Olsen Westward Expansion: Day 4

Day 4: Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD

Total Distance: 365 Miles
Total Vomits: 0
Total "Dad Moments" where I lost my patience and became the Herm of my childhood: 1
License Plate Challenge: 43/50
Listened to: 

• Music: John Denver, Bon Iver, Josh Ritter, The Beach Boys, The Decembrists, Counting Crows, Simon & Garfunkel
• Podcast: n/a
• Audiobook: n/a

Day 4 Highlights:

We woke up in Sioux Falls and hopped in the family wagon (a white Honda minivan we're calling "Pearl") for the drive west toward Rapid City. Before I tell you that, I feel I should qualify my comment about "hopping into" our vehicle.

At the beginning and ending of every day, we have to load into and out of Pearl, into and out of our hotel room. The process takes about an hour to an hour and a half each morning and night. The process is as maddening to us as it probably is comical to any passerby or fellow traveler who happens to see us struggling through their thinly veiled hotel room curtains. Celeste might be yanked by Merlin while trying to help Valencia find her shoe, while I'm often moving 100 lbs. of luggage while holding Cache upside down by his left ankle. Valencia meanwhile usually has a bathroom emergency that threatens the long-term usability of Pearl, and has never been able to keep two matching shoes together for more than 45 minutes.

Now add COVID-19 to the mix.

Celeste and I have developed a routine to try and protect our family from any contact with the virus. Each night when we check into a hotel, one of us goes into the room alone first with Clorox bleach wipes and wipe down every surface in the room. Most hotels are promising guests that each room is sanitized and deep cleaned daily, but we're skeptical and don't want to take any chances. When you add that routine, the usual chaos of getting out of the car, and then throw in trying to eat or make dinner into that mix, it's basically a 2-hour clustercuss that leaves everyone exhausted and wondering why we didn't fly.

Okay, so why didn't we fly? Because doing a cross-country road trip is a rite of passage for every American wanderer. Because how else would we have seen the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota? Or the famed Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota? Or when else would we have had the opportunity to climb on the countless hoodoos in Badlands National Park? (or visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame, or Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and so on. You get my point.) Also, we have a 65 pound dog who can't fly on an airplane. As crazy as it has been, it's also been fun and amazing and at times hilarious as we all get to know each other within the tightly packed confines of our trusty steed Pearl.

While the Corn Palace was cool/weird, the biggest highlight of Day 4 was definitely Badlands National Park. It's the kind of park where the trails include lots of mesmerizing rock formations, not totally dissimilar from Goblin Valley State Park in southern Utah. The hoodoos are each unique and formed by geologic forces that have been at work for thousands of years. The park allows for climbing and scrambling on these mighty rock formations, which is a dream come true for a self-proclaimed "adventurous kid" like Vali. We even saw a wild buffalo herd from a distance, which was pretty cool.

Check back for highlights on Day 5, where we plan to tackle Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, and cross the border into Old Wyom.