State #46: South Dakota (Day 1)

Our day started with a 6:30AM fire alarm at our hotel. Turns out someone burnt some toast in the breakfast area. Worked as a great alarm clock! 

Today we had another 3.5 hour drive to South Dakota. First stop: Termesphere gallery. Sadly, they had just lost power and we weren't able to appreciate all the great artwork in here, but you can see some of his stuff on this website. But, really they are pretty great to see in person. Just wish they had light. :/ 

Next stop was Rapid City for lunch at Firehouse Brewery and Winery. Skip this one. The food was just okay (even the gumbo Rachel Ray recommended) and the beer wasn't great either. However, the wine wasn't bad...but you can just check out their wine tasting room next door for that. 

After lunch, we headed to Badlands National Park, but not without a stop at Wall Drug Store. That place is nuts! I had to have one of their famous donuts (check!) and we took some pics with some of the craziness that was this place. Crowded. Huge. So much to look at!

Next up was Badlands National Park. We loved it! We entered at the Pinnacles Entrance and drove all the way to the Northeast Entrance. At our very first stop at the Pinnacles Overlook we were treated to all kinds of bighorn sheep!! It was great! We stopped at a few of the other overlooks, did the Fossil Exhibit Trail and then planned to do the Notch, Door, and Window trails. BUT, just as we arrived at the trailhead, the big storm off in the distance with all kinds of lightning just seemed too close. So, we decided against it. We walked out just a little bit to see the landscape, but got back in our car to stay safe from the rain/lightning. Total bummer. But, if we're ever in the area again, we definitely plan to do these hikes!

Then it was time to head to our home for the next two nights, Hickok's Hotel and Casino in Deadwood. As we were driving back, it was time for another hail storm (and yes, I was driving).We arrived just in time for a reenactment shooting in the street right by our hotel. Crazy. Then, we checked in and headed to the shooting of Wild Bill at Saloon No. 10. After that, we had dinner at the "fancy" place in town, Deadwood Social Club. Nothing great. We walked up and down the strip to see what was in town. Then, we checked out the brewery/winery and called it a night.