Murdo She Wrote

Nothing says sleep here tonight like a town named Murdo. That and the realization when I passed a sign saying "Now Entering Central Standard Time Zone" that it was really 10pm instead of 9pm. I don't like driving past my bedtime, so here I am.

Today was a full day of first time visits. First time to the states of Nebraska and South Dakota, first visit to Mount Rushmore, and first time to eat buffalo meat. Beautiful, beautiful, bizarre, and delicious. The North-West corner of Nebraska is covered in rolling grasslands with those random giant trees popping out occasionally for no understandable reason at all. Did it used to be a forest? Unlikely. Then why is it the only large tree for miles? Blame it on the birds, perhaps.

The drive from there into South Dakota was very pleasant as I was off the main road the entire way. No other cars for miles, but a surprisingly large quantity of roadkill. Either one truck had a really bad day, or the ratio of animals springing across the road to cars was not in my favor. I did see some deer drinking from a stream on the side of the road but thankfully didn't have to dodge any animals in the road. Other than the dead ones I already mentioned.

I ended up racing a thunderstorm out of Mount Rushmore which prevented me from stopping at my second Sonic sighting, this time in Rapid City. But it all worked out because I broke for a delicious sit-down meal in Walls, SD at the Red Rock Restaurant. Beers were two dollars. Two dollars, San Francisco, did you hear that? And this wasn't happy hour. The buffalo burger was tasty, had a little barbecue flavor to it, and the homemade, apple-caramel-pecan pie added the perfect finish.

Oh, and no, I didn't have any beer. I'm driving! Thanks for that vote of confidence.