Day 2- South Dakota, who knew there was so much to see

We slept pretty well, the airmattress and sleeping bags were not a bad way to get some rest. It was a little cold when we woke up, making it difficult to get out of my sleeping bag. But Lindsay was up making breakfast – cut up potatoes. I got to the priorities…straightening my afro before heading outside and onward. I deflated the airmattress and even got the tent packed up. Look at me, a Gander Mountain ad for sure. We got to going, after the packing up the car and such and hit the road, in search of Wall Drug. After 3,000 signs, there’s no way we couldn’t stop and get the free ice water. But first, a scenic detour through the badlands. We stopped to get gas as we exited on Highway 240. Best part of the gas station, other than its western exterior was the prarie dogs on the grass next door. Obviously I chased them. What else are you supposed to do with prairie dogs, pet them? The best part was that one of them didn’t quickly retreat into his hole and he stood at the edge of the hole literally BARKING at me. But it was like this high pitched bark…it was like one of those mini dogs that bark toys. Please see the Friends episode with Emma’s 1^st birthday party…the wind up dog that they use… that’s what it was like. We got in the car and headed for the Badlands. I decided to drive, to allow Lindsay to take pictures as we drove through the scenic by way. Bad idea. After we stopped at the first outlook, we took to the road. And Lindsay decided that she’d take pictures out the sunroof. Sounded logical. Better view and all. But as we drove past the 2^nd outlook, and a little further we heard the whistling of sirens. Great Lindsay, get me pulled over. I looked in the rear windows and found not one, but two US park rangers. Great. I have never been pulled over in my 6 years of driving (knock on wood) and here I am getting pulled over in the middle of the Badlands, South Dakota. I pulled out my license and tried not to laugh as rent-a-cop park ranger with his park ranger approached the vehicle. He was not the least bit friendly or at least personable. I handed him my license and he asked for Lindsay’s as well… informing us the reason that we got pulled over was because I had my passenger hanging out the sunroof. You would think that he could at least say it with a smile…it was kind of a ridiculous thing to get pulled over for. We couldn’t find the car registration, supposedly you don’t use that type of thing in Wisconsin, and he told us it wasn’t a big deal. Alright, at least he gave us that. He returned to his vehicle with his co-ranger. Literally 30 minutes of waiting…listening to our information being broadcast over the radio. Clean record tarnished. Lindsay found it really funny…. And it was. Until the two officers returned. My officer slapped me with a $75 ticket (plus $25 processing fee) ticket for allowing my passenger to hang out the window. He also was quick to inform me that he was “a federal officer, not a state officer”. Well thank you Lindsay, you didn’t get me in trouble with the state of South Dakota, you got me in trouble with the feds. Los federales as my neighbors to the south would say. Co-Ranger slapped Lindsay with a $50 fine for not wearing a seat belt. He was quick to add that he “hopes our day gets better”. Well thanks for the uplift. Our day would’ve been just fine if you would’ve just given us a warning for our seemingly harmless crime. We got out of the Badlands as quick as possible. We did see some goats and the stark beauty of the Badlands on our exit. It was definitely cool, minus the tickets. I mean if we were gonna get $150 in tickets, I wish it would’ve been for something cool. Maybe we should sell our photos…. After we left the Badlands we made it to Wall. Now like I said before roadside oddities are more of my thing… and it was a tourist spot. We drank the free water and I got a picture on a jackalope. So maybe what I saw earlier was really a jack rabbit… but close enough right. I think Lindsay’s just jealous cause she didn’t get to see it. I got a Wall Drug Chocolate Milkshake, which was pretty much like a frostie and we hit the road again. Now as many Wall Drug road signs, there was equally as many for Reptile Gardens. Which is pretty much like Lindsay’s version of Disney Land. However it was already getting late and we had national monuments to see. I am the obvious planner and budgeter on the trip, I like to call it organized spontaneity. It makes me the realist and Lindsay the dreamer. Therefore, she wants to see everything, and I tell her its not possible. So I came to a pretty fair compromise I thought. There was Bear Country USA or Reptile Gardens…she could choose what she wanted to see. Not the ideal situation for Lindsay, but I thought it was pretty reasonable. She decided on Bear Country, and I’m glad she did. It was a drive through wildlife park full of BEARS, elk, wolves, and mountain lions. I was perhaps a little skeptically at how much wildlife we were actually see or if we’d really get to see a bear. But the Bear Country USA did not disappoint. The animals were plentiful and the BEARS were everywhere. Relaxing under a tree, eating hot dog buns, humping each other while wolves watched, rubbing themselves against rocks, playing in the water, crossing roads. Mountain lions were scaling trees. It was awesome. The bears were literally a foot away from our cars. If we weren’t told to keep doors and windows close, we could’ve reached out our window and petted them. My favorite was a lazy bear under a tree who had his paws in the air, just trying to catch some Zzzzs. After the drive through portion, we got to walk along in Babyland. And babies we found. 29 bear cubs were born this year and they were playing and wrestling and running and splashing. It was so funny. The bears were like brothers, wrestling and tumbling down the hills. We could’ve probably watched them for hours, but me and my schedule told us that Thomas, Teddy, Abe, and George were waiting for us. Lindsay stopped in the gift shop to see if she could get a job application and found out they hire in March. We drove on towards Mt. Rushmore, through the little town of Keystone were there was a man in the street in cowboy attire firing blanks in the air. Weird. We made it to Mt. Rushmore. National Monument. God Bless America and it was a sight to see. They look bigger in pictures, but still awesome. Next stop, Crazy Horse. We had a scenic drive through the Black Hills. And to Crazy Horse, which I just wanted to go see to say I’ve seen it. It was one of those. I was sort of disappointed, but hey, at least I’ve been there. We headed out of South Dakota which was a source of miscommunication and debate between Lindsay and I. At some point we had discussed going to Hot Springs and to the Mammoth Site, but it was 5 pm when we left Crazy Horse and I thought we agreed time didn’t allow it. Back to realist/dreamer conflict. But we handled it like adults, we voiced both of opinions, learned from it, and moved on. Now we know we just have to be more clear and communicate better. Day 2, a day of learning. We crossed into Wyoming and got out to take our standard road sign photo. Highway 16 connects South Dakota and Wyoming and we took that through MIDDLE OF NOWHERE USA. Literally nothing. There was trains and some sort of factories. We went through a town called Upton, which claimed to be “The Best Town in the World”. I have a feeling the people of Upton have never left Upton. There was like one gas station, a hair salon, a bar, that was about it. We got back on 90 for a little bit but then stopped in Buffalo to get gas and get some quick McD’s. We decided that we would just find a cheap motel for the night, not that we didn’t want to camp outdoors, but rather that it would take too much time to get the tent set up and we’d rather drive further so we’d have more time in Wyoming. While going to the bathroom at the gas station I found a brochure for the Wyoming Dinosaur Musuem… a solution to Lindsay’s heartbreak about not seeing the Mammoth site. A quick re-route of our path, and we headed towards Thermapolis, once again on 16. According to the road signs, Highway 16 was the “fastest”, the “most scenic” and the “safest”. Alright, sold. It was definitely scenic. Within 2 miles we say about 20 deer. We drove up into the mountains, and saw a killer sunset over the mountains. Dusk came and so did the wildlife in the Bighorn National Forest. We saw a bird fly in front of us and we stopped to see it perched on a nearby tree. An owl. Now that’s a bird. We kept driving and saw snow patches in the forest. We drove a little bit farther and suddenly Lindsay pulled off the road. I was like WHAT?? She did an illegal backup and pointed to what she had seen…. MOOSE. Straight up Moose. Just staring at us. Lindsay told me they were female, and probably wouldn’t charge. Right on. We tried to get good photos but the lighting was not good. Continue onward. It got dark and we were driving through snow capped mountains. We followed this truck pulling a trailer that light up the way for us. Some steep inclines and turns, and we got out of the mountains. We drove through the little town of Tensleep and decided to go a little further to Worland to find a motel. At one point, road construction forced us to drive on dirt roads. We found a Comfort Inn in Worland, but $89 a night seemed a little steep for us so we kept going. We found a Super 8, also $80. I decided to call some other places and found the Town House Motor Inn for $55. Sold. We checked in at the office, which smelled of Indian food. Not sure what the nationality of our host was. But he seem curious about the fact that it was just the two of us. I found it a little bit creepy, not that he gave us any creepy vibes at all, but because I’m hardcore programmed with the “Stranger Danger” mindset. Just incase we put the chair in front of our door and went to bed in our nice wallpapered room. Classy. I had some weird dreams and woke up to our noisy upstairs neighbors would sounded like elephants. And to sleep. In the morning, I realized that this man, who may have been jewish or amish wanted to know if it was “just the two of yous” because it may have appeared weird that two women were okay sharing the same bed. Yep, he probably thought we were lesbians. Not creepy, just small minded. Don’t worry parents, we are being safe. We’ve passed two hitchhikers and didn’t even think about stopping. You raised smart girls, don’t worry.