Day 3

I did not get a lot of sleep last night. David could not sleep, he kept pacing the floor said he had an ear ache from swimming. So, at 3am David and I drove over the Wal-Mart. You know there is a Wal-Mart just about every were you go. We got some ear medicine to clean out the ear wax. Says he feels better after using it. Finally, back to sleep, have to be up in a couple of hours to hit the road.

Good morning! I’m the first one up as usual. Got cleaned up and pretty much woke everyone else in the room in the process. Had the continental breakfast and coffee, at least the coffee was good. Not sure if the other people in this party are up yet. Well need to finish packing.

Our vehicle is packed; we are now waiting on everyone else. I was asked to wake my youngest brother, Ryan. You know saying never wake a sleeping bear; I just went into his room and shake him. Grrrrr, talk about a grouch. He is 10 years younger than me but taller and bigger than me. He has worked as a bouncer. Funny some of the things I can get away with being the oldest. Anyway, I think I hear him bellowing, means he is awake.

Once again we did not make the 9am time to hit the road. Oh well, this is vacation.

Nothing works out as you plan. We actually did not get out of Mitchell until 11:30am. Went ahead toped off the tank at Service pumps at Wal-Mart, 8.6 gallons at $3.799. All the other parties wanted to check out Cabala’s. Talk about being bored. We had already checked it out yesterday. I got a chance to look at the forecast for the drive, looks like rain all day for South Dakota. I was behind the wheel, David co-piloted. Not even an hour on the road and made a stop at Frontier Trading Post at Oacoma. It was nothing impressive but a flea market. Marissa ended up buying a pair of used cowgirl boots $22. Personally I think they over priced and could not believe she would buy used shoes. Anyway she thinks they are awesome.

Once again, on the road... This time we made it to Murdo, SD. Parents needed to get something to eat. We grabbed something at Mitchell before hitting the road. Oh well. We stopped at some diner. Service really sucked. All I asked for was a cup of coffee and slice of coconut pie. Well 15 minutes later I finally got my coffee but they said they were out, asked about the rhubarb pie, out as well. This bites, so after drinking my coffee I went out to the car to wait for everyone else. One the road again…

God, this rain really sucks and it is cold. We made it to Bad Lands. We got out at a couple places in side the park. Did I mention this rain really sucks? Did not really feel like going back on the paths since it was wet and cold. I did get a couple of pictures. The grass is really green here. Boy, cold/wet weather really makes people miserable, especially being crammed in a small space. Everyone made it out of the park and into Wall, SD. Went to tourist trap Wall Drug. David and Marissa found cowboy hats at Wall Drug. We tried to find some place to stay at Wall but did not find any good accommodations. Headed to Rapid City. The rivers and ponds are overfilling the banks. They are having flash flood and flooding warnings.

Got into Rapid City. We did not have any reservations anywhere. Tell you what it sucked. With everyone getting irritated trying to find a place to stay since all the hotels off of I-90 filled up. We did find a family owned place. It is clean, warm and place to shower and rest our heads. Next time we travel we WILL make reservations. I have no idea what is going on in Rapid City but we learned our lesson. Got our room and ordered pizza. I’m ready for bed. Well tomorrow is another day, hope it is better. I think we are going to Mt. Rushmore and some cave. Oh, I think Mari and I are going the Firehouse Brewing Co. here in Rapid City. I forgot to mention it finally stopped raining, but it is still cold out. The weather has to get better.