Monday, October 15: South Dakota

I woke up super early this morning and was on the road by 7:45 am. I had been camping in the rain for the past five days and I was ready to get somewhere where the weather was decent. My next stop is Custer, South Dakota, and the drive was about ten hours. I had to stop and get coffee a few times because I was tired and it was still dark out, but the open road was calling me. It was supposed to be in the thirties where I was going and my mother has been freaking out about me camping in the weather for days. So far, I’ve camped out in the pouring down rain with 25 mile an hour winds and in the cold that dipped into the 30s and I’ve done just fine. I’ve even impressed some of the seasoned pros on the campgrounds with my skills!!! However, to appease my dear mom, I agreed to sleep indoors and found a place in.

Before arriving in Custer though, I decided to take the scenic highway through the Badlands National Park. It was a bit overcast, but still a pretty cool drive. I must admit though, I was a little disappointed. After seeing Bryce Canyon and Mt. Zion in Utah, the Badlands were more like drip sandcastles and didn’t instill that sense of awe as some of my other hot spots. Either way though, it was still a nice drive.

I arrived in Custer at about 4:45 thanks to Stella (my GPS unit) fucking up once or twice and I had to get to the office before they closed at 5:00 pm. I called to make sure that cabins were still available and they informed me that it was going to be $50 for a cabin that contained a cot and nothing else. They were supposed to be $30 and I was running out of patience. I decided that I would be better off just finding a cheap hotel room for that kind of money and have a hot shower in my room.

I found the Mile Hi Motel that had a queen bed, a bathroom, cable TV and even a mini fridge in the room…Jackpot! So I made myself comfortable and settled in for a good night’s sleep before heading out to Mt. Rushmore for my date with the presidents.