Road Trip 2019 Day 1: Lots of Driving and Bandlands

Day 1 - 22 June 2019

The start of our road trip!
We had spent the night before making sure everything was all packed up and staged in the living room so we could load up the Mazda nice and quick. That 4:45am alarm was still not welcome, even though it signaled the start of vacation. We got ready, loaded up, and out the door at 6:08am. We were shooting for 6, so I’d say that was a good start. Our original plan was to head to Urban Joe’s for a coffee and a quick bite, but we found out that they didn’t open until 8am, so we were already making changes to our very detailed plan. We opted for a waffle at home and a stop at Grebe’s for some coffee and donuts to start the day. As we get into the car, the first (and only) mishap for the day occurred. Ross sat on his sunglasses, breaking them. .1 miles and 10 minutes into our trip.....maybe we should turn back. The house is right there. But, we decided one pair of broken sunglasses shouldn’t deter us, so we hit the open road. 

Our real stop was in Rochester, MN to get gas and some brunch. Ross found a little hippy vegan place called Old Abe’s. We shared a sriracha brat and a BLT. The brat was alright, but the BLT was out of this world. We haven’t had bacon in a while, but I bet most people wouldn’t have been able to tell there was no actual bacon in that sandwich. I want another one. I also picked up a cool “Nope” pig shirt that matches one of the stickers on my derby helmet. It came into handy only a few hours later.
After fueling the car and our bellies, we were back on the road. We saw our first Wall Drug sign saying it was only 355 miles away. At 2pm we unceremoniously crossed into the border of South Dakota. About 45 minutes later we decided that we had a little time to stop at Sioux Falls. Little did we know the falls are right next to a Smythfield processing plant. The falls are pretty neat and you can walk all around them without guard rails. Proceed at your own risk! It was a little chilly and breezy, but there were plenty of people around, a family picnic, and a wedding party taking photos. We explored for about 15 minutes then headed out.


 We had to make a quick stop at the Smythfield plant and take a sad photo in front of the pig statue that had a heart on it. We don’t think any of those pigs are too happy about being there. Glad I bought that Nope shirt! After one more gas stop in Sioux Falls we headed for the Badlands!

The drive was pretty easy, with one small stint of heavy rain. We crossed into Mountain Standard Time and arrived at the Badlands about 5:40pm. Watching the scenery change as we got closer to the Badlands was pretty neat. I thought the first hints of the terrain change was actually just a quarry, so when we drove a little farther and I saw the Badlands in the distance, I was already in awe. We picked up our free for military Annual National Parks pass right at the entrance to the park. The ranger gave Ross a jokingly hard time as we got our passes (probably because I out-rank him), but within a few minutes we were in the park. We pulled over at the first scenic overlook, which was right after the entrance. I have never seen anything like the Badlands. It looks fake from a distance! We took a few photos and moved onto the spot that had a few short trails to hike on. Even though I wasn’t wearing my hiking shoes we jumped off the boardwalk trail and did a little exploring. I have so many questions about these formations. Are they glacier poop? Did giant ants or termites build them? Most likely just aliens. I enjoyed seeing the different layers of color on the formations. Are they really millions of years old? They seem so fragile when we were walking around. 
On our drive out of the park we stopped to see a few young Big Horn Sheep. Some were very young and had no horns. A few other on the side of the road had medium horns. Two of them were wearing trackers around their necks. Right before we left the park we saw a bunch of cars pulled off to the side. BISON!  We joined the line of cars to see how close we could get without getting a bison into the side of the car. The line of cars was pretty long, so I jumped out to get a little closer. One of the majestic beasts started to slowly wander in my general direction, so I decided it would be best to get back in the car. Ross was already turning the car around, I jumped in, and off we went. 
We had one more quick stop before dinner and hotel. The incredibly famous, national treasure: WALL DRUG. It was a little after 8pm, so most of the shops were closed. Darn. We did get our free ice water! No souvenirs for us. 

It was getting late and we still wanted dinner. We headed for the Firehouse Brewing Company in Rapid City. After some Beyond Burgers, somewhat slow service, and a slightly socially awkward waiter, we were ready for bed. We made it to our hotel and tucked in for the night at 11 pm. Phew! Day one was a resounding success!!

Stats:
Miles Driven: 880
Hours of Travel: 18
States Traveled Through: 3
Steps: 9,459
Miles Walked: 4.5

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