Day 16: Custer to Denver — Coins, Cars, and a Coffee Called “Rocket Fuel”

2026 Rally4Vets America Grand Tour

Today was a veterans’ day in the truest sense; three posts, three challenge coins, a Special Forces handshake, and a field full of cars standing on end. We rolled out of Custer, South Dakota, pointed south through the Black Hills and across the high plains toward Denver, dodged a few rumbling Colorado thunderstorms, and packed the day full of exactly the people and places this tour exists for.

Rocket Fuel and a Special Forces Handshake

But first — coffee. We couldn’t leave the gloriously retro Rocket Motel in Custer without one more lap through its mid-century-modern lobby, where the coffee thermoses are labeled “Rocket Fuel – Leaded, Caution HOT” and the décor is pure 1950s starburst joy. If you find yourself in Custer, this is a must-stay. It’s a blast from the past in the best way.

And it’s where the day’s first gift happened. We met a former Special Forces veteran and his wife, who has devoted 30 years of her career to the VA, caring for veterans. Think about that couple: one served his country in uniform, the other has spent three decades serving those who did. We were honored to present him with a Rally4Vets Challenge Coin. That’s the whole mission in a single handshake, right there in a motel lobby under a neon rocket.

Three Posts, Three Coins

From there, the day became a tour of the backbone of veteran America — the small-town posts where the flag flies and the door is always open.

We stopped at VFW Post 3442 in Custer, where a giant American flag is painted across the whole side of the building – you can’t miss it, and you wouldn’t want to. Then down to Hot Springs, South Dakota, to American Legion Post 71, where the walls are covered with the placards of Legion posts from all across the country, and the welcome was as warm as they come. We presented a challenge coin. They sent us off with a Post 71 license plate of our own, a trade we’ll treasure. We also visited their beautiful veteran murals honoring every branch of service.

And crossing into Nebraska, we stopped at VFW Post 1517 in Alliance, with its hand-painted Army, Navy, and Marines tributes lining the fence. Another coin, another set of handshakes, another reminder that no matter how small the town, the veteran community is its beating heart. To every post that welcomed us today: thank you. You are this country.

Carhenge: An American Original

Then, just north of Alliance, we pulled up to one of the great roadside wonders of America: Carhenge.

Picture Stonehenge — but built entirely out of vintage American cars, planted trunk-down in the earth and welded into arches, all painted solemn gray. It’s a full-scale replica, 96 feet across, all 38 of Stonehenge’s major stones represented, with a 1962 Cadillac standing in for the heel stone. A man named Jim Reinders, a Navy veteran, built it with his family in 1987 as a memorial to his late father, dedicating it on the summer solstice. He’d studied the real Stonehenge while living in England and decided the most American way to recreate it was with the thing this country practically invented: the automobile.

Now, you can imagine how this landed with us. We started this entire tour back in Washington State at the Maryhill Stonehenge, America’s first WWI memorial, a full-size concrete Stonehenge on a bluff. And here, thousands of miles later, was its cheerful automotive cousin: a Stonehenge made of cars, honoring a father’s memory. A rally built around a car, standing in a temple built of cars. We loved it! Carhenge is a must-see — pure, quirky, heartfelt Americana, and a perfect stop for a tour that’s all about the open road.

Into Denver — and a Bittersweet Note

We outran the Colorado thunderheads and rolled into Denver as the day wound down, ready for a rest day tomorrow in the Mile High City. The car’s earned it, and so have we.

There’s a bittersweet note tonight, though. Tomorrow, my co-driver and partner in all this flies home to Virginia. From here to Orlando, I’ll be driving solo. We’ve shared every mile, every post, every Snack Attack, for the past 8 days. The car’s going to feel a little quiet without that second seat filled. But the mission rolls on, the coins are still in the console, and there are a whole lot of veterans between here and Florida who need to know somebody’s driving for them.

What a Day

Three posts, three coins, a Special Forces couple who’ve given their whole lives to service, and a field of cars standing against the Nebraska sky. Days like today are the heart of this whole thing — not the famous monuments, but the people in the small towns who keep faith with those who served. We’re humbled, we’re grateful, and we’re already pointed toward tomorrow.

The Rally4Vets 2026 America Grand Tour isn’t a road trip. It’s a moving act of remembrance; a celebration of the country and the people who created it.

  • Connect with the tour at www.rally4vets.com.
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  • Donate to our current service dog in training: https://donorbox.org/2026-service-dog-program