Day 2

We awoke after a wonderful night's sleep on our new air mattress and immediately began reorganizing and repacking the car. Our neighbours invited us over for a cup of coffee, and we met Ruth and her boyfriend, a lovely couple in their sixties. They were very interested to hear about our farming endeavors as they, especially Ruth, were very interested in food. We had a great chat and a delightful morning. We enjoyed granola and powdered milk for breakfast.

As everything in Wall was closed by the time we arrived the night before, we decided to check it out before we left to Mount Rushmore. It was every bit as tacky (and so much more) than we had heard and expected, but we had fun meandering through the shops for a few minutes and took advantage of the heavily advertised five cent coffee and free ice water. We also shared a delicious chocolate vanilla shake.

It was about an hour to Mount Rushmore, and since we could see it from the road, we decided it wasn't worth it to pay $11 to park and see it closer. However, we changed our minds last minute and were soon rewarded: just inside the entry were three super cool mountain goats. We were very impressed by Mount Rushmore and also enjoyed a buffalo burger with an Oatmeal Cream Stout called Buffalo Spit.

We then headed to the highly anticipated Custer State Park for the wilderness loop. Oh man, this place is one of the hidden gems in the country. The 20 mile loop was the closest thing I've had to an African safari. We saw herds of Pronghorns (pretty much antelope - they cab sprint many 70 mph), towns of prairie dogs (like a gaggle of geese), a few bold burros (wild donkeys), and a few hundred enormous buffalo (they're actually bison; there aren't any buffalo in North America, but that's how they're referred to, so we'll do the same). It was amazing.

We then drove a few hours while being entertained by our book on tape, Divergent, to a KOA in Sheridan, WY. It was $28.75. To pitch a tent. For eight hours. We felt it was morally permissible not to pay. We enjoyed pasta with veggies before bed. Twas a stupendous day.