Day Five: To the Badlands!

Yeah, so remember when I said yesterday was boring? Well, lemme tell you about South Dakota. Actually, it wasn’t quite as flat as Iowa, and it’s full of ridiculous billboards. My only complaint is that when I wasn’t driving and was trying to read, Sam would compulsively read the billboards out loud. It made it very difficult to get into a reading flow when every two minutes I heard “Budget Burger?! That sounds horrible” or “NEW T-REX!!…but that sign’s at least 20 years old..” Damn you, Wall Drug.
While we managed to avoid getting sucked in by those amazingly enticing Wall Drug ads, we couldn’t resist the Corn Palace. Their billboards are just too good: “Corn Palace. World’s ONLY!” and "Corn Palace. It's A-MAIZE-ing!" and "Wish you were EAR!" Man, how can you say no to that?! I promised Sam that it would be a short stop, and it certainly was. The front was under construction, so there wasn’t much point at looking at that, although the skinny teens in cut-off T-shirts mounting corn husks to the façade were pretty glorious. On top of the lack of outdoor spectacularity, the inside is one of the more depressing places I’ve ever been. We bought some postcards and hit the road. And that was that. Best Corn Palace visit yet.
We made it to the Badlands around 6, and after a roundabout decision-making process, ended up camping at the far site (with no water). It was far less populated and more serene. The other ones had tons of tourists and kids and bluaahhhhh gross whatever. It was really cool – the campsite was surrounded by prarie dogs, and on the way in we had to sit and wait for a bison to cross the road. Laika nearly leapt out of the car to smell his butt. Thank Jeebs for leashes. The guys in the site next to us were very cool, and we got to hear all about their travels after doing recycling work at the Bonaroo Festival in Tennessee. I think my favorite conversation of theirs was the “what were you doing when you were 23?” conversation. For the most part, the answer was “Gosh, I don’t even remember, man. Like, I think I was working.. no wait, I had a house on the beach, like, it was like, an abandoned house and like, we lived in it… wait. What year was I born?” They were sweet. Dude.

Today’s Playlist
Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong with Love
Wilco – A Ghost is Born
Talking Heads – Remain in Light
Talking Heads – Fear of Music
This American Life – Go Tell Your Father