The next day was bright and sunny again as we drove out towards Rapid City. We stopped at Prairie Berry Winery had a few samples, bought a case of wine and continued on our merry way. Next stop was the 1880 Train. We didnt have time for the trip but took some pics and Coleen posed with an old west impersonator.
We passed through town and went to Sturgis. This is the place where they hold a HUGE motorcycle rally every year. More t-shirts later (including a Sturgis Fire Dept one) and we headed back to Rapid City. We had lunch at The Firehouse Brewery and Grill. Its an old firehouse that they made into a restaurant. We saw it on Rachel Rays show and our waiter was there the day she filmed it. This required a hat purchase and photos.
After leaving there we stopped for gas at a Sinclair station and drove to MOUNT RUSHMORE GOLD and JEWELRY. Unfortunately we got there after a bus of senior citizens. What a madhouse. Those old gals were spending $$$ like crazy. Coleen and I did some spending too. I bought a Black Hills gold wedding band that they resized to size 14. She got a few things too.
SIDEBAR my original wedding ring hasnt fit for years, since I caught it between a door and a stretcher. Messed up the ring and it took 1 1/2 hours of surgery to fix my finger.
Anyway a couple hours later we were on our way back to Keystone. Stopped and bought a pizza to go and went to our room. OH YEAH as we were returning to Keystone we saw a cute little Christmas store, we had seen an ad for it and they had DISNEY items. So our first stop the next morning was at the Christmas store. Two bags later including a few Disney things we were back on the road. Next stop Wall Drug. My mom made us stop here years ago, you know the drill, well we were looking for a souvenir license plate to go on our sun porch wall (we have lots of them) and of course they didnt have one. One square block of STUFF and no license plates. Oh well, on the road to the Badlands National Park. We stopped at a grasslands visitors center and then onto the park road. A desolate yet interesting place, with subtle colors, steep chasms and stark peaks.
After a lunch of cold pizza enjoyed in a picnic area on a windswept slope, we stopped at the visitors center and hit the road. Poor Coleen got stuck driving across the boring plains of Montana a week earlier and she drove across them here too. We made it to Sioux Falls and found our hotel. Went to Chilis for dinner and had a great server, she was a real fun gal. Back to the hotel, just in time for a thunderstorm to hit. This was our first real rain in over a week.
The next morning was sunny again so we took a short trip to the Great Plains zoo. It was a cute little zoo and had a few animals out but many were already in their winter quarters and not viewable. We did enjoy the walk though and saw a pretty cheetah and a cool brown bear.
We also stopped at the memorial for the Battleship South Dakota, another interesting place that was closed for the season but took a few pics
After that we made our way to Minnesota.
Squid
Even if it is more than a year away. 
And, have a konk kooler for me! 
