Mount Rushmore, Wall, SD; and Casper, WY

Today we woke up and the tent had leaked.

Underneath the sleeping bags was wet, just barely, and the tent wall by our heads was soaked through. It had poured during the night, I remembered that. I also remembered being woken up by some screeching, owl-like noise. Then dog barking, which I thought was wolves at the time, then eventually woke up more and knew better.

So, yeah. I wake up, because shit is wet. I also wake up because twenty feet from our heads some piece of heavy machinery is dragging cut pine trees away from the campsite. LOUD AS FUCK.
So, we get up and go eat at a Pizza Hut, of all places, because EGo wants something familiar. Then we go to Mount Rushmore. It's actually very cool. I expected it to be a stupid and lame tourist attraction, but in person, it's incredibly impressive. I give it two thumbs up.The opposite follows for Wall Drug. It's about as touristy as a place can get. It panders to the public. I'm not going to lie: I saw Wall Drug on the first season of Road Rules and wanted to go and see it ever since. It's this huge, strip mall-like, hick tourist attraction. Here's me riding a jackalope.
We're driving about halfway to get to Mandy and Dave, who live in Colorado. TomTom, my navigation system, is taking us down county highways. There is nothing for miles. And really, I mean NOTHING. I thought I had seen nothing before this point in the trip and boy, was I ever wrong. I mean, nothing but fields and fields and road and road. Then it got dark. And then was there EVER nothing to see, except the blinding glare of someone forgetting to turn off their high beams. That's a real bitch.

So, we drive. Eventually we cross over the Wyoming border without even knowing it. We pass trains that are hauling loads of coal paralell on the road to us. Their lights are also blinding. We agree that once we hit the interstate we'll find a hotel to stop in.

After we get an idea of where a fucking hotel is in the godforsaken state from a gas station attendant, we stop in Casper, Wyoming, which is far too close to Laramie for my tastes. Remember Matthew Shepard? Yeah. This is no place for a lesbian and her Asian friend.

First hotel we stop at, a Super 8, has no room because, and I quote, because I asked, "There's a wedding and a rodeo going on." Holy. Shit. Second place, a Best Western, has a room; smoking, but thank god, there's a room. EGo and I go in and eventually go to bed. The place is packed with pickup trucks in the parking lot, and I can't wait to leave in the morning.