We woke up yesterday morning with a 9 hour drive ahead of us, the first "real" long stretch to our trip.  The roads of Minnesota and South Dakota were calling our names as we started up the van early.   We vowed that we would get the true road trip experience out of this 500 and something mile stretch... we would stop anywhere that sounded interesting.  So, naturally, the Corn Palace was our first stop.  Corn Palace... pretty self-explanatory, a palace made out of corn, but the architecture was truly fascinating.  My favorite part of the corn palace had to be the picture (made out of corn of course) of Abraham Lincoln on the side of the palace, the detail was incredible.  Next stop somewhere over 100 miles down the road... The Badlands.  I have to admit we had no idea what the "Badlands" actually consisted of, but we knew we had to go there.  We were pleasantly surprised by the incredible and breath-taking scenery. I was slightly disturbed by the "Watch for Rattlesnakes" signs and Ben's fetish wish seeing how close he could pose to the edge... but after my heart stopped beating 1000 mph I was able the enjoy and appreciate the Badlands... such a cool experience. Then just a few miles down the road is where we found our Last stop of the day.  After the build up of about 300 road signs, we found ourselves at Wall Drug... land of the T-rex, 5 cent coffee, and $2 hats...a hot hit on the Fourth of July.  All and all it was a great road trip day.  Tomorrow we're stopping at Mount Rushmore and then starting our journey across the great state of Wyoming.  Can't wait!!!