Road Trip Day 7 South Dakota

Hi Everyone!
So today we are now 2 hours behind all of you back East.
It was an awesome and exhausting day. Our neighbors in the rooms next to us were up pretty early and had probably started drinking their JD out of solo cups around 5am. We could hear them giggling and laughing but I quickly fell back asleep. We started the rest of our morning out slowly and in search of some breakfast food. On our search for breakfast we came accross signs of an old 1880 town (COUNTRY WESTERN!). So we had to stop before we ate. Despite our tummy's growling this was one of the coolest and gotta-see-it places. This town was where Dance With Wolves was filmed and boasts that it is also home to Cisco, the horse that John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) rode. There is also lots of Dances memorabillia, like the dead buffalo props, tipis, and lots and lots of photographs. The town is equipped with a jail, school, Marshall's office, church, saloon, bank, and a hotel/ brothel. It was really cool and I have plenty more pictures but I couldn't put them all up.
Then we went to Jigger's in Kadoka which was recommended by the cashier at the 1880's town and despite the fact that it doesn't look like much from the outside, we both had fantastic burgers and really yummy strawberry-rhubarb pie.
Next stop, the Badlands. It's so funny because during all of this drive we just see miles and miles of flat farmland. Then these huge rocky peaks and valleys just jump right up at you. In one word, REMARKABLE. I can't even begin to explain how amazing of a phenomenon this really is. It is absolutely worth it to see. We took the scenic drive and our first stop marked signs of rattlesnakes to which I promptly decided that there would be no walking off the beaten path. We saw all sorts of cool things besides the landscape, such as mass amounts of prairie dogs which are surprisingly social and cute. We also saw longhorn sheep, antelope and a DEAD snake (just the way I like it). Then of course was the buffalo. They are the most amazing creatures and really just fluffy muscular cows..... but cooler!
At the end of our trip we headed to Wall Drug whose billboard signs had been haunting us since Minnesota. It's actually a cool little town but maybe a little too much of a tourist trap. Wall Drug began it's advertising to passerbyers by claiming to have all you can drink FREE ice water.... the idea really caught on and then before you knew it they began to have 5-cent coffee which they still sell today. It's a funky little town and fun to walk through.
Our next stop was Rapid City where mom and I are now sitting in our hotel room watching re-runs of Will and Grace. Tomorrow we are going to Mount Rushmore, Crazy-Horse Memorial and Custer Park and then we're headed to Deadwood. For now, Goodnight Chickens!





The sign for Cisco....who is incidentally DEAD but there are no real signs for that....






Mom coming out of the saloon.....LUSH


Claire outside of the brothel/hotel....where she works



Little cute bunny rabbit


This is the storage bag on the top of the car....covered in bugs!

Badlands

Prairie Dog

I'm supposed to be looking at her cards


I think we all know who resembles what here

Jackalopes.... apparently the National Mascott

Momma's addition: another wonderful, surprizing day: the "Deliverence" guys in the rooms next to us began partying before dawn, then were off to the hunt ( I was tempted to shush them up but thought better of it ): an authentic Wild West town reminding me that I was born at the right time ( electricity, running water, insulation, tempur-pedic mattresses ) and then the Badlands... extraordinary, surreal and way beyond expectations which were pretty high: prairie dogs are cuter than squirrels, rattle snakes scare the pants off Eliza, antelope and buffalo do roam on the range: then Wall Drugs where we viewed the largest selection of cowboy boots in SD and were sorely tempted and had some of the best ice water ever... free.

Eliza passed on the 5 cent coffee in favor of a frappacino... yes, way. Can't wait for tomorrow and another adventure.

Road Trip Day 6 Mother's Day

Today was a LOOONNNNG drive of a day! We drove from Cathy's house and into South Dakota. For the most part SD is farmland as far as the eye can see. A nice sight was the windmills that we saw which must me a new touch. The drive through SD could probably get pretty boring however there are hundreds upon thousands of billboards on the side of the road that are either notifying you that the Corn Palace is in Mitchell or that Wall Drug is about 355 miles away, then 345, then 340, and so on and so on. And then there are the Anti-Abortion billboards all over the place..... but no anti-accidental pregancy or safe-sex billboards....hmmm..... So if it wasn't for these billboards I'm sure we would have fallen asleep at the wheel. When we crossed over into SD we did see some Buffalo farms but didn't get a chance to take any pictures.....hopefully we will have some good ones tomorrow!

When we crossed over the Missouri River the landscape completely changed. It was these lush rolling hills. South Dakota definitely reminds me of the landscape in Dances with Wolves (which was filmed here)

Our first stop was the Corn Palace in Mitchell which is definitely something you have to see but maybe not deserving of all that hype. The corn palace is a building in which the entire outside is covered in corn and made into different intricate murals and designs. The inside of the building is actually like a convention center with a basketball court and theatre stage. The wallpaper.....corn! We didn't stay long..... there's only so much corn you can take!

As we braved further and further into SD we noticed a strangely large amount of road kill on the road.... but not the typical road-kill I'm used to..... I laid my eyes on coyote the size of wolves and of course wild pheasant. Mom and I noticed this absurd amount of roadkill not soon before we saw pheasants selectively choosing to run across the highway right as our car approached them! So we slammed on breaks and dodged these pheasants a number of times. Kamikaze pheasants! We were ready to pull off at our exit in Murdo when "BAM".... GOT ONE! Mom of course is upset because it's only the second thing she has hit with a car..... hahahaha...... oh mom.... that's nothing! Somehow the lucky little bastard flew away! Couldn't believe it!

So here we sit in the Best Western at Murdo. I took mom out to dinner at the Rusty Spur down the street. Neat place inside....could've been better food. The steak was of course great.... but no 5 star in my book!

We drove back to the hotel to find that our neighbors are a bunch of older guys with pickup trucks who are drinking Jack Daniels out of solo cups.....awesome!

So not much to report about today but we are going to the Badlands, Wall Drug (of course) and whatever else we come across!

Oh my god, I can't believe that I forgot to mention who we ran into in Blue Earth, South Dakota.... well, the Jolly Green Giant himself! Pictures below!

Me checking to see what's under that leafy skirt

Mom having a looksy

Cool farmhouse

Welcome to South Dakota

First sign for Wall Drug

Another Wall Drug sign

Windmills

The Famous Corn Palace

Lady Liberty in Mitchell, South Dakota

HAHAHAHA

Mom making her stage debut in South Dakota

The Missouri River

Inside the Rusty Spur

Momma's additions: a totally wonderful, unique Mother's Day. MN has tens of thousands of miles of flat farm land, one mile undistinguishable from another except for the billboards warning against Sin and Abortion, obviously an issue in these parts where the greatest entertainment for miles is The Corn Palace ("the only corn palace in the world", imagine that!). We laughed our heads off over Bill Cosby Live, were too appalled by Lisa Lampanelli whose schtik is indiscriminate racism. Eliza treated me to dinner, another culinary masterpiece... then we locked and double locked the motel door against the party in the parking lot and crashed. 

Road Trip Day 5

Today was a great day! We went to the Cave on the Mounds in Wisconsin before we headed back on the road towards Orono, MN. The caves were amazing. Some guy owned all of this farm land and was blasting the land for some reason and discovered a cavern in the ground. The caves are amazing and there are underwater pools, lakes and rivers.

Then we drove to Cathy and Mike Schrock's house where they live with their awesome kids in Orono, Minnesota, right outside of Minneapolis. We had a great home-cooked meal and roasted marshmellows and "some" of us even lit them on fire and watched them burn!!!! It was a great time and it was nice to see some familiar faces. So here's some phtos of our trip!

Two hotties in a cave!

This river and cavern goes back about 130 ft.

Natural Limestone formation

Loves.... a fantastic trucker stop




Alex (Alejandro), Lauren (Sophia Lauren), Mom, and Cathy

Momma's additions: another great day with an almost inedible breakfast at Country Kitchen (how can you screw up eggs?), the Cave of the Mounds and a stopover at Cathy's where we laughed, ate well, did laundry and talked until very late. Cathy, Lauren and Steffi woke early to Walk For The Cure, a wonderful Mother's Day tradition but we had to hit the road. It's not easy to get out of MN as Cathy will attest.

Road Trip Day 4 (Still in Wisconsin)

Today was officially the weirdest and most entertaining day ever! We started our day with a walk on the House on the Rocks resort and once again mom pushed to walk up some mound of physical defeat, but we did it! Then we went for a swim at the pool and headed over to Taliesin, which I mentioned before is Franky LDubs first house. I had no idea how much of a pimp that guy was. During our tour we even discovered that he had a trap door that went from his bedroom to a closet in a downstairs bedroom....nice touch Franky. Apparently he was a short guy and strongly believed that if he made his ceilings low it would push his guests to go to where it was less claustrophobic. It was a neat tour and we were joined by a book club who was touring there after reading a book about him. There was one guy in the club.....hmmm.....I also want to take this time to mention that there was no photography allowed inside the house....but I did get a picture of FLW's famously failed 3 legged chair. I don't know I heard it was famous. My flash went off by accident so that's when I decided I might not be able to get away with it!

On our way to the next attraction we drove by a gallery of an artist that takes old roots of large trees and makes sculptures out of them! So cool!

Then we went to the Famous/Infamous House on the Rocks which is the most fucked up place I have ever seen in my entire life. This guy Alex Jordan built what I like to call Tim Burton's version of Disney Land on a fucking cliff! He collected an absurdly offensive amount of weird shit and placed it all over the house. The dude never lived here but considered it his inspiration. The pictures can't possibly even begin to explain to you how this 3 hour self-guided tour displays some of the most messed up shit this side of the Mississippi! From his dollhouse collection, to gun, circus, china, shag carpetting and organ (not the body, but it wouldn't surprise me) collections and the worlds largest carousel. Needless to say I was scared shitless the entire tour, didn't want to leave my mom's side! This place is guaranteed to make you shit your brains out at Halloween. I'm sorry about all of the cursing but I have no idea how to emphasize this place without a number of exploitives!

Then we decided to head to our next hotel and there we are plugging along and I look in the rearview mirror and see some pretty blue and red lights.... Well hello friend, haven't seen you in a while! Yah, of course, I got pulled over for speeding! My mom and I are looking for the registration in the glove compartment when all of a sudden I hear "BOO". Good thing I wasn't carrying my semi-automatic weapon. I jumped and said "Oh Jesus" and the police officer said, "No, actually it's Max". He explained that I was speeding and asked where we were headed. For some reason we started talking about how we just came from the house on the rock and he admitted he'd never been there. When we told him that it takes about 3 hours to walk through he said "Well, that cuts into my donut time"..... SERIOUSLY! Coolest cop ever and I didn't have to yell or curse or anything to get out of a ticket!!!! Maybe the girls had something to do with it.....yah, you know who I'm talking about!

Anyways, this entry has gotten way too long and I want to show you the pictures from our day and the videos....yah, I just figured out that I can do that! SWEET!
So Wisconsin is one of the weirdest places I've ever been to and I'm pretty sure that there's either something in the water here or maybe being crazy was the cool thing back then!

Mom air golfing

Taliesin

That's right....there's that 3 legged chair! I love being sneaky!

Frank Lloyd Wright's Grave....showoff.....

Tree Sculptures. So sweet!

Entrance to the House of the Rock in the middle of nowhere and a sculpture made by Alex Jordan, a rival of Frank Lloyd Wright's.

The Infinity Room, this is where I freaked the F out!

Alex Jordan's Shag Furniture Man-room

The Friggin Passion-O-Meter said I was a "Dud".....asshole......

The Women's Bathroom........CALL ME!

The World's Largest and Scariest Carousel.

An Airplane in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin.....WTF?

Yah that's right! We got pulled over and I was driving! We were laughing our asses off!!!!

Momma's additions: we packed alot into this day from the sublime to the absurd: the countryside is gorgeous and Taliesen is mecca for Frank Lloyd Wright fans of which we are 2 (the real devotee, Tim Love was really missed): the House on the Rocks is beyond description or even depiction but Eliza comparing it to a Tim Burton theme park is really close: it is a must see but tonight vivid dreams are guaranteed: and, as if these 2 eccentrics, FLW and Alex Jordan (House on the Rock), infiltrated the water, everything and everyone in this area is just a little off kilter: like the police, nice, but what cop says "Boo" when they walk up to your window after pulling you over? Alien abductions and mind altering definitely happen here, definitely.