[It's now been more than 3 months since we returned from this trip. We're getting closer to the end!]
Day 27. I wish we'd had some time in Rapid City, since our hotel was downtown and surrounded by cafes, restaurants, and statues of presidents, none of which we saved time to explore. We arrived late, crashed, then took off again right after breakfast. I did manage to fit in a short workout in the huge gym at this Hyatt Place. Pretty much every Hyatt Place that we stayed in had a well-stocked and often roomy gym, along with plant milks and healthy options for breakfast. Great value for me because I could book them with transferred Chase credit card points at a good rate, and great value for Ruth since she usually got her own bed separate from Zadie.
Our first stop today was Mount Rushmore, which might have gotten the lowest average rating from our family had we been asked to grade each of our stops along the way. Zadie was irritated the whole time (boring, hot, too much walking), and Bill was unimpressed ("They ruined a mountain."). Rushmore was probably also the busiest of anywhere we went on the trip. On the plus side, we learned that the rock around the current faces isn't suitable for additional carving. Good to know that if any given narcissistic president wanted to memorialize themselves forever in rock here, it wouldn't be possible.
Next, we stopped at Custer State Park and had a picnic lunch next to a small lake. Kids were jumping off the cliffs into the water, while everyone else was careful to avoid all the goose poop. Needles Highway was very cool at the beginning - a landscape full of granite spires, plus a few crazily narrow tunnels (8' wide!) - but then was just forest. We enjoyed the change of temperature in the forest, which got down to 73 degrees briefly, but other than than, not sure it was worth the amount of time it took. The girls napped during the drive.
Running out of time, we skipped Crazy Horse and headed to Wall Drug. I'd told the kids about my memories of all the billboards advertising free ice water here, and how as a kid my siblings and I had been so excited to finally see it. I didn't actually remember much about it, and nothing looked familiar. Bill gave it 0 stars ("loud and all they had was useless crap"), but Zadie was back to her happy place looking through all the toys, stuffed animals, and candy in the gift shops. Ice cream for the girls helped too; Ruth had a shake so thick she needed a spoon. Overall though - nope.
Across the highway from the packed Wall Drug, we entered the Badlands and seemed to have it to ourselves. It was kinda cold (finally!), sprinkling, and smoky due to nearby wildfires. Despite the rain and smoke, the Badlands are beautiful. I especially loved the entry where everything looks flat at first, then you see the ground drop away, making visible all the multi-colored striations in the rock. We kept stopping to look around and take pictures, but didn't hike anywhere given the weather and the limited time we had. Seeing the Badlands definitely perked us all back up again after our long, packed day, tiring despite (or due to?) all the driving.
After leaving the park, we returned to downtown Wall for dinner at an old-timey looking "saloon" where we were surprised to see a robot delivering food to tables. Later, a few blocks away, we checked into our hotel, one of the worst and most expensive of the trip (bad combo!). Can't win 'em all!