Homeward Bound

Tuesday, 28 July, 2015

South Dakota, Minnesota

Today we began our driving trek homeward.  We began driving to the Badlands.  Driving through Wall, SD, though, we of course had to stop at that old piece of  tacky Americana—Wall Drug.  Most of us have experienced it and I felt that the children should too.  It has expanded over the years to now take over an entire city block!  We walked through some of the gift shops, then I had them follow me to the  courtyard in the back.  It has been redone with flowers and fountains, but still has the Jackalope, the covered wagon, and the offensive Native American stereotypes that you put your head in for a picture.  They loved it!  Shelby laughed so hard through all of it.  It is so adorably kitschy that you can’t help but laugh and have fun.  There was a man fixing the giant gorilla that plays the piano and sings so he gave us 50¢ to put in from money that was thrown in to “make sure that it works.”  J 

Trying on hats

T-Rex

Joshua and the Jackalope

Shelby and the Jackalop

Shelby was laughing so hard, she almost fell off the seat!

At Wall Drug, Shelby got a geode,  partially to replace the one that was stolen in San Francisco that she had bought at one of the state parks.  For souvenirs, we give each of the children a limit of $100 dollars to spend.  We started that on our first trip to England.  It was a way to get them to think more about souvenirs that they wanted.  They have gotten quite good at getting souvenirs of higher quality rather than the cheap, plastic things that might not even make it home.  Anything that is left over up to the $100, we give to them after we get home and they either put it into their savings account at the bank or use it for spending money.  I think they’ve become more savvy consumers and it gives them the power to decide what they want to spend the money on and weigh it against having the cash when we get home.  They often end up getting very nice souvenirs (such as the nice set of rune stones Shelby got in Norway) or, more often, jewelry. 

After Wall Drug, we drove through the Badlands National Park (boy, our park pass has certainly gotten a work out!).   It was the same as I remember it.  My family went a few times when I was young and Randy and I were here when Anneliese was a baby.  Same pretty, striped hills of many colors.  And, like everywhere else, tons of motorcycles.  Many, most likely, making their way toward Sturgis. 

Shelby

After we rejoined the interstate, we just drove and drove and drove, just stopping for bathroom breaks, gas for the car, and food.  Arrived home at 11:00.

The difference of color and water are apparent as we drove here to west and west to north (home).  Much more green here, more water, and more deciduous (leafy) trees.  We had a fun trip, but we are looking forward to home.  None of us have any plans for the next few days save unpacking, laundry,  and grocery shopping.  Hopefully the garden will not need too much tending to for a few days (hopefully the mulching I did before we left held down the weeds) and we’re hoping that the house is mostly tidy and won’t need too much cleaning other than changing sheets, etc.  We are all especially looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and starting to catch up on some sleep!