Today we visited our fourth national park (fifth if you count Mount Rushmore which is a national monument). We packed up and left Deadwood, South Dakota early this morning and drove straight to Wall, South Dakota. Wall is a tiny town on I-90, but is home to the famous Wall Drug. There are signs along I-90 that begin in Wyoming beckoning travelers to see Wall Drug. It is actually a large cafe/shopping complex that began as a drug store in 1931 and gradually expanded over the next several decades. Their claim to fame is free ice water (that was a big deal during the 1930's) and 5 cent cups of coffee. We ate lunch there and got the obligatory Wall Drug bumper sticker. Before lunch we dropped our campers at the campground and after eating we headed to Badlands National Park. The badlands are truly spectacular (I know I have used that description numerous times during our trip, but we have seen many spectacular sites). The barren nature of the topography combined with the stunningly beautiful rock formations are awe inspiring. The land has been carved by both water and wind and the colorful strata in the hills and canyons are difficult to describe. We drove through the park and also did a four and a half mile hike through the heart of the park. The vistas were amazing. We saw pronghorn antelope, huge prairie dog cities, blooming cacti and numerous varieties of wildflowers. The sun was intense, but we enjoyed the exercise. After our tour of the badlands we went back to Wall for a dinner at the Cactus Cafe across from Wall Drug (not much else in town). We then retired for the night as we have a long drive tomorrow to Lake City, Minnesota (almost 600 miles) and should come close to passing the 4000 mile mark on our journey. We hope everyone at home remains well.
The badlands sound beautiful. We have really have enjoyed traveling with you. Drive safely.
ReplyDeleteHi guys! This will probably be my last comment since we will be at the lake for the next two nights and then we'll be packing for our trip on the night of your return. I've never seen anything like the terrain in the photo above...very interesting. Did you feel like you were on a different planet, or could you at least imagine that you had been abandoned miles from civilization? Thanks again for taking us along for the ride. Praying for your safe travel and looking forward to seeing all of you when we return from Hatteras.
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