Different park (Mount Rushmore), same day (Saturday)

We drove from the Badlands to Mount Rushmore. Took a couple hours but the trip wasn't awful. Along the way we stopped in at Hall Drugs (a South of the Border type touristy trap) and nearly bought ourselves a pet jackalope (for those of you who don't believe they're real, check out the photos below.

Mount Rushmore is, in a word, amazing. The work took 14 years to create and not a life was lost. Well, not a human life in any event. The photos don't even begin to capture the enormity of 60-foot faces etched into the mountain's face.

We also had a taste of Teddy Roosevelt's favorite stew: Bison. Damn, it was good.

Keith

Next stop: Badlands National Park

I must confess: This was one cool stop we made Saturday. Better -- far better -- than I expected. The Badlands are very cool. Part dry river basin; part archaeological dig; fossil resource; awsome view, this park has it all. It's a shame we couldn't spend more time there, but we did cruise the entire loop road and climbed a few crags. Not bad for a 90-degree morning. Here are some of our favorite shots. Enjoy.

Keith

Dy-no-mite

This is near Badlands National Park. Sure, it's not everyday we get to take our pet dinosaurs out for a walk, but in South Dakota, anything is possible.

What the ...

As in "What the heck is that thing?"

OK, there's a 30-foot hammer and a 45-foot bison carving.

Right along I-90.

On someone's land.

Why?

What the heck are they doing there?

They appear to be carvings out of trees that didn't make it.

I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot of this weirdness here in South Dakota. The winters are cold and the summers hot. A volitile combination.

Keith

Yes, it's corny

This is the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.

Bizarre? Yes.

Hokey? Yes.

Still Bizarre? Yes.

But it's a piece of Americana. And you'd wonder why state leaders decided to NOT make Mitchell the state capital.

Tilting (camera) at windmills

So we're driving across the great plaines of South Dakota, pop. two dozen, and we start seeing these huge, tall structures with slow-moving turbines. The windmills appear to be a couple hundred feet tall and the blades are a good 80 feet each. So slow they really are not.

Very cool we think. The temp was near 80.

Keith

Chicago, Chicago.

What can ya say. It's a heck of a town. One would never imagine saying "What a relief." but after driving through Gary, Ind., truly the armpit of the Midwest, it was a relief to get to Chicago.

This post is a day late (but not a dollar short) because of our inability to access the Internet from our Embassy Suites room in Minneapolis. At least the hotel credited me the access charge (yes, they charge to use their Internet.)

We dined in Uncle Abe's Deli (Yeah, no Chicago pizza) and then did the Sears Tower. What a view. You could see the lakefront, the highways we used, and even Trib Tower is in there someplace. Then as we departed we drive by the lakefront and admired all the sailbaots we saw from the tower.

Take a peek for yourself.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Keith