The Corn Palace

Day three of driving across the country to Montana was spent mostly in South Dakota. That is a wide state! Shortly after getting on the road we had to stop at a truck weigh station. My first time ever. I learned that you don't get to know how much your truck weighs. Some guy sits in a building and I guess he gets to see how much you and your truck weigh but it is never displayed to you. You then drive away, guess if your truck is too obese for the road then something happens but I don't know what. Our first gas stop of the day was in Mitchell, SD...home of the world's only corn palace. I know super exciting stuff. Basically there is a building in town that every year they decorate the outside of with corn in some theme. This year's theme is "through the ages" there were pictures of all kinds of transportation from horses pulling wagons to scooters. And all of this was depicted in corn. Crazy. Now the inside of the Corn Palace is a basketball court. DWU or Dakota Wesleyan University plays there. The walls of the basketball court are also adorning some corn decor. To top it off City Hall is right next door to the Corn Palace.
As we drove on through South Dakota I noticed lots of Billboards. South Dakota billboards are not like normal east coast billboards. They are not super high on poles, they are just propped up on the ground with some wood. They are also about a third of the size of billboards that I am used to seeing. Another big difference is what they advertise. Attractions. Yep, they all advertise for attractions in South Dakota. Not phone companies or anything else so corporate but things like Al's Oasis or Antique Western Trading Post. There was also Doo Wah Ditty's Diner, Vet's Whoa n Go, Ray's Western Wear, and Kimball Livestock Exchange. Every once in a while a religious one would pop up. I saw "Jesus died for our sins" and "Abortion, the choice that kills." So basically I would sum it up by saying the roads of South Dakota are littered with cheesy western signs and a smattering of religious one's. However, I have left my favorite signs for last. The Wall Drug signs. All throughout the state I saw signs that said things like, "The Wild West Wall Drug" "Wall Drug, The Remedy for You" "Kids love Wall Drug" "Road Trip Wall Drug" My first thoughts that in these miles and miles of farm land they were growing something strange that was also somehow legal since they could advertise it so much. Then I used my blackberry to google Wall Drug and discovered it's just a tourist attraction in Wall South Dakota. In the 1930's it was a drug store hence the name "Wall Drug." Now though kids can get their pictures taken with some fake dinosaurs, experience panning, and more cheesy western stuff. There's also a restaurant there with buffalo burgers and lots of western art. This is all according to the website by the way.
Some other fun signs: Flinstones Themepark and campground (didn't know such a thing existed), sign for Arby's that next to the Arby's logo read drive thru, casino, buses welcome. Ok an Arby's with a casino? Does anyone else find that odd? Because I do. Guess those types of things aren't too odd in South Dakota though because at our next gas stop I walked into the gas station to use their bathroom and noticed a little room the the left with a sign posted that read, "Must be 21 to enter" my first thought was that there was a small bar attached to the gas station. A closer look allowed me to discover that there were actually slot machines in this room attached to the gas station. Hmm if only I had the time to stop and do some gambling. Oh also in front of this same gas station there was a statue of a Buffalo. I did drive pretty close to Mt. Rushmore today but did not stop and see it. Why? You ask, well because they do not allow trucks with trailers behind them on the park property. I'm in a u-haul carrying my rav 4 behind it on a trailer so no Mt. Rushmore for me. I'll have to make some other time for that in my life. However, I'm a little mad this is a rule there because it prevented me from seeing the famous mountain that someone decided to carve President's faces into. The Corn Palace did not have this rule and I bet you the World's largest Big Mac in PA does not have this rule either.
On to Wyoming...this was the last few hours of the trip and most of it was in the dark and snow. This also made for a bit of a scary ride. At one point we could barely see a few feet in front of us and the snow was covering the road so much that we couldn't tell where the road ended and where it began. This was made even more unsettling when a tractor trailer decided to pass us and kick up a bunch of snow in front of us. We could then not see at all for about a minute. Not fun. Once we got passed the snowy area I felt a little safer. Then I saw a sign for "Crazy Woman Creek" umm excuse me? Who named that? I decided to do some research to see how it got its name. Turns out there are lots of legends and too much for me to type here cuz this entry is already long. So here is the website and if you are curious you may read for yourself. http://www.travel-to-wyoming.com/buffalo/crazy_woman_creek.htm
On that note I'm tired and have to reach my new home of Butte, MT tomorrow. Goodnight.