Little known spots of Wyoming & South Dakota

We are in Canada right  now but I will be reflecting back on some of the fun and a few odd times we had in Wyoming and South Dakota.  We had a serendipitous meeting with our friends Lisa and Michael in Glendo, WY. They were making their way across America to move to Logan and we just happened to be close enough to meet up. We met up at the only restaurant in town there and had breakfast together. It was a great little place with quite the trophy room. We loved being able to see them and their cute baby! They are the adventurous type and so it was really fun sharing our stories together. 

Michael, Lisa and baby Burton

The random restaurant we ate at

 We went to Wind Cave NP where we saw prairie dogs (love them they are so cute to me!), we also coyotes, and more pronghorns. We went on a cave tour there that had boxwork on the ceiling. I know what the heck is that? It is just how the deposits and time have eroded and formed these spider web looking intricate design on the ceiling of the caves.

Inside the cave

The boxwork on the ceiling of the cave, they have the largest amount of boxwork in these caves in the world. I'm sure geologists will appreciate this.

We made it to Mt.Rushmore and it was very awe inspiring. It was interesting learning about how they were able to create it and through all the challenges of making it they kept on pushing forward to make it a reality. 

And most importantly we learned that Thomas Jefferson helped bring ice cream to America with his classic vanilla recipe. So he might be my favorite President now.

Carolina, Carolina.

What they originally planned to have them look like, lots more work I'm sure.

Matt getting good use out of his Binoculars

We survived a terrible storm in Black Hills with 70 mph winds and crazy lighting! It was all around us! We waited it out in our car and then set up our tent again.

The church behind our tent was our beacon of hope during the storm

 We went to the Badlands in South Dakota. It reminded us of Bryce canyon in Utah but with grass.

After the badlands we drove towards Mitchell. Where they have the world's only corn palace. They decorate the outside of this community center with corn every year. They do different themes and designs each year, entirely out of corn. Impressive but a funny idea too. On our way to Mitchell we also stopped at Wall Drug store. This place is so random and is a must see. Don't worry if you forget about it later and you find yourself unknowingly driving towards it because there are sooo many billboards about it to peak your curiosity. The first use of the billboard to bring customers in was started here. It originally just advertised free ice water, which I guess was a rarity back then. They have lots of little shops selling toys, camping gear, cowboy boots, fudge, etc!!! They also have exhibits for random things like a T-rex, mining, splash pad, you name it they've probably got it. 

Outside the corn palace

The Corn Palace

The randomness that is Wall Drug store

Supposedly this bear is 18 feet tall on its hind legs, he was huge but we were not convinced.

We also found another Pizza favorite place. This place was so fun because it was in a small town and everyone knew each other there. It was a buffet of pizza but it was really good and they had creative pizzas. They also would make any pizza you wanted if it wasn't out on the buffet. They are Christian owned chain store and had lots of funny motivational quotes on the wall. Their root beer was an equivalent to Brick oven's root beer so I was really happy too.