Day-4 Jul-11-09

Today we made our way from Sioux Falls SD to Sturgis SD. We will be staying 2 nights in Sturgis.

We covered about 405 miles in 11.5 hours with about 6.25 hours of time in the seat.

Shortly after leaving Sioux Falls, we hit Mitchel SD, home of the famous Corn Palace. At least those in Mitchell think it's famous :) There have been a number of Corn Palace buildings, dating from back in 1892. Each year, the palace is decorated with murals following the theme for the year. The murals are made from actual ears and husks of corn. The colors of the corn are all natural, and are grown in separate fields using special seed to retain each color. This years theme is America's Destinations, and includes various famous US sightseeing places (Rushmore, Washington DC, etc). The Corn Palace is used as a sports arena, as well as a performing theater for various musical acts.

Here is a shot of the front and side of the palace with various murals shown.

Of course there is the tacky tourist stuff you might expect, like a giant plastic corn character out front...

Inside, there is a "Corn-Cession" area where you can buy hot-dogs, fries, and of course, ears of corn (on a stick). We did try the corn, it was pretty good :)

The building and murals were somewhat interesting, but the touristy stuff was (for lack of a better word) pretty corny :)

After the Corn Palace, we moved on to the Badlands National Park. The park is interesting, containing buttes, spires, etc, that look like volcanic rock. They are actually more sedimentary, and are created largely from erosion. The area is pretty strange considering the surrounding areas of South Dakota are pretty much flat corn fields.

Here are a few photos from the Badlands...

Here I am working on my best "king of the hill" pose...

One more with big red in the foreground...

After the Badlands, it was on to Wall South Dakota, the home of Wall Drug. Wall Drug is a shopping mall consisting of a drug store, gift shop, restaurants and various other stores. From Wikipedia - "The small town drugstore made its first step towards fame when it was purchased by Ted Hustead in 1931. Hustead was a Nebraska native and pharmacist who was looking for a small town with a Catholic church in which to establish his business. He bought Wall Drug, located in a 231-person town in what he referred to as "the middle of nowhere", and strove to make a living. Business was very slow until his wife, Dorothy, got the idea to advertise free ice water to parched travellers heading to the newly-opened Mount Rushmore monument sixty miles to the west. From that time on business was brisk. Wall Drug grew into an cowboy-themed shopping mall/department store."

They still have free ice water, and also have coffee for 5 cents a cup. All in all, another somewhat tacky tourist spot, but a good place to take a break from a long days ride on the bike. Here is a shot of the front of Wall Drug...

Time to get some sleep... Tomorrow we head to Deadwood, an old gold rush town, and the final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok, and Calamity Jane. Bill was shot in the back in one of the saloons while playing poker. We will also take a nice ride through Spearfish Canyon, and head over to Devil's Tower in Wyoming provided the weather is decent.