Into the Old West

So, the connection is being annoying and won't let me upload pictures, but I want to update about my drive today while everything is fresh in my head.

Shortly after hopping on the road, I see Buffalo Ridge, a reconstructed mining town, and get it confused with 1880 Town, that Dick suggested I stop and see. I was the only tourist in the place. This 80 year-old man who used to teach high school history in the area basically built this museum and made all the signage himself. It was a complete slice of Americana/the set for a horror movie. I don't know when the last time he walked around the exhibits was, but there were cobwebs everywhere, and dust coating everything.  It was a lot of history, and a little bit of macabre humor...such as the magician sawing a woman in half as she screamed.  I was writing the slasher movie in my head as I walked around...it didn't help that it was a very gray morning.

Luckily, the sun came out as I drove west on I-90. Or unluckily, as my left arm was already sunburned. Anyways, the next stop was the Corn Palace in Mitchell.  Words cannot describe it...and the puns were endless. You'll just have to wait for pictures. I bought corn-cob jelly, microwave popcorn on the cob, and corn on the cob to eat. It's clearly the only reason why Mitchell exists.

I crossed the Missouri River at the same spot as Lewis and Clark.  Dick had told me that the river really divides the state. Everyone to the east is a farmer, everyone to the west is a rancher.  It's like the division between the Midwest and the West.

Then it was onto the real 1880 Town, which was much less sketchy. I had a snack in the train restaurant, and then walked around, taking pictures. They had a reconstructed homestead, stuck about 1/2 a mile from the town. Of course, it would have been much further back in the day.  Made me real glad to not be a pioneer woman.

The day was getting late, but I took a loop through the Badlands, and could hardly stop taking pictures and video. It was just eerie the way it pops out of the prairie without much warning.  That led me into Wall, where I stopped at Wall Drug and got my 5 cent cup of coffee (since I lacked a nickel, I actually put a quarter into the box). Then I needed to scoot on down the road to get to my campsite.

And here I am, in Custer, South Dakota, ready to spend a couple days sight-seeing in the Black Hills. The picture post will have to wait for another time.