Badlands and Rushmore

Hi, everyone,

We had a great day and covered a lot of ground. Started in the Badlands, a 35 mile loop that runs through some of the most surreal scenery we've ever encountered. We've heard it compared to the moon; that's a fair description. Geologists say this will all be gone in 500,000 years, so if you want to see it, book your trip soon.
We visited the famous Wall Drug in Wall, SD. We didn't know it was famous until yesterday when we saw the signs all the way from Mitchell saying things like, " as seen in Time" or "as seen on ABC." Wall Drugs was started by a pharmacist in 1931. It was during the Depression and business wasn't good. His wife came up with the idea of advertising up and down the highway that free ice water was available. It started to bring people off the highway and the rest is history. I saw a 1988 newspaper clipping that said the establishment took in $4M and employed 200 people. The founders of Wall died in the late '90s. Currently, grandchildren own/operate it. Read all about it at: http://www.walldrug.com/

Finally, we drove to the Black Hills to see Mt. Rushmore. It was everything I thought it would be. I love history and love the story of how the monument came about. The sculptor, Guzman Borglum, needed startup money. A lawyer by the name of Rushmore gave him $5000 and they named the mountain after him! Did you know there is a room behind Lincoln's head where Borglum hoped to store important American documents? He died before it could be finished but the Park Service put a time capsule there so future generations would know the story in the event weathering obliterates the sculpture.

We may go back to the Black Hills tomorrow to see Crazy Horse or we may just drive on to Deadwood and be there in time for a shootout.

Stay tuned...

Carolyn