South Dakota - Day 2

It was a rough night in Sioux Falls. Jaelyn got sick. I'll spare you the nasty details, but I did leave a 'Puke Tip' for the maids the next morning because the room was certainly going to need some extra attention to ready it for the next guests.

Thankfully, when we got up in the morning, Jaelyn was in great spirits and her upset tummy didn't return. We hit the road and headed straight for Mitchell, South Dakota, home of the world's only Corn Palace. I think we agree that we don't need to stop there ever again, but it's important to say that we've been there! :) While exploring a bit of Mitchell, we each came in contact with questionable characters.

From the Corn Palace, we jumped back in the van and headed west. After a quick stop in Murdo, SD for lunch, we could feel the temperature rising. The van thermometer actually showed 110 degrees, but we didn't get that photo. Jaelyn took a nice snooze as we headed toward the Badlands.

Just before entering the Badlands, we stopped at the Rodeo Store in Cactus Flats. Here, we got to purchase peanuts to feed to the prairie dogs. As we got out of the van, we could hear the prairie dogs 'squeaking'. Jaelyn quickly called them 'squeaky dogs'. The name stuck.

The World's Largest Concrete Prairie Dog

So close to touching one!

We then headed into the Badlands. What beautiful country! It was just amazing to see God's creativity.

After the gorgeous sites, we made it to Wall Drug. What an overwhelming experience! We didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but it was impressive. The most fun was racing Des to find each of the Wall Drug signs along I-90. We found over 70 signs, starting in Minnesota. :)

Notice Jaelyn's new 'Squeaky Dog' - you'll see it in most pictures from here to the end of our trip.

Once we satisfied our curiosity about Wall Drug, we headed into Rapid City to find our hotel for the night. What a wonderfully long and busy day. :)