Miles: 773
Pass: Sioux Falls, Crosse
Visit: Wall Drug, Badlands National Park, Mitchell Corn Palace
Date: 05/31/2008
Today, I feel as though there is a little man living inside my head. His name is Chud and he is a miner. I generally don't mind him rooting around my head, but today he has begun digging. I can feel his jackhammer pounding against the interior walls of my skull and it is driving me crazy! I don't know what he is after, but I hope he gets it soon!
Driving throughout South Dakota showed me a type of boredom I have never experienced before. Perhaps the epic grassy plans or the reflective concrete roads sucked all the juices out of me or the beer I drank last night has simply left me dehydrated. I can't say I’ve gotten used to the endless driving, in fact I have begun to hate it more. Luckily today is our last day of 10+ hour drives.
Last night was my last hurrah. Ever since Amarillo, TX I have been very apprehensive about drinking alcohol. However I decided to finally kick up my heels and have fun. The night began down in the hotel bar with Kara, Mary and I. Soon Dr. Laythe a handful of our trip members were down commiserating as well.
Everyone was having a great time and for once I actually felt as though I were a part of the group. Negativity and bad feelings went out the window this night and everyone was simply happy to be around each other. Dr. Laythe was in such a good mood that he challenged us to lead a verse of “Minnie the Moocher” by Cab Callaway to the drunken audience. Jokingly he offered automatic A’s if we completed his challenge.
After about 30 minutes of scrambling and coaxing bar goers to sing along, the idea fizzled out. I’m not sure if it was sheer embarrassment that extinguished our efforts, or just our blood alcohol contents. Either way, we did not receive automatic A’s. However the night was still a barrel of fun and I made it out alive.
Hidy hidy hidy hi. (Hidy hidy hidy hi. )
Hody hody hody ho. (Hody hody hody ho.)
We are on our way to god I don't know. I think we are aiming to Madison, Wisconsin, but if we make it there I will be very suppressed. I don't doubt the abilities of our drivers or our crew, but we are all at each other’s throats. I can't say Carrie and I are on good terms yet, but we have developed a silent understanding. She leaves me alone and I leave her alone.
Understand, I’m not a bitter person, nor do I like holding grudges. However with Carrie, I simply do not want to put up with her immaturity and phobias anymore. I know she doesn’t like me very much right now, but if we don't talk for the remainder of this trip I won't be upset.
Our first stop along the barren South Dakota grasslands was a small town know as Wall. The reason the town is named wall is because of its location on the "wall' or outermost border of the badlands. We pulled into the "Wall Drug" tourist trap/gift shop at 8:05am. The reason I say tourist trap, is because the place had no relevance other than it sold stuffed jackalopes and other assorted nick-naks.
I hate places like this. "No thanks I don't want a South Dakota spoon, nor do I want genuine cowboy chocolate:" places like Wall Drug are only is business because of the gimmicks they sell. These stops have no personality and exemplify American consumerism and capitalism. I'd rather experience the small shops and markets of the towns and cities than go to a tourist mall out in the badlands.
Perhaps I am not giving Wall Drug a chance... I mean the place was pretty cool, but I doubt it will be making my top ten moments after this trip has ended. Back on the road we drove and drove. Eventually we stopped for lunch around noon at some middle of nowhere rest area. This place was truly barren. South Dakota is a very beautiful area, but there is just nothing around! At this stop I finally gave my presentation on The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner. I can’t say that I was completely comfortable or that I gave a great presentation. I could have studied the book more and I could have outlined my presentation better. However I did gave a fairly good report.
I really enjoyed this book and I can understand why Dr. Laythe enjoys Stegner’s work. Stegner is analytical, historical, and he realistic. Wallace Stegner puts his entire soul into his writing and often becomes autobiographical. Dr. Laythe, like Stegner has also endured many hardships growing up. Dr Laythe has even expressed that this novel aligns very closely with his life.
After our lunch we packed into our cramped vans a left for Wisconsin. We still had many hours of travel time ahead and I was beginning to feel sick. I’m beginning to think that any sickness I have had on this trip is due to my “road diet.” This diet consists of: pretzels, granola bars, vitamin water, and junk food for dinner. Though I could be eating far worse foods, I am beginning to feel a tire form round my waist and I am freaking out.
Badlands outside of Wall Drug, we passed through the Badlands National Park. The park though open and typical of South Dakota, offered incredible geological formations. Originally a dried out lake bed, tectonic plate movement and the forces of erosion, created the deep cavers and ridges that run throughout the badlands. The area is also very dry and inhospitable to humans, thus giving it the name “Badlands.”
Our final stop for the day and the entire trip was the Mitchell Corn Palace! That’s right the corn palace! Okay so maybe it’s not very well known, but it is a corny place! Har, har, har. Oh god… I’ll keep this brief. The corn Palace is a building covered in ears of corn that resemble different things. The theme for this year was “everyday heroes.” Despite the hokey corn artwork, the place had little to offer other than gift shops! Again, we were at another tourist trap! Arg… I am so sick of tourist traps.
All right, so we go back on the road sometime between 2:00pm and 9:21pm and made it to Minnesota sometime between 3:30am and 5:23pm. Okay, so I lost track of time, but you would too if you were driving in a van for over 15 hours!
Afterthoughts:
Its late man... I mean its really freaking late, Driving through Minnesota was like someone extinguished the suns fires and hid the moon. The sky was ominous and hanging over our caravan the way death stalks an elderly man. Every so often the winds would smack against the side of our vehicles and force our struggling tires to group the road surface.
Its the time of night were your eye balls begin to dry out and your hands start to shake. Your mind cannot focus on anything other than simple tasks and it feels as though your head is locked inside a vice. Thank god for coffee, I doubt I would have made it through this dreadful drive with out it.
Tomorrow at this time I will be home. I will have crossed the Mississippi one final time and I will lay my feet on familiar ground once again. I miss home and I will miss the west. However my time is up and my bags are packed. It is time to go home.
"They say seeing is believing, so I left myself to travel. I soon became experienced and my soul turned into gravel. I turned every stone and opened every door, like before. The sun was hardly shining it was 6 am or nearer.” –The Guess Who
After, Afterthoughts:
I'm just like everyone else, I hurt and I feel. I’m self-conscious and I don’t think much of myself. I realized how similar we all are after my experience at the hotel bar last night. I have developed bonds on this trip that are going to be hard to break. Even if I don’t talk to certain people I have grown close to after this trip, I will always remember their words and our time spent together in the American West.
I'm really going to miss these people...
“Of course everyone goes crazy over such and such and such. We made ourselves a pillar, but we just used it as a crutch. We were certainly uncertain; at least I’m pretty sure I am. Well we didn’t need the water, but will just built that good-god dam. Oh and I know this of my self.” –Modest Mouse
Badlands National Park
Wall Drug, South Dakota
Mitchell Corn Palace
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