Rapid City

Our hotel is in Rapid City. It has wi-fi -- you may have noticed. We set out for downtown which is charming and found a place for a nicer than fast food or sports bars dinner. We found the restaurant at the Alec Johnson Hotel. A historic building. The downtown area has statues of all the US president on each street corner. That seemed like a good idea. Dinner was decent. I had Walleye.

The city was founded by failed gold miners who thought they could build the next Denver. But it was very slow to grow unlike Deadwood which exploded in just 20 years. They marked the city limits by compass and bound it by the streets named North, South, East and West. But they didn't correct for compass readings and the city remains alligned to magnetic north rather than true north. My dad will enjoy that fact.

After the Badlands today we don't have anything we intend to see until Chicago. So I'm checking www.roadsideamerica.com for options. I don't think the world's smallest church or the world's largest cheeto are worth an hour detour though.