Day Three

Hey Everybody! This is a little late, but we had a stretch through South Dakota without internet access. Today (really two days ago now) was the third day of our roadtrip. We departed from a rainy and dark Omaha early this morning on our way to Wall, South Dakota for our next interview: Ted Hustead, third generation owner of world-famous roadside attraction, Wall Drug Store. We saw a sign advertising the store almost as soon as we crossed the state line and saw another every ten miles after that. Some of our favorites included “Wall-ways in Season,” “As Seen on London Buses,” and “Home of the Jack-a-lope” (a jack-a-lope is a mythical South Dakotan rabbit with antlers). We later learned from Ted Hustead there is a total 185 signs in South Dakota and that there are signs all the way from Minnesota through Montana. Before we reached Wall we drove the scenic byway through the Badlands National Park to see the amazing rock formations there.

We made it to Wall around one o'clock and resisted our urge to spend hours wandering around the old style western shops until after our interview. Ted wore cowboy boots, wranglers, a trendy pink button down with sublte stripes that matched his tie, and very sleek black plastic eyewear. The mix of western-wear and modern business reflected well his personality and business model. He emphasized to us the three essentials of a successful business such as his: educate your customers, entertain your customers, and do it with world class aestetics. Sage advice. After our interesting interview with Ted, we got to play around in Wall Drug. Our favorite part was the Jack-a-lope paraphernelia. Justin purchased a glass perched atop the antlers of one Jack-a-lope, and here's a picture of Becca riding another.

After Wall we drove towards Keystone near our campsite, Mount Rushmore, and the Crazy Horse Monument. We drove ten miles up and then down a mountain on what has to be the most circuitous road in the world to get to our campsite. We made camp, made dinner, and made it to Mount Rushmore before the lighting ceremony at 8:30. The monument was amazing, but the weather was cold, so we watched the lighting ceremony and scampered home to our warm sleeping bags.