Day 7: Rapid City, SD to Cody, WY

We had a more active morning than usual, in light of all the sitting and eating we had been doing, and spent 30 minutes at the fitness center in the hotel on the treadmill followed by 10 laps across the huge pool. We finished it off with a terrifying 165-foot waterslide, only the top and bottom of which are located inside the hotel. We hit the road for Wyoming (state #45 for Abe and #37 for Arielle), which quickly became our favorite state thus far in terms of beautiful driving.

We stopped after three hours in Buffalo, WY for an incredibly delicious vegetarian Chinese food lunch at China Garden, a tiny little place with one frantic server taking care of all 7 or so tables simultaneously. We enjoyed a big pot of vegetable soup, Arielle had the tofu with mixed vegetables, and Abe had the garlic tofu, toned down slightly in spiciness. Both tofu dishes were huge (and delicious), so we each ate half and took the rest with us.

During this drive, we got the dash cam that we had bought a few days earlier set up to take some hopefully amazing videos and photos. As we approached Cody, our GPS took us on an incredible winding route with breathtaking views. We weren’t as excited by a sign about 11 miles of road work with loose gravel which set us a bit behind, but we were rewarded with a stunning drive straight into an incredible horizon, with occasional rain that lasted for just a minute or two each time.

We arrived in Cody and turned just right off the main road to the complex that includes the Holiday Inn, the Comfort Inn (a USY on Wheels hotel), and the Buffalo Bill Village Resort, where we stayed in a cabin just behind the hotels. Our cabin was quite spacious and nice, with two queen beds, a sitting area, and a very big bathroom. It was rustic and beautiful, and exactly the type of camping Abe likes to do. Arielle was thrilled that we were greeted by bunnies hopping around outside.

We left our car parked in its designated spot and walked about five minutes to town, where we were explored a few restaurant options. We settled on a slightly more expensive choice, Wyoming’s Rib and Chop House, which we later found out is a chain with locations in Wyoming, Montana, and Utah. Our server Angie was great, and Arielle even wanted to take her home with us. Abe was thrilled with his Buffalo ribeye and Arielle enjoyed her Jamaican brown sugar cedar plank salmon. Our side dishes of garlic mushrooms, sweet potato fries, and carrot soufflé (which Angie warned us was not a soufflé), as well as Arielle’s ranch-covered garden salad complemented one of our best meals yet. We walked home and turned in for the night in our cabin, which was great aside from the wi-fi that didn’t work great, and we were entertained to be sent a hotel employee from maintenance who was happy to fix our sink but noted that he’s not great with technology.

Approximate number of miles covered: 387

Day 6: Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD

Arielle got up early to go to the gym and swim laps in the pool, and we were out of the hotel after repacking our car more quickly and efficiently before 9:30am. Wanting to get on the road, we stopped to pick up a to-go order of banana bread French toast from Philips Avenue Diner, and then drove a few minutes to Falls Park. Arielle was mesmerized by the beauty of the rocks, while the Falls were considerably less appealing due to their very dirty and foamy nature.

We got onto I-90 to head to the legendary World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. The outside of this giant building is covered in enormous murals made of corn on the cob that is replaced each year with brand new murals, with permanent installations inside the building as well as photographs of every past year. We watched a video about the history of the Corn Palace, shopped for corn-related souvenirs, and enjoyed a delicious fresh hot corn on the cob.

From there we drove to Badlands National Park, where we purchased our America the Beautiful Annual National Parks Pass for a mere $80. (entry just to that park would have been $20). We were stunned by the sheer magnitude, beauty, and redness of the millions of rocks and eroded structures. We tried to capture a bit of it in the photos we’re sharing below, but you really just have to see it. Each viewpoint we stopped at provided another breathtaking view, and we spent a few minutes climbing up one of the rocks to take in more of the scenery. We drove the windy, scenic Highway 240 out of the park en route to Wall, SD.

We pulled up to the famous Wall Drug, best described as a giant convenience store and rest stop that advertises along the highway for at least a few hundred miles to make sure that anyone and everyone stops there. Since we hadn’t eaten lunch, we were very hungry and decided to wait on way too long a line for food. There were people from a mission group in front of us who continued to trickle in to the line in front of us. A strong-looking biker apologized and jokingly asked if Abe was going to smack him because people kept coming in, and Abe and Arielle reassured him it was fine while silently acknowledging that this man could easily take Abe out with one hand. Arielle’s grilled cheese was far superior to Abe’s roast beef dinner, which is billed as a speciality of the restaurant. We wandered outside to the Backyard area, briefly explored some of the shops, and left after a visit that didn’t quite live up to the hype. We opted to go straight to Mount Rushmore instead of stopping at our hotel in Rapid City, which was about halfway there. We arrived around 7:30pm and immediately saw the presidential faces from the road. Our Annual National Parks Pass didn’t save us the $10 parking fee, but there were no additional costs. After walking through the display of state flags, we took pictures of the monument, which is impressive, and waited until 9pm in anticipation of the light show. The ranger talk and 20-minute video were both informative, but the wait for light to be shone on something that looks better in the day anyway was underwhelming and not something we’d do again. However, singing the national anthem with many other people from all over the country and the world while staring at this awesome monument felt like the most “American moment” Arielle has ever experienced.

We didn’t hit the crazy backup of cars exiting the park as we expected to, and made it to our hotel within about 40 minutes. The Best Western Ramkota Hotel Rapid City, another previous USY on Wheels hotel, consisted of many connected buildings, and we opted for one on the second floor that didn’t open to the outside even though there was no elevator. It was already late and everything in Rapid City was closed, despite it being a Saturday night. Approximate number of miles covered: 370