Five-Cent Coffee and the Badlands · Anecdotally Accurate

At this point, buying gas has become less about filling the tank and more about finding the exact angle at which the pump will agree to keep running. Wednesday started at Runners in Rapid City, where a 25-cent-per-gallon discount was limited to 35 gallons. That meant two transactions: 35.000 gallons for $135.77, then another 10.001 gallons for $41.29. In total, 45.001 gallons and $177.06, with the nozzle still requiring more negotiation than I would prefer. I left around 6:45, headed for Wall.

Dawn orange-and-purple light over the prairie highway — Dawn near Rapid City after the overnight stop, a strip of orange light below gray clouds as the day begins with another large fuel purchase.

The morning sky was doing a respectable job of looking dramatic, with a narrow orange band below a lot of gray cloud. By 8:10, I was in Wall photographing a Wall Drug sign advertising free motorcycle parking. Not much practical benefit to someone arriving in a 23-foot motorhome, but I had finally reached the place whose advertising seems determined to make sure nobody drives through South Dakota without knowing it exists.

Wall Drug parking sign at golden sunset — Wall Drug's free-motorcycle-parking sign. I arrived in a motorhome, but the roadside landmark had successfully got my attention.

I’d been weighing whether to visit Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse or keep moving toward the Ozarks. The eastbound option won this round. I still have to fit weekday work into the trip, and getting to Daphne by November 6 is starting to put a useful limit on how many detours I can justify.

By early afternoon I was exploring Wall Drug itself. It has five-cent coffee, a wooden pay-here box, an unsettlingly enthusiastic old-time photographer figure behind glass, and enough interconnected displays and merchandise to make the word “drugstore” feel like a historical technicality. There was also a giant jackalope. I’m not sure what problem the jackalope solves, but it seems to have found steady employment.

Five-cent coffee sign at Wall Drug — Wall Drug's five-cent coffee station, with cups stacked above a wooden pay-here box. A rather specific bargain to find on an RV trip dominated by fuel receipts.

Massive wooden jackalope chainsaw art outside Wall Drug — The giant jackalope outside Wall Drug. It fits the afternoon's transition from five-cent coffee to the more improbable parts of the attraction.

Then I went looking for the actual Badlands. From Wall, Pinnacles Overlook was the appealing way to get a view without committing to a huge detour, and I spent time sorting out the entrance fee and whether an America the Beautiful pass made sense. I don’t have a purchase recorded, but I do have the scenery. The afternoon took me past pale, sharply eroded formations and grassland that apparently comes with its own wildlife department.

There was a bison close enough to the road to photograph, and later a turkey standing on pavement. I also heard these short, trilling calls carrying back and forth through the canyons. They sounded almost like turkeys answering one another, especially after seeing one in the parking lot, although I couldn’t confidently identify the sound. Whatever was making it had excellent acoustics.

Bighorn sheep ram roadside in the Badlands — Wildlife beside the road in the Badlands. The landscape detour included animals, not just overlooks.

The late light was worth sticking around for. Just before sunset, the sun dropped toward a horizon of ridges and deep gullies, and a little later the formations along the scenic drive caught the last warm light. For a stop I’d originally wanted to keep close to the highway, the Badlands did a pretty good job of making a case for taking my time.

Eroded sandstone spires in the Badlands in warm last light — Pale Badlands rock formations in the last warm light after sunset, along the scenic route east of the earlier overlook.

Eventually the practical questions returned. I was looking at Murdo City Park and an open area southwest of it as possible places to spend the night. A $65 rate at New Frontier RV Park farther along was not especially appealing, although I was hoping to find somewhere to dump the tanks the next day. I also checked whether my pace still left a reasonable shot at Daphne by November 6.

The motorhome made it to Murdo that evening. I photographed it parked under a sky full of stars, a much more convincing picture of RV life than the one in which I’m holding a fuel nozzle and waiting for it to cooperate. I haven’t logged a final overnight location, so I won’t pretend the parking decision was more settled than it was.

The fresh-water tank, at least, is finally filled after yesterday’s stop near Rapid City. Getting water aboard was progress, even if it hasn’t yet established that the whole winterized plumbing system is back in service. I seem to be making eastbound progress in both miles and the number of RV systems that might eventually work as intended.

Motorhome under starry night sky at Murdo — The motorhome parked under a starry sky in the Murdo area. A much more convincing picture of RV life than the one where I'm negotiating with a fuel nozzle.

Replies