You can’t see a rainbow…

Oh a word to the wise, this will be my corniest post yet, so if you’re not in the mood, skip this one. A wise adventurer once told us “You can’t see a rainbow without a little rain” (thanks April!). So this is what I told myself last night while tossing and turning all night. On a trip like this it’s very easy to get very disappointed when something goes wrong just because of all the planning that goes into it and after driving for hours and hours, you just really want to go pass out. When something keeps you from this, it’s not so easy to shake it off. But I thought about it and decided to stop complaining and realize how lucky we are to even be doing this trip. So I stayed up to tire myself out and then prepared for bed…

Brian was afraid I would suffocate so I had to take my mask off and resort to spraying the pillow with perfume and putting lotion under my nostrils. It’s really crazy that the smell bothered me so much considering I only really have like 50% sense of smell but we decided that even a chain smoker would be offended by this room. Anywho… I repeated my new mantra until I eventually fell asleep and as soon as I woke up I ran into the bathroom to start the race. If you’re looking for a test to see if your marriage will last, here’s a fun exercise- bring 2 giant suitcases into a fairly cramped bathroom, meet your spouse in there and try to get ready for the day, then re-pack your suitcases. If you both make it out alive, I’d say you’re in pretty good shape. Good news, we’re in good shape!

So we left the Hilton Smoky Inn and proceeded to Sioux Falls. It actually ended up being a gorgeous sunny day out (rainbow!) and the Falls were truly beautiful. If you’ve ever been to Niagara Falls, you really can’t compare the two. The Falls really are not that tall or wide or anything but it’s just so amazing how many different little falls there are. You can walk around on the rocks and pretty much get as close as you want and just keep finding little hidden falls. After we took about 4,000 pictures we went to the observation deck but had to wait about 20 minutes for them to open. So we sat on a bench and just looked out, which was really unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like it. The Falls are located in Falls Park which is one of the most well manicured parks I’ve ever seen. As we sat there, it just seemed unreal because everything was just so perfect(rainbow) it looks like a painting or something! Unlike anything I’ve ever seen. This is definitely added to the list of things everyone should see at some point.

Back to the car! Now from Sioux Falls to Custer, SD is 6 hours-mostly on 90 which is the road we were on forever in Minnesota. Today we got to travel on 90 for 390 miles-fun! Here’s the difference… Driving on 90 in MN you see nothing… seriously nothing – well except exit signs (barely). Driving on 90 in SD is like the best driving experience ever! I have never seen so many billboards in my entire life and the best part is that they’re ALL for the same like 5 things! We started with signs for Wall Drug… after seeing about 15 of them Brian did some research and we learned that this is an old old store that they just advertised like crazy to get people in. The billboards started with “Free Ice Water” (which they still have on some billboards and they still offer), then they moved onto 5 cent coffee and 10 cent “pop”! But they have the most brilliant advertising minds at Wall Drug. First of all, for 300 miles (literally) the longest you go without seeing a sign is 6 miles and there were some ½ mile stretches that had 3 or 4 signs in a row. Moving on to the actual signs, besides the free water, 5 cent coffee, 10 cent pop, they have homemade ice cream, pie & donuts! Then the best ones are the slogans such as “Have you dug Wall Drug?” and my personal favorite “Wall Drug spells FUN”… I love fun too so after about 24 signs I decided we had to stop here.

But first, there were also signs for Corn Palace (not as heavily advertised but probably every 10 miles-which is pretty often considering the 75 mph speed limit). So we looked it up and Corn Palace is not just the only Corn Palace in SD but in the WORLD! They actually have murals made entirely of corn… corn husks, corn cobs, you name it! So we decided since we’re not stopping at anywhere corny (haha get it) like the biggest ball of yarn that we would have to stop at the Corn Palace. So when you walk in they have 2 people at a table that ask how many people (it’s free by the way) and then they write on a piece of paper how many people and add it by hand all day. We made this stop half mocking the Corn Palace but the joke was on us, I asked the woman how many people and at the time they were up to 694… it was only 11 am and almost 700 people had already been to the Corn Palace. The first Corn Palace was in 1892 and they change the motif every year. As corny (haha) as it is, this was really amazing how much detail was put into these things. So if you’re ever on 90 and need a break, check out the ONLY Corn Palace in the world! Oh and again, can we say rainbow!?

And we’re back on the road. Now we decided to take a detour from 90 to go through the badlands which are these crazy million year old rock formations. So we took like 2 pictures then got to the entrance where you pay admission of $15 (that we had no idea about) and decided we’re too cheap to pay to drive through rocks. Luckily the Ranger let us turn around and we headed back towards good old 90! But before we got back we made a minor detour to stop and feed the Prairie Dogs – they eat unsalted shelled peanuts! They’re so cute and even though sometimes they get a little skittish, they come right up to you and take it from your hand! One little guy that came over to me only had one eye, so I helped him de-shell his peanuts, he was soooo cute! So since we can’t see our own puppy dogs, the prairie dogs had to suffice for today!

Then it was back on 90 BUT we were only 20 miles from Wall Drug! The anticipation was killing us and when we finally made it we were so excited! It is the most random place in the world. It’s literally like 6 stores with all the walls knocked down so you can walk through and it takes up like an entire block. They have everything you could think of – souvenirs, normal pharmacy things, food (although no 10 cent pop, I was a little disappointed), random sculptures and stuff to take pictures with – it was insane. So we were glad we finally made it and then… you guessed it- back on 90!

And then we were in Custer… Okay so now I can safely say that I am a true believer in the power of positive thinking. All this rainbow nonsense has totally paid off =)! We arrived at Jake’s Bed & Breakfast and I must admit I was a little scared of what would be waiting for us since the debacle last night! When I found Jake’s online I looked at the pictures and it looked really nice. The only difference between the pictures online and being here is that being here is 100 times better! The pictures are beautiful and the reviews were fantastic but once we met Mar/k (and Jake-the cat) we were blown away. First off, when we got out of the car, we didn’t hear a thing and it’s not scary weird silence (because everyone knows how I feel about silence) it’s just the most peaceful, calming silence. Then, we went inside, the house is incredible, the amount of planning and detail that went into building this house is just unreal. Across the road is a pond and more mountains so you’re surrounded by natural beauty. And the best part is that Mark actually built this house! It took him 8 years to do and he did everything, the 2nd floor deck, the tile work, everything. It’s so refreshing to see someone so passionate about what he’s done and he absolutely should be, the place is amazing! Seriously, if anyone is looking to come out to SD, I would hands down recommend this place – even without cookies! Yup, that’s right, no warm cookies AND still a stellar review! =)

That’s all for now! Looking forward to lots more rainbows! (End corniness)