My dad decided back in January that he wanted to celebrate his 70th birthday with a road trip to Mt. Rushmore. Frankly, he’s not a man of action, but in a rare show of determination he pressed forward with his plans in the midst of a pandemic. So, at the beginning of August my younger sister and I piled into a car with him for a four-day adventure in South Dakota. Say what you want about the risks, I wasn’t about to sit out the one trip he’s insisted on since I was in the 7th grade.
We left on a Sunday morning, made the obligatory stops at various coffee shops, gas stations, and bakeries that are synonymous with my sister and I going anywhere, and headed west. About 15 minutes into the drive my sister casually mentioned that we were approaching the largest candy store in Minnesota. Why she failed to tell me about this in our previous discussions is beyond me, but like the sugar addicted midwesterners we are, we pulled into a packed parking lot 30 minutes after the start of our trip and spent about an hour exploring that monument to diabetes.
It was a great time. I felt giddy with nostalgia and sick from the proximity to so many tons of sugar. I can’t believe that they still sell candy cigarettes, and what the fuck is in “Wizards Brew” taffy? It surprised me how many associations I have that are deeply tied to candy. My dad and I bond over our love of black licorice. Stealing my sisters blue razzberry twizzlers is still a thing, and I found the root beer barrels that are forever tied to the one family vacation we ever took. I’m not a sentimental person but it was pure joy to have all the best parts of my childhood under one gigantic roof. Once we’d loaded up on banana taffy and Haribo, we got back in the car and drove nine hours to Rapid City, South Dakota.
There’s not much to recommend on this drive, but I can say it is nicer scenery than North Dakota. It’s just gentle hills until you hit the Badlands. Now those are something! Mainly I napped and thought about how silly it was to fly halfway across a continent just to drive halfway back to your starting point, but that’s family for you.
Rapid City
We finally hit Rapid City and found a local burger chain that offered gluten free options. My sister has recently been told she is highly gluten intolerant and is trying her best to follow an elimination diet. She’ll find out if she can have cheese again in a few weeks. I sometimes think I enjoy good health as compensation for my blindness. I can’t see that far but I can eat cheese and as far as I’m concerned it’s a fair trade.
The restaurant was called Sickies and I would avoid it . Dad and my sister liked it but they have poor judgment when it comes to food. Case in point, my sister opted to eat breakfast at IHop the next morning. She wanted gluten free waffles but they were having supply chain issues and were out of the waffle mix, so she got hash browns. Dad ate rubber pancakes, and I ate a scramble that would have been great if it was 3 AM and I was trashed.
I didn’t give them options after the IHop incident. I’m actually really good at picking restaurants. I did find a good coffee spot called Harriet and Oak. It’s a nice sized cafe that would feel right at home in any major city. I didn’t want to risk getting a bad americano so we stopped in every morning before heading out to explore.
The Main Attractions
Monday started with a two-hour drive to Devils Tower in Wyoming. It’s my third time in WY and I would gladly go back any day. It’s one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I’d love to own a lake cabin some day and it would either be near my hometown or in Wyoming.
Devils Tower was probably my favorite part of the trip. It’s just a big ass rock that pushes into the sky and is the center of attention for miles on miles, but the surrounding area is beautiful. There is a relatively easy trail that takes your around the whole structure. It’s maybe a mile walk but dad couldn’t do it, so he wondered the parking lot before heading back to the car to wait for my sister and I.
My father is an example of many things I do not want for myself. He’s spent his life dreaming of travel and enjoying his life. Now at 70 he is unable to fully live this experience because he didn’t take care of his body. How tragic to finally make it to this landmark only to be stuck in the parking lot looking up at the rock. And we missed the opportunity to share those views and memories with him.
My dad, who I love with all my heart, is my motivation for traveling and staying fit and enjoying the life I have right now. He got a cell phone (finally), so now I can at least share pictures and FaceTime him from mountains and cities he can’t get to.
Next we went to Crazy Horse. The monument is only partially completed. It’s not a national park and work is done based on donations. There is a good collection of artifacts, and the textile and weaving work of the natives who lived in the area is impressive. I’m glad we went even if it wasn’t much to look at. I don’t think we do enough to support Native Americans and I’m happy that there is a monument to the Lakota history.
We finally made it to Rushmore. If you’ve never been you might be surprised by how small it looks from the observation deck. I’d like to have spent some time hiking around but we took our pictures and bought dad a hat at the gift shop. Honestly, we probably could have planned this trip better, but I didn’t have the time. If I do it again I will schedule a helicopter ride around the area. We saw them advertised for $40 (not sure if that’s per person). I really wish we could have gotten dad up in one but I don’t think it would have been possible for him. Even if Mt Rushmore is a little lack-luster it was good to be with my dad as he checked it off his bucket list.
Drink Local…Mostly
I wouldn’t trade this time with my family for anything but I have a WAY better time on trips with my friend Stacey and her family. They go out at night and make friends with the locals and close the bars. It’s great! My family sits in the hotel and falls asleep by 10 PM. In a pandemic it’s ok to hang in the hotel room but I did manage to drag my sister to the Independent Ale House for a few beers.
Any time I travel i make a point of trying at least one local micro brew. Drink local! The waitress said that Lost Cabin was the local company to stick with. Apparently Hay Camp is no good. I can neither confirm nor deny that. The beer list at the Independent had a lot of good options and I tried three. All were fantastic!
Lost Cabin
Bruce Banner APA
Founder’s Brewing
Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale
Cigar City Brewing
Margarita Gose
More To Explore
Our second day took us down to Hot Springs, SD. There is a mammoth museum there built around an active dig site. I wish my nephews had been with us, they would have loved it. The site has uncovered about 60 mammoth skeletons and a bunch of other interesting fossils. You can sign your kids up for dig classes and sift through the dirt for skeleton fragments. It’s not the sort of thing I would have picked out but I enjoyed the stop. Who doesn’t like fossils.
When we left Hot Springs we decided to head for Badlands National Park. My younger sister was playing navigator and claimed to have found a shortcut that would save us an hour of driving. About 20 minutes down a quint essential South Dakota dirt road we saw the sign letting us know that we were about to enter tribal lands and that we needed a permit. Google lies and my sister is a shit navigator, but we laughed the whole way down the road and what’s a road trip without a few wrong turns.
We finally made it to the Bandlands and spent the next hour driving along the main road, pulling over every few viewpoints to take pictures. It’s a disconcerting drive because the ground drops away from the road so quickly and many places don’t have guard rails.
The landscape is stunning. Some parts have a bleached look and others have the red coloring I would expect to see in Sedona. If I have one regret, it’s that we didn’t plan for the Badlands better. I wish we had taken the time to research the park and book a helicopter tour. I would have been happy to spend the entire day exploring the park. If you head out to this area I would definitely give a significant part of your time to the Badlands.
On The Way Out of Town
For our final night in Rapid City I chose Murphy’s Pub & Grill for dinner. It’s one of the nicer spots in town and has a great patio with lawn games for drunk adults or bored kids. I’ve completely forgotten what I ate. I know it was reasonably good, which is all I ask for in some parts of the world. After dinner we went back to the hotel for the time honored tradition of spending and hour picking a movie and then falling asleep 30 minutes into it. It’s important to keep to your routine as much as you can, even when traveling.
The next morning we got a last cup of coffee at Harriet and Oaks and headed to Wall Drug. It’s about 30 or 40 minutes east of Rapid City and I honestly have no idea why people stop here, but it’s a thing so we did it. If you want to pick up a t-shirt (I did) this would be the spot to get it. There are no less then 10 t-shirt stores in the strip mall that is Wall Drug. People told me to get a coffee and try some food, but I didn’t trust it and we had a 9 hour drive ahead of us.
Much like the end of this story, the drive home was uneventful. We finally made it back to my sister apartment and watched a family favorite, The Last of The Mohicans. The Daniel Day-Lewis version, not the one made in the 70’s that no one knows about but my dad and his offspring.
I complain sometimes about how “boring” my family can be, but it was a good way to end the trip. Sometimes a chill night in with your family is all you need.
Rainy Day Rags 