Anna's Awesome Adventures!!!: Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, & More

Today we woke up at 5:45, got all our stuff together and loaded in the car, and headed for a nice breakfast of cereal, hard boiled eggs, apple fritters, and milk. We drove across the Missouri River on a really cool bridge, then back on I-90, where we saw the Black Hills -- lovely, rolling, and knoll-like. They are very interesting and fun to look at. Of course, we also saw plenty of cattle, plus cute little baby calves!

We took exit 110 to get to Wall Drug, in Wall, South Dakota, which we had seen about 200 billboards for! We were excited to see what it was like. There was plenty of parking a short walk away from Wall Drug, which has all regular drugstore-type items, plus collectibles for the state of South Dakota and specifically Wall Drug. They have a cafe with many items available, plus an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. Although it was only 9:30 AM, we all enjoyed a scoop of their homemade ice cream. I tried peach and it was excellent! Wall Drug also has some history boards/displays, a bookstore, a candy shop, clothing, and historical Western figures, including Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and Billy the Kid that you can pose with. All of this is in one building...I know, it sounds crazy. Go check it out!

Next stop was Mount Rushmore. There, you can (obviously) view George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln etched in stone on...what else? Mount Rushmore! You can also view an excellent 15-minute video on the building process, go through the museum, browse the bookstore, and more. An Indian dancing class was taking place when we were there, and we also saw Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson impersonators. On the way out, we noticed a sign by the gift shop announcing that Don Clifford, one of the workers on the project, was there and signing books! Matthew and I got his book, took pictures with him, and enjoyed seeing such an amazing guy. He worked from 1938 to 1940, and he's about 92 years old. So cool!

Next, we progressed onward to Crazy Horse, which is still a work-in-progress. We had lunch under the shade of some trees before beginning our expedition. There is an excellent museum there with many Indian artifacts; extensive history on Crazy Horse; wonderful views and picture-taking opportunities of Crazy Horse; a 20-minute video on the building; and a gift shop selling books, jewelry, and Native American products. It was very interesting.

Finally, we left the Black Hills, taking a short jaunt to go see Terry Peak, a ski area in Lead, South Dakota. Going on, we smelled smoke and saw haziness in the air, and we even saw big clouds of smoke in some places...but never any flames. I'm sure they were small wildfires. We stopped in Spearfish for gas, crossed into Wyoming around 6 PM, and enjoyed seeing yet another new state. We even got to see some pronghorn antelope happily grazing right alongside cattle. By 8:15, we were at our Best Western in Sheridan, and unloaded our bags. This hotel is very nice and has a restaurant where we had dinner. I tried the taco salad, Grandma had the chef's salad, and Matthew had pasta. All very good!