WFRV

A ferocious thunder clap awakens us at 6:25am, five minutes
before our alarm goes off. Thank you, Mother Nature. Thankfully it's not
raining. During my morning shower Ben calls out what I think is "Mom!" and
I shout back "Yes?" I'm greeted with hysterical laughter and find out that
what he'd really yelled was "Scum!" We're on the highway by 8am and the
speed limit is now 75. Corn fields have become pasture and there are a lot
of cows, soon to be slaughtered, ground up with a hundred other cows, and
turned into your hamburger, which will be 56% corn.

As the miles go by the pastures and cows disappear. The terrain
turns hillier and the grass is short and yellow. This is prairie; Dances
With Wolves was filmed here. The few sturdy evergreens that dot the
landscape seem stunted; the wind is strong and rocks the RV constantly.
There's also construction all along the highway; often the two lanes funnel
into one and we're sandwiched between two eighteen-wheelers with Jersey
barriers on either side. A tight grip on the wheel is necessary; perhaps
the cut on my finger has healed so fast because it's been pressed together
for hours on end.

We've been seeing signs for Wall Drug for hours. "Wall Drug,
200 miles", "Wall Drug As Seen In The Herald Tribute", "Wall Drug As Heard
On Good Morning America". It's a pharmacy that's been around for decades,
and in the 1930's the proprietors decided to attract customers by offering
free ice water to those making the hot and dusty ride through South Dakota.
The owners littered the highways with billboards which stayed up until the
1965 Highway Beautification Act brought most of them down (you can see the
important work Congress was doing while the Vietnam War was going on). But
some of the signs are still out there and people have sent in photos of
themselves holding up Wall Drug signs at the Acropolis in Greece, in the
Arctic and Antarctic, in Vietnam. The photos are on the walls in the store
which is a block long and full of more schlock than you've ever seen. The
town of Wall subsists on tourism now, although it's also the beginning of
the loop to the Badlands. We decide to forgo that trip; after yesterday's
12-hour drive we'd like to get where we're going as soon as possible.

When we enter the Black Hills there's no flat land anymore; the
RV roars up steep inclines and brakes down again, up and down. Tall spires
of pines fill the mountainsides and the road curves constantly. Finally we
see the Mt. Rushmore KOA, and it's a fancy one. It's recently been acquired
by KOA's largest franchisee and millions have been put into it. The grounds
are huge and accommodate tents, RVs, vans and campers as well as small and
large cabins; there's a restaurant, swimming pool, water slide, mini-golf,
movie house, ice cream parlor, laundry, pizza shop, and a few stores. The
motorcycles we've seen on the highway across the state have multiplied
tenfold; they're here for the 2006 Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis, SD.
One man tells us he's here from CT; he rode 1900 miles in 4 days and would
have made it in 3 if he hadn't broken down on the way. He walks as if he's
been on a horse for a week and once again I'm reminded of cowboys. We swim,
play mini-golf, go out to eat, learn some card tricks, and go to bed. It's
in the 50's and the RV temperature drops to 65. We're glad we brought some
fleece blankets.

# posted by LDW @ 1:43 AM