Rapid City

On the way to Rapid City we stopped at Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota - it doesn't even try to claim to be anything more but a tourist area which is fine. With the 300+ signs how can you not at least stop? We had to experience it. We appreciate that they are big rig friendly as we had IRMA in tow. We stepped inside and even though it wasn't crowded at all - immediately the feeling was overwhelming. There is no rhyme or reason to the place - just random doorways and little areas - some shops - some food areas. Whew! We had heard the donuts were amazing so we did have to try one of those. It was good - amazing though? Well.... we are not experts as we seldom eat them but no... We did enjoy playing in the backyard on the ride toys! The guidebook said allow 2+ hours at Wall Drug - we were in and out in 45 minutes even with eating the donut and playing in the backyard. The history of the location is amazing. Wall Drug's very existance today when it was near bankruptcy in the late 1930s can be credited to a woman's creativity in placing signs on the highway advertisting free ice water to thirsty travelers on their way to see Mt Rushmore. If you want to know more - click on the link above.

We went into Rapid City to have dinner at the Firehouse restaurant mostly because of their many and very unique signs along the road - each had a fire truck alongside the billboard. Bill was a little sad because the kids next to us got fireperson hats and he didn't. The city has bronze lifesize statues of all the presidents on the street corners so we took a walk after dinner to see those. Some of the presidents were quite small in stature - which we didn't know. In case you are wondering - Trump is not yet up but in planning stages.