Wednesday, September 10, 2014

JESS IN SOUTH DAKOTA: WALL DRUG, MOUNT RUSHMORE, & BLACK HILLS

My last South Dakota recap was all about Badlands National Park, and now it's time to head to the town of Wall, visit Mount Rushmore, and enjoy a few winding and scenic drives through the Black Hills and Custer State Park.

How could I not love a giant postcard?

This was the morning of my now fiancé's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than being total tourists by visiting national and local landmarks? With a camera strapped to my neck and postcards in hand, of course. The weather started out gloomy and wet, but looking back on this trip, we were glad to just get two days of rain when the whole trip was forecasted to be storms. Count ourselves lucky!

Wall is a small town (less than 800 people!) and home to Wall Drug, a cheesy roadside attraction that kept us entertained for much longer than we anticipated. It originally started off as a pharmacy, but grew to 76,000 square feet of gift shops, food, and local history. We got almost all of our knick knacks and souvenirs here, stayed for an arcade shooting game or two, and took advantage of the fun photo ops.


Okay, I just noticed it said "wallcome".

Inside Wall Drug.


Hangin'.



Wore an Urban Outfitters sweater, Gap denim shirt, The Limited leather leggings, Nordstrom crossbody, and Converse Jack Purcell sneakers.

*Not actual size of jackalope. 


Ever since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to see Mount Rushmore. No clue as to why, but I knew I had to get there at some point. When my fiancé and I were talking about a trip and South Dakota came up, I instantly was like, "wait... where is Mount Rushmore?! Yes, we're going there!"

On our way to Mount Rushmore. Love driving through small towns!

We're here!
 




After Mount Rushmore, we headed to the Black Hills and Custer State Park (our home for the next few days). We knew it was going to be beautiful, but we didn't know that it was going to be that gorgeous. We were introduced to spectacular scenery with stunning peaks, and some awesome roads to drive on! (My fiancé's favorite part.) We did the Iron Mountain and Needles Highway scenic drives, an awesome way to see the beauty of South Dakota, second to hiking it all!



Mount Rushmore from afar.

Out in the open!

Buffalo!


 



Come hike with me with for the next post on my South Dakota road trip! See more photos here.

Jess

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