Day 19 -- SD, MN, WI

Since Badlands Nat'l Park was three or four feet from my motel, I had to drive through it before I started making serious tracks for home. It was very spectacular and the cool and sunny weather was perfect. Its very accessible too, since you just drive through it.



Once I left Badlands, I saw some really tacky spots to stop including the big statue of a prairie dog that Annie mentioned. No picture, sorry. Next stop was going to be LaCrosse, Wisconsin. So it was AM radio or Sue Grafton's S is for Silence. About thirty seconds into the book I realized that I have listened to it before and the reader was annoying; but what ya gonna do? Back to radio. I glommed onto NPR and listened to some intelligent sports conversation and a review of Elton John's concert in Sioux Falls. Actually it was interesting. Then a flipped to some guy talking politics that seemed pretty level headed albeit conservative. I kept listening to this guy, who had a female co-host, and he sounded reasonable. He started taking calls and the callers called him Bill. I thought who is this? It can't be that Bill -- the shithead from television. Sure enough it was Bill Fucking O'Rielly(sp?)! Forgive me, Rob. Once I figured that out I had to stop listening. How could the obnoxious cretin from Fox News but this reasonable guy? His voice sounded mellow. Just to prove I'm a hypocrite, I turned him off just because he a conservative.



It felt like forever to get to Sioux Falls and, silly me, I expected to cross the Mississippi there, Oops, missed it by one state. I ate at Al's Oasis. How's it sound? It was fine. So far my streak is in tack; no fast food on the entire trip; and no fries. I planned to wimp out at Albert Lea, Minnesota but no Best Western so I went on to La Crosse. I did cross the Mississippi, of course, but it was dark so I was focused on stating in the white lines.



Stranger encounters were limited to a couple "Hi, how are ya's" in Badlands.



Tomorrow night I sleep in my own bed. Can you tell I'm tired?