Ok, and I am going to re-iterate my offer to pick up anyone wanting to come along for the ride. I'll even deviate from my planned route to pick you up.
And speaking of which, my planned route through South Dakota is to take Hwy 79 straight out of Rapid City bearing due south into Nebraska. There I will pass through Chadron, Alliance, Bridgeport, Oglalla, and Trenton and into Kansas. In KS I will go through Atwood, Colby, Wakeeney, and Dodge City and into Oklahoma. In good ol' OK I'll be headed through Woodward, Watonga, Geary, and into El Reno (my one non-negotiable stop) where I will stop to indulge my absolute passion for special local dishes that are not found anywhere else on earth, preferably the ORIGINAL creator of the dish. In El Reno in the 1930's a diner run by Homer and Ross Davis wanted to stretch the expensive hamburger and still fill up the diner, so they created a smashburger melded to a large pile of thin sliced onions on the flattop grill. That restaurant is now gone, but there are a number of places in town that have picked up the torch. Namely, Sid's and Robert's, being the two vying for first place. Sid's got hit by Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and they kinda capitalized on the fame. Roberts has been open since the late 1920's and is kinda run down...music to my ears! But then, a belly fulla Oklahoma onionburger, fries, and a shake, I'll skirt OK City and then on to Lake Carl Blackwell for the OJAM.
This trip is gonna be EPIC!
