Speed limit – 80!!!! We drove through much of South Dakota today, from Sioux Falls to Badlands National Park. Along the way, we stopped at Al’s Oasis in Oacama and had a buffalo burger and stocked up for our camping meals. We don’t really have too much to say of the drive except that it is very flat and green. And there are lots of cows. So many cows (including some baby ones!) We also stopped by the Corn Palace. Both of us didn’t quite know what to expect with the Corn Palace – it is marketed as the only Corn Palace in the world, and I think we both envisioned something along the lines of having a corn maze, being made completely of corn, lots of tasty options involving corn, and interesting history and facts about the development and evolution of agricultural corn. Currently, the Corn Palace is in the tail end of a 1.5 year renovation, so we missed it in it’s complete and decorated glory. The murals were pretty and made of different types of corn, but the building was not made of corn and there was no maze. The metal turets on the ground and the dome that you see in the picture on the street are going to go up soon when all of the renovations are complete.
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The building doubles as a gym of some sort, so there was stadium seating as well (also, not made of corn). Jo could not resist taking a corny picture with the giant ear of corn.
On our way to Badlands, we saw lots of billboards for Wall Drug. One of our friends recommended paying a visit to the world’s largest pharmacy as well, so we went to check out Wall Drug. The billboards are all correct! They have 5 cent coffee, a T-rex that dines every 15 minutes, and homemade ice cream and donuts. We were curious as to how Wall Drug got so big and well-known as a tourist destination. It all started when Mrs. Hustead thought that advertising for free ice water on the highway would entice visitors to stop by their pharmacy for a drink while driving to Mount Rushmore. Mr. Hustead thought it was a great idea, and soon the billboards took off and their business boomed! It gained world-wide recognition during WWII, when people in the U.S. military would take pictures with signs demarcating distance to Wall Drug. Apparently, there is a sign at the Taj Mahal indicating mileage to Wall Drug (according to the NY Times in 1999).
There are also lots of jackalopes at Wall Drug – if you don’t know what that is, it is a jack rabbit with antelope antlers. Ironically, what we know as jack rabbits and antelopes technically aren’t rabbits or antelopes. But a taxidermist found a rabbit with some antler-like growths (apparently as a result of the Shope Papilloma Virus…which I guess is the rabbit version of HPV?). According to myth (source: the tag of a jackalope stuffed animal), the jackalope was seen in the late 1800s by somebody and when he reported his sighting, nobody believed him. It is said that in the Old West, when cowboys serenaded their herds at night, they would hear the jackalope singing back at them in human voices (aka, an echo). David and Jo had some fun learning about jackalopes and racing them. If you can’t tell, Jo’s winning the race.
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We also ate some tasty homemade ice cream at Wall Drug.
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Right before the entrance to Badlands, we stumbled across a prairie dog ranch. Of course, we had to stop! We got to observe the prairie dog ways and feed them unsalted peanuts (they were provided by the ranch). They seemed to also be very hot under the sun, as they would push some dirt aside and then belly flop. And then they used all of their energy to make the same call in a wave down the field of prairie dogs. They were pretty cute and chubby, and especially cute when they stood up and hung out outside of their tunnels. In reading up on prairie dogs, Jo learned that there are 5 different types of prairie dogs – prairie dogs are also known as American meerkats. Curious about the calls we were hearing, she watched this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcB5kySUxWA
Apparently, prairie dogs have the ability to identify and communicate species to each other, even going down to detail including height, size, and color that they’re wearing. Because the educational video on prairie dog language didn’t cover black-tailed prairie dogs, we are only left to assume that they were identifying us as weird tall hairless things with odd-shaped big orange heads. Also, apparently black-tailed prairie dogs are one of the two prairie dog types that do “jump-yips,” which is exactly what it sounds like. If you’re actually interested in learning about the alarm calls (Jo thought it was interesting enough to sit through 8 minutes of), here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kXCh496U0
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Trip Counter:
– Cumulative Caffeine Count: 15
– Tanks: 4
– Toll: $36.35
Today Only:
Puppy count: 10
Llama count: one field. (~15)