjoyed it), Julie realized she was about to live a lifelong dream. The only part about going to the movies that Julie doesn’t like is that she is an early bird. As a result, she usually feels so relaxed and tired by the end of an evening movie she wishes she could just climb right into bed. AND SHE DID! We walked out of the movie theater, across the parking lot, and got right into bed. As Julie was falling asleep she thought, Okay, everything else I get to experience in life from here on out is just gravy. 

Our heater, though still working, had been flashing some service signals, so we made our way to the nearby Thermo King, who is able to do service on the brand of heater we have in the van. Julie found Thermo King during her musical-writing trip after lots of trial and error. The good news is that their primary work is for heating and refrigeration units in cargo trucks. That means they have locations all across the country, so if anything every happens to our heater, we are not far from help. 

We got our heater taken care of and headed over to Pasley Park for what was billed as a trail run, but ended up taking place on a paved multi-use path through a park. It was the perfect chilly fall morning for a run. You can read about our run in our 5K section.

As we drove the roads of Sioux Falls, we both noted the contrast with western and central South Dakota. Unlike those areas, which were uniquely South Dakotan in their landscape and feel, much of Sioux Falls felt like it could be any number of cities in any number of states. The parts of Sioux Falls we did get a chance to see were lovely. The the smell in the air from whatever factory was nearby though – not so much. 

Our last official stop in South Dakota was the actual falls for which Sioux Falls was named. They were beautiful and definitely uniquely South Dakotan, with a layout and geology we hadn’t seen anywhere else before. Ryan wandered the old mills around the waterfalls while Julie hopped on her bike to check “biking in South Dakota” off the list.

Once, again, with little time for a full bike ride, Julie only got a couple miles in. But that was more than enough to continue to affirm why a bike ride in every state is a must do. Not only did Julie discover the bike path system in the area, she also stumbled upon a very interesting water ramp and the local farmer’s market that had 30 minutes left to be ravaged. She gave Ryan a call to head over with the van. It was the perfect way to close up our time in the state.

We had been talking about kettle corn and how it had been so long since our near constant summer supply of the delicious treat. Lo and behold it was the first thing Julie spotted upon arriving at the market. Julie raided one stand that sold various herbal concoctions, from soaps, to tinctures, to bath salts. Once again, Ryan – who had self-appointed himself at this point the “gluten-free/dairy-free wingman” for Julie – came walking up to tell Julie they have some vegan baked goods over there. Julie had thought, well, maybe there are one or two things I can eat. Ryan didn’t realize it, but the entire booth was gluten-free. Everything. And a handful were also dairy-free. Julie bought more treats than is wise, and she did it with a big stinking grin on her face. 

Backing out of the parking spot while leaving the farmer’s market, we heard a thud from the back of the van. We stopped and looked at each other wondering what that was. At this point of the trip we are used to hearing, smacks, cracks, pops, and all other manner of things happening behind us as we drive. They are usually innocuous movements of various, otherwise contained items in our portable house. But we’d never heard a thud before. So we stopped to ponder until the lightbulb went off in Ryan’s head.

”We never put your bike back on the rack!”  

Sure enough, Ryan got out of the van and found Julie’s bike, which had been leaning up against the van while Julie was excitedly and distractedly devouring the gluten-free Belgian waffle she had just come upon, lying on the ground. Oops. Fortunately there was no damage to Julie’s bike that we could see, only to our pride for this rookie van life mistake.

Bikes safe, bellies full, minds and spirits enriched by new and lovely experiences, we made our way south to exit a new state that we had, only recently, known very little about, and in a short time, come to adore. As we have found to be the case, many times before, as we headed out, we were already brainstorming when we would make our way back to South Dakota again someday.