Personal Post/ /Trip Out West no.1

November 04, 2017

On Friday night of August the 11th, the Dutchmen (our camper), my family, and most of all our belongings left the State's borders and headed west!

This blog post has taken longer to write than this trip actually lasted. So to make a wrap I'm going to divide this trip into several different posts. Because who's got time for that?

While we traveled, Holly and I passed out the little Gideon New Testament Bibles to whoever we came across. I remember the first girl who took one was working at the gas station I got this coffee. Her name was Sarah.

Our first stop, besides the gas stations we went to, was the MinuteMan Missile National Museum which had a lot of information concerning the underground nuclear missiles that deterred war from the Soviet Union. Some missiles are still embedded in the soil of South Dakota today.

Then we went to the Badlands, which are not as bad as they say.

This was just a glimpse of the many rock formations that we were about to see on this trip.

My sister and I got out of the truck and climbed to stretch our legs a bit.

Here's the view from up top.

It seemed like the grassy plains would never end until suddenly a canyon peeked out from behind.

After we visited the Badlands National Visitor's Center, where I purchased The Journals of Lewis and Clark we got serenaded by hundreds of prairie dogs. I don't think we were expecting to see as many as there were. Those little guys are literally everywhere! One of the many bathroom stops we took on the way, the dogs were smelling in a hole in the ground. Me, not thinking went over to observe their discovery and found a little prairie dog hiding in its home.

Wall Drug was our next stop. This place was very neat. Located on the western side of South Dakota, the town is still set up like a trail town with swinging doors and old boardwalks. Gift shops, an old pharmacy, and an old-fashioned restaurant. Which we ate at.

Every since 1931, the establishment of Wall Drug has been giving free water to its visitors. The advertisements have attracted people from all over the world. Here's an interesting article I found about just that:

"The signs are scattered in some very improbable places. In Seoul, Korea: WALL DRUG—6,636 MILES. On Easter Island: WALL DRUG—5,541 MILES. Along the canals in Amsterdam: WALL DRUG—5,387 MILES. In Antarctica: WALL DRUG—10,645 MILES."

As we entered the Black Hills of South Dakota we were greeted with our first viewing of Mount Rushmore.

This was at Crazy Horse Monument. Which is less than 17 miles away from Mount Rushmore.

The hat my dad is wearing in this pic is one he found in Wall Drug!

In the very far building, there were actual Indian dancers performing.

I believe they were from New Mexico. My mom wanted us to go stand by them after their performance and take a picture. As you can see, we didn't do it.

In the same building, there was a big cart full of various sizes of rocks that were sculpted from the actual monument being made. You could give a donation and take one. This one is the one I dug out.