Trip to Minnesota - Day 3
After checking out of the Holiday Inn in Sheridan, Wyoming, Christine and I headed to Hardee's. We went there because we were surprised to see it in our drive through the city the day before. All Hardee's restaurants in Utah had been bought out by Burger King. Christine and I had assumed it was a national takeover.
The people at Hardee's were real nice and even gave us refills on our
orange juice even though it wasn't really their policy to do so. After
breakfast we went to a Holiday gas station and filled up our tank. The
price was $1.10 per gallon -- the lowest we ever saw on our trip.
As we were driving out of Sheridan, we noticed a sign which accurately
displayed the general mood and sense of humor of this quaint Wyoming
community.
So, leaving Sheridan with a good taste in our mouths more or less, we
headed east on Interstate 90. The terrain was somewhat consistent with nothing
but low hills through the rest of Wyoming.
The terrain became less interesting as we went further east. Finally, we were in South Dakota.
We stopped at Spearfish, just inside South Dakota, for lunch at a Wendy's
restaurant. Afterwards we got some more gas we headed east again on I-90 until
we got to Rapid City.
Mount Rushmore
We drove another 45 minutes or so and drove into Rapid City, South Dakota. From there we got off the freeway and went south, guided by numerous billboards, for about 30 minutes until we came to Mount Rushmore.
This National Monument was much less expensive to visit than Yellowstone Park. A measly five dollars bought us a parking permit to stick on the inside of our windshield which is good for all of 1997 (let me know if you're planning on going to Mount Rushmore and I'll do some peeling.)
The area around the monument was under construction as new buildings
were being built along with pathways that will eventually take you to the
most pristine viewing spots below the monument.
There is also a huge amphitheater where a show is put on at night. I also saw some huge spot lights near the amphitheater aimed up at the monument, no doubt for the purpose of evoking some wet eyes during a patriotic program given at the amphitheater.
The picture to the left shows me sitting on the stage of the
amphitheater and was taken from the back row. Select the picture to see a
larger more detailed version showing more of the surrounding amphitheater.
After leaving Mount Rushmore, we drove back through Rapid City and got back on I-90. It was already mid-afternoon by this point and we had another 345 miles to go until Sioux Falls. So, I figured we could make it by around 7:30 or 8:00 if we went fast (e.g. 80 miles per hour. The speed limit was 75) and didn't stop for very long at a time.
Racing down the interstate through South Dakota wasn't so bad. I mean, we weren't missing any sights because, well, there were none. Now don't get me wrong, occasionally one of us would remark "Hey, there's a bunch of cows!" or "Check out that farm house!" but for the most part we found South Dakota to be somewhat boring.
One thing worth mentioning, however, is the parade of billboards giving
you more than ample warning you were approaching the city of Wall,
South Dakota, home of the "World Famous" Wall Drug which offers free
coffee and donuts to newlyweds, war veterans, and pretty much anyone else
who can prove they deserve it.
One of our stops was in Murdo, South Dakota where we got gas and some
friend chicken to go. There's not much to say about Murdo except that they
have gas and fried chicken.
We stopped again in Mitchell which is about 80 miles west of Sioux Falls and arrived in Sioux Falls close to 9 p.m. Yes, nine o'clock. See, we were thinking (and probably had you thinking too) that we could get there by eight. But what we didn't take into account was that we had to cross the time zone boundary right around Murdo. So, we got to Sioux Falls at nine.
When we arrived in Sioux Falls, I spotted a Comfort Inn close to the exit. I ran in and asked if they had any rooms. They said no. Then they regressed and said they had a smoking room with a single queen. I indicated I would not be interested in such. Then they said they also had some "Whirlpool Suites" available. I inquired as to their price. They weren't much more than what we had been paying for our other hotels so we got it.
The Whirlpool Suite was just like any other hotel room except there was a raised whirlpool in corner big enough for two people. It had large mirrors on each wall behind it and was a comfortable distance from the television. Sorry, no pictures.
After dipping in the whirlpool, we slept.
