This Friday we drove all the way across South Dakota. (Yes, that is a giant buffalo/pyramid sculpture on the side of the road by the way). We made several stops along our harrowing journey.
Al’s Oasis advertised itself as the biggest rest stop for the next 200 miles. We figured we better listen to Al and stop. We went into the grocery store and Chip found this sweet hat!
The hat has a little gopher on it with a target over its face. All those boxes are shotgun shells. And yes, this was all in the grocery store.
Outside of Al’s we met a friendly buffalo herd.
Chip and this bison beauty really shared something special.
I, on the other hand, shared a deep, intellectual conversation about literature and economics with Billy the Buffalo, the elder of the herd.
Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our new bison friends. The next few hours went like this: drive, drive, sing really loud to good song that comes up on Ipod shuffle, drive, eat some peanuts, drive, drive, drive, drive, Chip complains, drive, drive, eat some peanuts, drive, Chip complains, drive, drive, drive…
Finally we made it to our next wack, tacky roadside attraction! Wall Drug, South Dakota!
Wall Drug began in the 1930s as a small pharmacy. Business was struggling for Ted Hustead and his wife Dorothy. They weren’t getting enough business from just filling prescriptions and a few soda fountain customers, so one day Dorothy came up with an idea. Why not advertise free ice water on billboards leading up to Wall? Then, hot and thirsty travelers would stop for the water, and maybe buy something else from the soda fountain as well! Turns out, their plan worked…
This was before the days of Deer Park and Aquafina, people. Wall Drug then exploded over the years into the biggest tourist trap known to humankind.
Just an animitronic dinosaur.
The famous jackalope of South Dakota. This is a real animal.
And the coffee here is still 5 cents. That was worth the trip alone.
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