Bessie shared her patriotic spirit with 28 other MINIs in the New Berlin, Wisconsin, Fourth of July Parade. The MINIs came from as far as Virginia and Wyoming to celebrate the festivities. Bessie drove alongside Tardis. Isn’t it great to see two Doctor Who vehicles together! Both Mini and New Berlin are celebrating their 50th Anniversaries this year. Happy Anniversary!

View photos…

The road through Spearfish Canyon is delightful and beautiful ride which Bessie enjoyed. It has twists and turns, but is less treacherous than the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byways. The road winds along a river cutting through the canyon. Along the way we stopped to see the Bridal Veil Falls. View photos…

The road lead us to Deadwood, South Dakota, site of the famous shooting of Wild Bill Hickock. The town uses its status to capitalize on tourists which seems to have slot machine in every corner. However, the wonderfully restored downtown area and nuggets of history make up for the electronic beeps and flashing lights. While there, we stopped in at the Adams museum to learn more about the history of the area. We also popped into the Lucky Nugget to see the spot where Wild Bill was shot. Across the street, we found a Hollywood memorabilia museum/casino. James Bond movies seemed to be their specialty along with some famous TV and Movie cars. Jenny spent a dollar on a slot machine. She didn’t come out ahead. View photos…

Finally, we wound our way south for dinner and ice cream at The Boondocks, a fifties diner, Hollywood memorabilia shop, old-time portrait studio, amusement park, filling station and Studebaker museum. At the diner we learned they were out of ice cream. Imagine our devastation after having driven 1,000 miles, give or take. We did enjoy our dinner and seeing them make fries from potato to slicer to fryer to our plates. Our overall impression that evening of Boondocks was something out of a weird horror film. The silent amusement park rides and games have a strange sense of ghostly vacancy, like we were intruding on past memories before something horrific happened. Don’t worry, it’s probably just not peak season. View photos…

The blazing heat of the Badlands drove us to our next South Dakota destination, Wall Drug. 84+ billboards later, we were finally at Wall Drug to sample their famous, free, ice-cold water. Our strength renewed, we wandered about the 76,000 square feet of animatronics, souvenirs, knick-knacks, wax models, historical photos, taxidermy, shooting fountains and an actual drug store. A few of us decided to try the homemade ice cream of Wall Drug. It hit the spot after a long day in the sun. View photos…

Our next adventure took us for an early morning drive out to Wyoming to see Devil’s Tower. It’s truly an amazing site that I would recommend everyone see! The roads were fun to drive on, too. Here’s another wave to our fellow remotely-located pepper white MINI driver near Sundance with the boston terrier. She’ll remember us since we took a slightly British detour when the navigator said “MINI” and the driver took it as “You’re taking the wrong exit!” Hilarity and a heart restart for the driver ensued. View photos…