July 7

Number of miles traveled: 464
Start: 10:00a CDT - North Sioux City, SD
Finish: 7:30p MDT - Rapid City, SD
Stops: Corn Palace (Mitchell, SD), Badlands, Wall Drug (Wall, SD)

As someone who is a veteran of travelling through the Plains, I have always found it amazing that South Dakota always has much more to offer than either North Dakota and Nebraska. I don't know if Mount Rushmore has anything to do with it, since several of the attractions pre-date "The Rock". But, before we could hit the AAA-wet dream that is South Dakota, we had to take a brief stop back into Iowa to see if we could Dwight a hat with an 'X' on it. After brief negotiations with the staff, the team store was opened for a special purchase. Now all Dwight needs is a 'Z' (New Orleans Zephyrs) and a 'U' (er, uh, mmm?).

First real stop in South Dakota is the Corn Palace, a tribute to the crop that makes the Plains so great. Each year, the exterior building is redecorated with corn husks and various other agricultural products in iconic mural form. What you may not know about the building is that it is also the town of Mitchell's auditorium and is used for concerts and is the home court for several area basketball teams.

This year's theme is "Scenic South Dakota".

Shockingly, many items in the Corn Palace vending machine are not corn-based.

Mt. Cornmore, one of many of the murals depicted inside the palace.

Next stop was the Badlands. And despite what the car passengers may have felt, the gas situation was not as dire as they felt. The gas tank was 20 gallons. We filled up with 18.7. I had a good gallon to play with. More importantly, however, was the purchase of a stuffed prairie dog. The dog has had quite a history, as you can tell from the images below. The final trip of the day was a trip to legendary Wall Drug, a spot that consolidates all crappy gift stores into one handy location. Per usual, I bought nothing.