In search of North Dakota (day 5)

Sunday, May 18, 2008
North Dakota, South Dakota

We slept in, ate the motel's breakfast, got ready for the day, packed the car, and at a little before ten (our standard departure time) we pulled onto I-29 and headed south down the east side of North Dakota. We stopped at a rest stop half way down South Dakota and fixed lunch. When I-29 intersected with I-90 just before Sioux Falls, we turned west and headed off into the sunset (except that it was still the middle of the afternoon, but it would be sunset by the time we traveled all the way across the state to Rapid City).

As we traveled along I-90 we passed a statue of the World's Largest Steer's Head (they seem to be big on things like that here in the Dakotas), the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder (who wrote the Little House on the Prairie books), the Corn Palace in Mitchell, and a statue of what we presumed to be the World's Largest Prairie Dog. Much of the way we listened to the recording of Nicholas Evans's book The Divide.

Midway across South Dakota we stopped at an impressive rest stop that was a Lewis and Clark interpretive museum and that had a scenic overlook of the Missouri River at the spot where two centuries ago the Corps of Discovery encamped on the west bank of the Missouri both going to (in 1804) and returning from (1806) their legendary trip to the Pacific.

Father west we exited the freeway at the east entrance to Badlands National Park and took the scenic loop through the park. Very impressive. Besides the incredible layered rock formations, we saw multitudes of prairie dogs and a couple of antelope feeding.

We rejoined the freeway at Wall and continued west. Though enticed by signs advertising it all the way across the state (and even some as we headed south on I-29 before getting on I-90), we did not stop at the famous Wall Drug.

Just before reaching Rapid City at sunset (we were now back in the Mountain time zone, and it was about 8:30), a dark thunderstorm with violent winds rocked our car and put some raindrops on our windshield). We stayed at our third Country Inn and Suites, were we fixed a late supper in our room.