Start: Wal-mart, Pierre, SD
Stop: Wal-Mart, Sheridon, WY
450 miles.
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This was a travel day with two stops – Wall Drug and Mt. Rushmore:
Wall Drug, such hype, but a big let down:
it used to be cool. An unexpected quirky stop in the middle of nowhere on the 90. But now it is a tourist trap – with other stuff sprung up all around it and the merchandise dumbed down for the masses. I guess if you’ve never been, give it a shot, but if you’ve been there 20 or more years ago, you won’t like the “improvements”.
Next up.. Mt Rushmore. It has grown amazingly as well. And not for the better. The new visitor center is impressive, but detracts from the main attraction – the Presidents!
You used to walk through trails and have lots of different perspectives. Now they took out a big chunk of the lower mountain and built a visitor center, gift shop and amphitheater:
Then they march you right up and show you the statues:
I liked it better when you would see them from a number of different perspectives and framed by trees and rocks. We didn’t stay long. After the obligatory “we were there shot”
the ladies headed for the gift shop and the boys headed for better photographic opportunities (which involved violating the “stay on path” signs):
Then we headed over Rt. 16 through some lovely country in the Black Hills, and into Wyoming.
Again, driving a long way, we headed for the Wal-Mart in Buffalo before discovering our map software was wrong – there wasn’t one! So off to Sheridan we went. Along the way the sun set and NATURALLY, I got out and took some shots:
More later, and panoramas.
July 11th, 2009 at 7:27 am
450 miles including a full National Park visit stopping only at 11PM! Beyond my range of travel. Who was propping open the eyes and brain of the driver?
July 11th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Actually tonight we got in around 9. We stopped for dinners and lunch. And I stopped to take pictures. I wasn’t tired at all. It was still daylight when we parked.
Day 39… I was tired, but not sleepy. I have to do most of the driving as Paula seems to have trouble controlling the RV.
July 11th, 2009 at 9:07 am
You missed the idiot protesters at Mt Rushmore by only a couple of days. So are you ready to head home yet or still having fun? Are you headed for Yellowstone?
July 11th, 2009 at 9:52 am
There were idiots up there messing up pictures for everybody, but they were some kind of guided tour by the forest service. I avoided them through clever waiting.
Having fun… yes. I’m in a groove. I wish I didn’t have to drive as much, but safety first! I think Paula is ready to be home.
Next up Cody, as we hold up waiting for camps in Jackson. Then down through Yellowstone, into Jackson. Then a homeward express.
July 11th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Not much in Buffalo. It’s where the only decent road through the southern Big Horns come out.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:08 am
No reminiscing stop in Logan?
Is your RV allowed on the roads in Yellowstone? And if so, does the presence of such monsters degrade the park experience for everyone else? Or is the Yellowstone road just an I-15 with trees?
July 12th, 2009 at 11:00 am
We may stop in Logan. But we will be there in Sept for the Uta State chamionship so the urgency isn’t high.
Not in Yellowstone yet. I don’t think RVs detract. We have to typically walk quite a bit farther to the places. Quite a hike at Rushmore, for isntance.
July 12th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Big motorhomes are allowed. $25 seven day pass, same as cars but there’s only one place to camp in them, Fishing Bridge at $35, others camp for $18.50. Tourists drive the one figure eight, two lane asphalt road, and some short spurs to scenic holes.
The “experience”, except for bears and mountain lions, walks all over you and has the right of way. Only big motorhomes can intimidate the bison, not some puny car. A single critter often stops traffic while the
city folks and stinky sandaled vegans blaze away with high powered lenses. Boiling springs are a long walk from parking lots. The detraction comes from fear of breaking through a crust and braising your lower leg.
Most tourist would love their hero’s bus conversion (a $350,000 RV) to pull up and autograph their shorts!
July 12th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
RVs are very common with lots of places to pull out and view scenery. Speed limit is 45 thru most of the park. If there’s any wildlife to be seen while driving, if you can’t pull over to get out (which was usually the case today with the RV) every other vehicle was crawling along, so you had plenty of time to see and photography w/o holding up traffic since no one was going anywhere quickly anyway.