Day Three - fertig

Wow. Today, my friends…today kicked me square in the arse.

I awoke about 6:30am, planning to get to Rushmore at 8 - according to the .gov website it ‘opens’ at 8am. More on that later.

About 7:15 I head out and find a starbucks. I asked the barista “how far to Mt Rushmore?”

“Maybe 45 minutes or an hour. Yeah.”

“It’s supposed to be twenty-something miles…” I thought. He has no idea.

So - I roll up to Rushmore about 7:41. twenty-some minutes after leaving Starbucks. It’d been open since 7am. The website told me 8 - but 8 is only for the admin buildings. Who cares?
Mount Rushmore - BEAUTIFUL. Truly awesome. I really ‘felt it’

On the way out, I was playing on the radio, “God Bless the USA”. As I pulled around to the exit, low-and-behold? A freakin Mountain Goat was there to say good-bye.

Forget what I said yesterday, THIS GUY is named Stephen Wilds. What’s a little prairie dog gonna do? He needs a new name.

Hitting the highway eastbound, I read all eleventy-thousand “Wall Drug” roadside signs. Holy Cow. I was powerless to resist.

VERY cool - but I suspect the only reason the town of Wall, South Dakota exists is because of this place. Inside:

LOOK OUT, LADY!!!!

So - yeah…I’m tellin’ ya, the wildlife I’ve seen so far has NOTHING on this guy - Behold…the NEW Stephen Wilds. I mean - what’s a mountain goat going to do? Fight this guy?

T-Rex Stephen Wilds roared to life every 12 minutes. Yes, I stood around looking goofy waiting for a big fake dinosaur Stephen Wilds to animate and roar. I’m 35. Way too old for that stuff.

On to Pie. I mean…the ONLY thing I can come up with that tops a Dino, is…Pie. YUM! Blackberry.

No need to salivate - it wasn’t that good. My wife’s pie tastes MUCH better.

Speaking of food. Sioux Falls, SD. Bob’s Cafe Diner. HOLY COW. I’m being as honest as I can when I say I can’t remember eating BETTER where my brother wasn’t cooking.

11 seats inside -

This is the kind of place I DREAM ABOUT when I dream about quitting my job and opening a diner.

The BBQ sauce was spot-on. Sweet without being sugary. A bit of a kick for sure. The ColeSlaw - holy crap - That slaw rocked. I also got a taste of the potato salad. I felt like I’d seen God. Just kidding. But close.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I got into St. Joseph and into my room about 8:45pm. I feel like 700 miles of bad road. Speaking of bad roads. Guys - if anyone lives in Iowa or Missouri. PLEASE call your congressman or woman. IMPLORE them to FIX THE Freakin’ ROADS. I’ve never seen such crap as I29 in my adult life. Bumpy and nasty.

Tomorrow’s a short day for me, with less than 500 miles scheduled. If I get into Metropolis, IL early enough, I might come back and add to this day’s report, in addition to my Day 4 round-up!

Thanks for reading!

Darin