A long way from Bryn Mawr (and luckily from St. Paul, too)

I know I said I would keep politics out of this, but having just caught a re-airing of Palin's speech, I just want to say that it brings me great sadness that the Republican party continues to try to build a movement on fear, hate, and negativity and peppers their plain and folksy rhetoric with blatant lies and bullshit. Normally watching something like the RNC would make me want to crack jokes and say how ridiculous it is that they think that they will win. But in this moment it just makes me want to cry. This actually produces an interesting segue to our day's adventures: At the close of Palin's speech, she was backed by a patriotic image of Mt. Rushmore. Seeing that behind her after hearing her words almost managed to ruin the very moving experience I had today with Alison at that very same monument.

Alison and I left Chamberlain this morning after she sent off some applications. We drove west for about 200 miles until we reached the beginning of the Badlands National Park scenic loop (Route 240, exit 131). Just so you know, there are no student discounts at national parks. We drove the loop and stopped off at most of the lookouts. According to my American Park Networks guide (picked up at AAA), the Badlands, a 244,000 acre landscape, was formed starting 65 million years ago from various sediment, including what is known as the Pierre Shale, volcanic ash, and decomposed forests. Erosion has caused, and continues to cause, the formation of channels, gulleys, cliffs, and spires. We stopped for lunch at the visitors' center and were surprised by how cold it was. We exited the scenic loop at Wall, SD which can only mean one thing... WALL DRUG! Have you dug Wall Drug? We did. I got a homemade donut, 5 cent coffee, and some postcards. As many of you probably know, they have free ice water, too. Though it's nothing to write home about. It tastes funny.

Back on I-90 for about another hour, we exited at Rapid City and headed south for about 30 miles until we came upon the aforementioned monument. Whether you're a fan of Alfred Hitchcock, Team America World Police, or just the United States of America, Mt. Rushmore is the place for you. It's hard for me to put my finger on what was so stunning about it, but I think it's the confluence of scale, history, and the adjacent landscape. And we saw a mountain goat! After dinner we found the local movie theater and saw Hamlet 2, the highlight of which was the tune, "Rock Me Sexy Jesus." Before you're offended, let me tell you that the movie explains that the song is about if Jesus came to the earth in modern times, he'd have to market himself like a sexy celebrity. All in all we give the movie 2 thumbs up.

We're spending the night here in Rapid City before driving through Rocky Raccoon country tomorrow (that would be the Black Hills of Dakota) and into Wyoming. Despite Sarah Palin ruining my night, today has been one of the best days yet. So here's to another night in a Best Western, though this one seems to be a Better Western (we have a fridge). See you in Wyoming!

A&A