Highs and lows

Gotta hand it to Holiday Inn Express -- fluffy beds kick ass. Although we have REALLY enjoyed our last two historic hotels, they were kind of loud and creaky. We didn't notice at the time because there was so much other great stuff going on, but being in a regular hotel last night was unexpectedly great. We both slept like a rock.

We did a lot of driving today, and are spending the night (in another Holiday Inn Express!) in Sioux Falls tonight in preparation for sightseeing tomorrow. We were going to stay in Mitchell and see the Pre-historic Indian Village. Unfortunately the whole place was jammed with drunken pheasant hunters so we moved on down the road. We'll put Mitchell on the list for next time, along with more in-depth exploration of the Lewis & Clark trail. We did swing by and grab a picture of the infamous Corn Palace.

We started the morning with a visit to the Rapid City Dinosaur Park, which is an old Public Works project from the Depression. It was kind of charming in its decrepitude.

We spent the rest of the day driving through southern South Dakota, largely through the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations. We stopped to pay our respects at the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial, which is as sad as you would expect. It's hard to believe that some members of the cavalry earned Medals of Honor for their service in that "battle."

Almost 120 years later, Pine Ridge is the poorest county in America, with 80% unemployment and an average yearly income of $3,700. Pine Ridge also has the country's highest infant mortality rate. Even if you make it to adulthood the news doesn't get any better -- male life expectancy is 48 and it's 52 for females.