Wall, South Dakota

[John Harrelson]

Summer is upon us and here is a "Hot Spot" to visit this year.
I camped there every year for over 10 years.. and talk about adventure... Check out what happened to me on my first trip to Wall, South Dakota

oh yes !! take your camera....

Enjoy,
John

*************************************************

One of my ex-wives (#2 or #4 ?) and I spent every summer for over ten years traveling all over America on our motorcycle.. The first year we were camping out at a place named Wall, South Dakota..

It was raining and muggy hot so we stretched out under the tarp to rest in the late afternoon about supper time.. We were just lying there talking ... when suddenly my wife sits up with a wild look on her face and points towards some bushes several yards away.

I didn't see anything, so I asked her what was wrong.. She say that there was a very small deer jumping about in the bushes.. She thought it may be hurt and I should go check it out..

I am not a hero, so I picked up a stout piece of firewood and walked over to the bushes.. Something small with horns jumped out almost on my feet.. scared the bee-jeeeeze out of me..

Without thinking, I swung that piece of firewood at the thing and knocked it flying... it landed on the grass near the tarp where we had been laying... The wife lets out a blood curdling scream and almost tears the tarp down trying to get away..

Needless to say, I was also shook up. But I walked over to see what that thing was and could not believe my eyes,,, it was an animal that looked like a cross between a rabbit's body and a mule deer's antlers..

Yes sir,, that was the weirdest thing I have ever seem.. I felt bad about killing it, but since it was dead anyway, I picked it up and carried it into town to a local taxidermist and had it stuffed..

The folks at the Wall Drug said they were very rare and offered to buy it from me.. You bet !! for a hundred dollars, I let them keep it..

The next year we again took our annual bike trip and stopped in at Wall Drug, South Dakota.. We could not believe our eyes... that strange animal that I called a "Jackalope" was so popular with the tourist that the Wall Drug Store had started making life like copies of my Jackalope and were selling them to folks..

Talking about a missed opportunity ... If I had only known, I could have done that and would be a millionaire today..

When I asked about the real jackalopes in the wild, I was told that they were an endangered species and had been put on the protected list so they could not be hunted..

That is why today, you can only find plastic look a likes of the Jackalope..

The most popular tourist stop in America is WALL DRUG SOUTH DAKOTA ... right on interstate 90..

y'all stop by and say howdy,,, yuh hear,
John
**************************************************

[John Harrelson]

Summer is upon us and here is a "Hot Spot" to visit this year.
I camped there every year for over 10 years.. and talk about adventure... Check out what happened to me on my first trip to Wall, South Dakota

oh yes !! take your camera....

Enjoy,
John

*************************************************

One of my ex-wives (#2 or #4 ?) and I spent every summer for over ten years traveling all over America on our motorcycle.. The first year we were camping out at a place named Wall, South Dakota..

It was raining and muggy hot so we stretched out under the tarp to rest in the late afternoon about supper time.. We were just lying there talking ... when suddenly my wife sits up with a wild look on her face and points towards some bushes several yards away.

I didn't see anything, so I asked her what was wrong.. She say that there was a very small deer jumping about in the bushes.. She thought it may be hurt and I should go check it out..

I am not a hero, so I picked up a stout piece of firewood and walked over to the bushes.. Something small with horns jumped out almost on my feet.. scared the bee-jeeeeze out of me..

Without thinking, I swung that piece of firewood at the thing and knocked it flying... it landed on the grass near the tarp where we had been laying... The wife lets out a blood curdling scream and almost tears the tarp down trying to get away..

Needless to say, I was also shook up. But I walked over to see what that thing was and could not believe my eyes,,, it was an animal that looked like a cross between a rabbit's body and a mule deer's antlers..

Yes sir,, that was the weirdest thing I have ever seem.. I felt bad about killing it, but since it was dead anyway, I picked it up and carried it into town to a local taxidermist and had it stuffed..

The folks at the Wall Drug said they were very rare and offered to buy it from me.. You bet !! for a hundred dollars, I let them keep it..

The next year we again took our annual bike trip and stopped in at Wall Drug, South Dakota.. We could not believe our eyes... that strange animal that I called a "Jackalope" was so popular with the tourist that the Wall Drug Store had started making life like copies of my Jackalope and were selling them to folks..

Talking about a missed opportunity ... If I had only known, I could have done that and would be a millionaire today..

When I asked about the real jackalopes in the wild, I was told that they were an endangered species and had been put on the protected list so they could not be hunted..

That is why today, you can only find plastic look a likes of the Jackalope..

The most popular tourist stop in America is WALL DRUG SOUTH DAKOTA ... right on interstate 90..

y'all stop by and say howdy,,, yuh hear,
John
**************************************************

[Cruzer]

What a co-incidence. I've seen that same Jackalope at Wall Drug every time that we stop there, which has been since about 1988.

By the way, did flying dead Jackalopes have anything to do with the "ex" part of the ex-wife title?

[John Harrelson]

My first trip there was in 1975, I think.. but the wife and I stayed together for many years more..

John