Rapid City, SD

First: this is my 100th post! Thanks everyone for making it this far! And second: a big shout-out to my newest fan, Kathy in Mississippi. Tell all your friends!

Wyoming is officially a whole lot of nothing. But a very pretty nothing. I got up early yesterday to tackle the latest 10-hour driving segment, to Rapid City, SD, straight across Wyoming. Bonuses included seeing the sun rise opposite the Grand Tetons, seeing wild buffalo, elk and pronghorn antelope grazing by the side of the road, and miles upon miles of unimpeded, high-speed, scenic driving. The downside of so emptiness became apparent when I had to pee--it was another hour before a rest stop or gas station presented itself. And at 80 miles an hour, let's see, that's at least 80 miles between gas stations, with nothing else in between. No homes, no restaurants, no nothing. Like I said, a whole lot of nothing. The first part of the drive was gorgeous. Around about Casper, the landscape downshifted into canyons and grassy plains; no more mountains. (Look at me; now I'm even talking in car metaphors. Sheesh).

Rapid City, SD, is...well, it's civilization, I'll give it that. Mostly it's a jumping-off point for the various touristy sites around. Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer's Last Stand, Badlands National Park, Deadwood, etc. I haven't seen so much family-oriented tackiness since Fort Worth. "Pan for gold in this extremely well-trodden patch of dirt!" "See wild bears from your car at Bear Country USA!" "Shop at Mt. Quiltmore!" Gag. Not even a decent place to have dinner. I went to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse last night, and I can officially tell you all that you can skip them. Like Yellowstone, they are way overrated. Interesting, but seriously overrated, and crawling with screaming kids. The upside to Mt. Rushmore: I discovered that they sell magnets for every state in the gift store. My friend T asked me to get her a magnet from every state I went to, envisioning a refrigerator festooned with state magnets, I guess. And now I don't have to shop for any more magnets: T, you have a full set of all the states now, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as British Columbia, Ontario and Mexico.