June 25: From Mitchell we head first to the new Minuteman Missle national Monument site, then into the Badlands, where two things happen:
1. Gray discovers my fear of "The Edge" and amuses himself by spending the rest of the day walikng out onto peaks and peering over any edge he can find, and-
2. I begin to have a Clark Griswold-grade freakout when I notice the temp gauge needle climbing beyond the half-way point of its range.
Y'see, I had a Toyota pickup of the same generation as the Dolphin for 10 years, and I never, ever managed to get its temp gauge past halfway, no matter how hot the day or how hard I worked it. Mind you,the needle in the Dolphin never went above the 2/3 mark, but it was enough to have me envisioning a molten lump of engine barely three days into our trip. Ergo, off went the A/C and open went the windows and vents.
Fortunately, Wall Drug still offers free ice water to travellers, which we all found very refreshing. We made it as far as Rapid City, then called it quits for the day. Our adventures in the Black Hills would begin the next day.
June 26: Starts out cool with a visit to Wind Cave, then gets hot, hot hot, as temps soar into the low 100s. We're all drinking fluid slike crazy, and I'm making many trips to the ice-filled cooler whenever we stop for fuel (that tiny fuel tank Sara already mentioned). We also hit the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota and pay a visit to the Crazy Horse Monument. We retire to the plush surroundings of the Mount Rushmore KOA and retire after viewing the Mt. Rushmore Memorial's nightly light show.
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