These are the stories and pictures of my travels across Northern America from San Francisco to San Diego (the long way). I have 2.5 months, 1 car, a limited budget and a bottomless desire to explore what makes American... well, America, before I plunge head first into medical school at UCSD.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

South Dakota

I am doing Rapid City, SD a favor by mentioning it in this sentence. It will receive no further notice.


After a day's worth of driving, I elected to stay at a KOA campground because there were no hostels in the area and I certainly wasn't going to pay upwards of sixty dollars for a motel room. When arrived at the campgrounds I was surprised to see many features I don't associate with camping such a pool, volleyball nets, stores etc. It seems that the KOA corporation and I have very different definitions of the word camping. In any case, I set up my tent by headlamp light and promptly let the rolling cartoon Zs escape from my snoring mouth.


Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln, and yours truly
Seeing as I had never been to Mount Rushmore, I had to include it on the road trip itinerary even though I had heard from many people that it consistently underwhelms even the lowest expectation. With that enthusiasm sitting in my pocket, Roy and I left the campground from for the nearby mountains. The Mt. Rushmore site was comprised of a large parking area and a long gallery featuring all the US state flags that lead up to the monument itself. Below, an unused amphitheater opened up more seating for the evening lighting ceremony. The ubiquitous obese American tourists filled the entire area and caused traffic jams every ten feet because they were taking yet another picture of themselves with the iconic piece of Americana. The entire experience reeked of unimaginative patriotic self congratulation. I got a shot of myself with the dead presidents and one of my NF frisbee as part of my roaming gnome project then swiftly made my exit.


A map of the wind cave that shows its
incredible complexity
Next, I traveled a half hour South to the wind cave to participate in some tourist exploration of merit. The wind cave is large network of interconnected underground caverns in the foothills of the Black Forest National Park. The cave was first discovered in the very late 1800s when two fur trappers found the cave's natural entrance and noticed a strange whooshing sound. One of the trappers bent over to inspect the opening and his hat was blown off by the wind escaping through the cave's entrance. The next day the trappers returned to show a couple of their friends, but that time, instead of blowing the trappers hat off, it sucked it right off his head when he bent down to inspect it. The natural cave entrance which incidentally measures approximately the same size as the brim of a cowboy hat, both expels and inspires air depending on the surround atmospheric pressure. The wind cave acts like a giant lung because the only interaction it has with the outside world occurs at the natural entrance, and it takes a long time for the internal pressure to equalize with the outer barometric pressure. The cave was never actually explored until the turn of the 20th century when a young sixteen-year-old boy, Alvin McDonald, managed to wriggle his body in the cave entrance and explored it using candlelight and a roll of string to find his way back. Amazingly enough, in his tragically short four years of exploration, Alvin managed to explore ten of the over one hundred and thirty eight miles of cave.


A good example of the wind cave's boxwork
In addition to a rich natural history, the wind cave also offered a spectacular spelunking opportunity with its ranger guided tour. Unlike most caves, the wind cave does not sport stalactites or stalagmites, but instead has a unique cave feature called boxwork. Boxwork is a naturally occurring rock formation the is comprised of a complex network of intersecting planes creating interesting three dimensional geometric shapes. The cave also displays popcorn and frost geological features that are not seen in most caves. It differs from most caves because most of its structure was formed while South Dakota and the cave itself was underwater millions of years ago. As usual the pictures will do a much better job of sharing the experience so I encourage you all to take a look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525116@N03/sets/72157630201399828/


Wall Drug... Gross
After exploring the wind cave, I continued on I-90 towards Badlands National Park. As I drove down the interstate, I started seeing billboard after billboard announcing the approach of the world famous Wall Drug store in Wall, SD. Each one featured a different cartoon calling out to unwitting travelers trying to lure them to the monstrosity of Wall Drug, much like the Odysee's sirens. My aunt Nathalie had warned me of the gargantuan tourist trap that is Wall Drug, but again, it was just one of those things I had to do because I was on the road trip. Like I said earlier, Wall Drug was essentially an entire town that had converted itself to a massive, kitschy, tourist trap with store upon store of useless memorabilia and fast food. I snapped a couple of shots and moved on. Before I resumed my route, I stopped at the Wall gas station to fill up Roy's tank. As I swiped my card at the pump, I noticed that for some reason, the premium grade gas was cheaper than regular and I looked up at the stations signage to double check. Even the gas station was booby trapped to con the average person into paying more for regular gas making the assumption that most of them wouldn't look at the prices. Wall, SD I officially declare you a waste of American space.


A few hours of monotonously flat driving and I arrived at the entrance to Badlands National Park. Just as I pulled off the highway I noticed the beautiful South Dakota sunset and  awkwardly parked on the shoulder to capture the moment with my camera. As I sprawled myself across Roy to steady my camera for the pictures, I tuned into the beautiful symphony of wild birds and insects that had emerged at the dusk hour. I took a video so hopefully you can hear them too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79525116@N03/7405036064/in/set-72157630201399828. With nightfall quickly approaching I drove to the nearest campground and set up my tent for the night. I finished just in time to stroll over to nearby outdoor theater where a native-american park ranger gave an hour long talk on the native Sioux tribes and their relationship to the Badlands (including their oral history and folklore concerning the area).


I was rudely awakened by the intense heat of the 7 AM sun radiating through my tent, turning it into convection oven. Reluctantly, I woke up and prepared a meager breakfast of instant oatmeal. Once I packed up camp, I drove to a ranger guided tour of one of the Badlands trails. The Badlands, originally named so by travelers who found it very difficult to pass through the areas craggy canyon and sandstone peaks. When I walked through the park's eroded rocks, I felt like I was in a land of oversized drip sand castles left by forgotten giants from the past. Unlike Yellowstone, the Badlands were much more interactive because you are allowed to stray off the trails and climb up the rock formations if you so choose. Enough of my ramblings. Enjoy the pictures.











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