Next Stop – South Dakota.

Day two on our epic adventure, I got to learn about the joys of driving I 90. For me, it was a great experience. Its pretty much an 80mph straight shot across the country. I suspect its hell in the winter.

For anyone who thinks that billboard advertising is worthless, drive I-90. I am a 100% believer that under the right circumstances, billboards are extremely effective. Wall Drug case in point.  I don’t remember the first billboards I saw for them. I am pretty sure I don’t remember the second one either. After about 200 miles, I can’t remember how many of their billboards I saw. They were on both sides of the road, promising 5 cent coffee, leather works, shopping, a shooting range, just all kind of stuff that I was starting to believe the main point of our trip was to go to Wall Drug.

We saw a crap ton of billboards and stopped at three locations because of them:

• Wall Drug – You have no choice after running the I-90 Gauntlet of billboards. It was worth the stop too.
• The Corn Palace – Pretty cool stop. I had the best ear of corn here ever.
• 1880 Town – Dances with Wolves Set. Pretty cool stop.

I am not sure anything can prepare you for what you see at the Badlands. It is just an amazing experience. It would be very easy to plan a trip around this geological marvel, spending hours hiking the various trails and just enjoying the martian landscapes.

Check out our Gallery