Day Nine - Attack of the killer bugs

The tornado of last night touched down south of our motel and thankfully no damage was done there. With the Woody and Fordor all loaded up we had to take I 90 out of Chamberlain because the local bridge over the Missouri River was closed for repairs. We had to go 10 miles before we could get back on our secondary road that paralleled the highway. This was another perfect Model A road, not another car on the road but us. As we approached Murdo, SD Nan remembered there was a car museum there, and as if someone heard our discussion a sign for the Pioneer Auto Museum popped up. How could we not visit this roadside attractions. We are so glad we did as this was a real gem of a place. The staff was very friendly with good sense of humor and really loved that we were driving our Model A's. We toured the many buildings full of all kinds of cars, trucks, tractors, motorcycles and all kinds of stuff. Dick and I saw a few car makes that we had never heard of before. Of course the gift shop was where I found Nan. We had a nice conversation with the owner who was extremely friendly and gave us all kinds of ideas for visiting in the Mt. Rushmore area.


Back on our Model A road we were again the only cars traveling on it. There may not have been any cars on the road but we began to notice some bugs on the roadway, then there were lots of bugs, and then it was down right like something out of a horror movie. The bugs were Grasshoppers and they were hopping everywhere, so much that we closed the windows, but poor Dick and Barbara couldn't do that in the woody. Nothing we could do but keep going. When we stopped for gas we couldn't believe our eyes. Yuck! Nan bought a wisk broom so Dick and I could try to clean the radiators. We did our best, but as we continued to the Bad Lands we accumulated more.



Our next stop was the Bad Lands National Park which was amazing. Every turn had a different view that made the entire drive spectacular. Of course we all asked how could this have been formed, which the park brochure gave us all the answers. Nan was clicking off picture almost everywhere. This is one of those places you can't describe you have to see it for yourself.


Still enjoying the beauty of the park, we headed the Model A's to Wall to visit the world famous Wall Drug. The story goes that the drug store owner gave himself one more year to make the drug store successful. One day his wife had an idea to offer free ice water to travelers on the highway. He didn't even finish putting up the signs when the cars started arriving. And the rest is history. This place is definitely geared to the tourist and has a little bit of everything. We did have a late lunch which was very good BTW.


We did our best to support the local economy then got on I 90 to make the last 50 miles to Rapid City and the Microtel Hotel where we would be staying for a few nights. I should also mention that Dick and I did find a do-it-yourself car wash to clean off the rest of the grasshoppers. It took a while but I think we got most of them.


This was a relatively short day with on 220 miles recorded.