Day 4: Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park

Fun Fact #1: Today the odometer reached 1,004 total miles driven since Sunday. That's 1/5 of the total miles of our trip.
Fun Fact #2: So far, gas prices have ranged from $3.81 to $4.09.
Fun Fact #3: Prairie Dogs carry the plague.

Here's a sneak peek at the Mt. Rushmore photos. Click HERE to see the rest of the photos from Day 4.

We got up at 6:30 this morning so we could meet Brother and Mother Simpson at Mt. Rushmore. I was filled with mass quantities of glee when we hit the interstate and saw that the speed limit was 75 m.p.h. For once, I was legal! 75 means 85 though, right?

We got to Mt. Rushmore at 12:45 and met up with The Simpsons and walked the trail beneath the monument including a stop at the Rushmore artist's (Guston Borglum) studio. I don't know that we'll ever make it back there, but it's a very cool place for a few hours. The story of how the monument was created is remarkable, not Hoover Dam remarkable, but pretty cool. You'll have to visit yourself (or Google it) to find out more. We had a great, but short time with The Simpsons and then had to part ways. They went off to a casino and then the KOA campground for the night. Last night, they were pelted with marble sized hail. We all make choices in our lives...

We headed the opposite direction to Badlands National Park in Interior, South Dakota. The Badlands is a natural erosion masterpiece in the middle of the lush grassland of South Dakota. On one side of the road, there is green prairie grass as far as the eye can see. On the opposite side, spires of layered rock spanning millions (I mean 6,000) years as far as your peepers take you in that direction.

The park is also filled with both small and large woodland creatures. According to the ranger, there are about 125 big horned sheep and we were fortunate to see five of the tubby goats stuffing their fat faces with 40 pounds of the aforementioned lush greens. According to the warning signs, you're not supposed to come within 300 feet of them or they will impale you with their headgear. Whatever.

Next on the wildlife checklist were 32,968 plague carrying prairie dogs. No, fun fact #3 was not a joke, not a funny ha ha. Apparently, the little jerkfaces spread the plague to anyone within 100,000 miles of them. Do not handle them, let pets near them, lick their fur, none of it. Whatever. Next stop, Sage Creek Basin Overlook and a herd of roaming buffalo. They are basically 2,000 pound pigs except not as tasty. They wallow in dirt like 8 year-olds concocting mud pies. Apparently, they'll attack you just for looking at them wrong, so, you guessed it, another warning. "Don't mess with buffalo. They will kill you for the mere joy of killing. They didn't call the guy from Silence of the Lambs "Buffalo Bill" for nothing. These beasts have got a rep and they will destroy you." That's basically how the warning read.

It got late so we headed out of the Badlands for Wall, South Dakota, home of the famous WALL DRUG. Why anyone goes out of their way to see this crapfest, I'll never understand. Imagine Branson, Missouri with a Native American slant, vomiting in a warehouse with an old west motif. That's WALL DRUG. It felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone written by Matt Groening. I don't get all the hub-bub. We got the H outta there and never looked back because we were once again legal at 75 m.p.h. all the way to Spearfish, South Dakota and the Fairfield Inn where I must now rest my weary noggin.

In case you were sleeping up top, click HERE to see the photos from Day 4.

Next stop: Day 5 in Missoula, MT