around 7am mdt.

I am going to hold on writing about Madison until later. Since yesterday is still fresh in my mind, I'll take care of that now.

We arrived in South Dakota around 6am on the 19th. Dan had been driving about six hours straight, so I took the wheel from that point. We intended to drive through the state until we hit the Badlands, with a stop or two beforehand.

Our first stop was in Mitchell. There is nothing significant about this town besides the very large building called "the Corn Palace". It is adorned with hundreds of different designs made by corn. We stayed here for no more than ten minutes before getting back on the road.

The next stop was another small town, Chamberlain, which was around the center of the state. The best thing about this town was the superb view of the Missouri River, which kept us occupied for awhile. Afterwards, we drove to the Badlands before stopping in Wall, a rather large tourist trap, which featured gift shops, places to eat, Western-themed buildings and displays, and way too much more. This is one of the most over the top towns I've ever seen.

The terrain of the area of South Dakota known as the "Badlands" is drastically different from that of the rest of the state, which is mostly rolling hills and flat grasslands. Rugged canyons and a general scarred landscape mark the badlands, as well as many steeps drop offs and smaller cnayons. The views are absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen anything like this before, and it will be a long time before I see anything like it again. The wildlife was fantastic, too. Bison, Elk, Prarie Dogs, Antelope, and on and on.

By the time dusk rolled around, we were both exhausted and conceded that it was time to set up the tent. I didn't want to stay in the tent because I was afarid that it was going to rain, but I was a good sport and played along. Around midnight, I awoke to find myself laying in a rather large puddle. I should have slept in the car, which I went after scooping all of my stuff out of the tent. A bit later, Dan came to the car, and we drove to the showers, which is where we spent the rest of the night.