Day 4 - Elkhorn RV Park, Spearfish, SD

We get up refreshed about 7 am to get ready for the trip west. The RV next to us is a gentleman and his wife from Knoxville. They are traveling with one of their grandsons and are going to Mount Rushmore (as are we). They are then going on to Oregon and then south to California to meet up with other family members for some climbing.

Today, we will finally see Wall Drug. Wall Drug was founded in 1931 by a couple named Hustead who bought and ran a drug store in Wall, SD. There is a lot of information on this tourist site on the internet. To tell the story briefly, Mr. Hustead and his wife bought a drug store in the little town of Wall. They agreed to give it 5 years. The 5 years was almost up and the Hustead’s were not making much of a living. One day Mrs. Hustead suggested that they put signs up and give travelers on the highway through town a free class of water. (After having driven across South Dakota yesterday and today, I can see why people in the days before the interstate might have needed to stop for some water.) To make a long story short, Mr. Hustead put up signs on the highway (like Burma Shave signs), and they attracted lots of customers and tourists.

We started seeing Wall Drug signs before we ever got to highway 90. They had little on them other than something like: free water; honey mooners get free donut and coffee; coffee for a nickel; and western art exhibits. Basically, their signage is just subtle advertising for the store.

We got to Wall about noon (our time). There was a bus unloading and a lot of RV’s in the parking lots (see pictures). It was as advertised. If you needed to buy it, you could probably find it at Wall Drug. The actual drug store is on the second level, but there is still a drug store at the facility. There is a chapel; they sell western clothing; there is a lot of art on the walls; there are t-shirts for sale; you could buy a jackalope or a painted buffalo; there were statues for the children to climb or ride on; there was a fountain in the patio area; and the fresh water fountains that made Wall Drug were in the patio.

After a quick lunch at Wall Drug, we get back in the RV and head west towards Spearfish. We will be at the Elkhorn RV Park for the next four days. From here we can go to Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood (a city of casinos), the Devil’s Tower, Bear Country, U.S.A., and a bunch of other stuff.

The pictures that follow are of Wall Drug and the RV park where we are staying.