Day 9
Sunday, 15th June
Badlands and jackalope
Despite the bad beds and pillows (and the enormous mozzie bite on my right calf, which was sore and itching like crazy), slept a little better. Breakfast was a quite miserable affair and there were no seats, so we took a few buns back to our room. After getting some petrol, we set off.
Our first stop was Mitchell, famous only for its Corn Palace, which is unique and (fairly) interesting, but is really just another tourist trap, with lots of shops!
From Mitchell, we continued along I-90 to Chamberlain, down by the Missouri River. We found a McDonalds and enjoyed our 'southern chicken' down by the riverside. Life doesn't get much better than this!
Onwards and onwards and onwards - mile after mile after mile of unchanging prairie (although it did get a bit bumpier west of the Missouri) on a beautiful, warm sunny day! We turned off at Badlands National Park and bought a National Parks card (now much more expensive at $80!). We made several stops along the loop road amidst the glorious bleak beauty! Had to watch out for rattlesnakes! Lots of photos!
Wall Drug Store beg you to visit, on billboards which stretch back for over 300 miles along I-90, so we had to stop! For starters though, I didn't like leaving the car (with all our luggage) parked outside; it didn't appear to be very safe; I'm not sure why. Wall Drug Store itself turned out to be an American Trago Mills, filled with tack and expensive rubbish! There were a few novelties, such as the jackalope and the bucking bronco (which didn't move) and the tyrannasaurus rex (which made a shocking noise, had glowing eyes and moved its head - but I would've liked to have seen it galloping out into the courtyard!) and the free ice water (which was not cold, tasted disgusting and, everybody I saw who tried it, took one sip and tipped the rest onto the ground!). Needless to say, we didn't stay long, but there were a few photo opportunities!
A hour or so later, we were in Hill City and esily finding our Storm Mountain Creekside cottage, even in the dark! We could not appreciate the surroundings all that well, because of the light, but the cottage was very nice! A large open-plan sitting-room, dining room and kitchen, one bedroom downstairs (mine!), plus a bathroom (with washer/dryer) and upstairs there were two further bedrooms, a bathroom and a loft area with bunk beds. Everything was clean and comfortable. Hill City was filled with shops, restaurants and a convenient Subway, where we went for pulverised tuna sandwiches! We also looked around the very handy and well stocked Krulls Market, for bits, including delicious cheesecake and washing stuff to wash my knickers!
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[ Introduction ]
[ Day 1 ]
[ Day 2 ]
[ Day 3 ]
[ Day 4 ]
[ Day 5 ]
[ Day 6 ]
[ Day 7 ]
[ Day 8 ]
[ Day 9 ]
[ Day 10 ]
[ Day 11 ]
[ Day 12 ]
[ Day 13 ]
[ Day 14 ]
[ Day 15 ]
[ Day 16 ]
[ Day 17 ]
[ Day 18 ]
[ Day 19 ]
[ Day 20 ]
[ Day 21 ]
[ Day 22 ]
[ Day 23 ]
[ Day 24 ]
[ Day 25 ]
[ Day 26 ]
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