Wall Drug, Badlands National Park
Deadwood, and Devil's Tower
145 miles, 3 hours
One of Dustin's favorite HBO TV series was Deadwood, and it was quite fun wandering up down the main street. We had dinner at a 1950s diner/casino. The most remarkable part of that dining experience was that we basically had the entire back room to ourselves, which Camille took full advantage of, walking around and climbing on everything.
South Dakota is absolutely beautiful!
After the long day at Wind Cave and Mount Rushmore, we finally made it to Wall, SD, where we stayed in a cute little cabin walking distance to a drug store the size of a shopping mall.
A pair of married chemists (druggist) moved here in the 1910s, to open a pharmacy, which the little ton did not have. They didn't see much action. At all. Nearly closed, and nearly froze to death in the cold winters. The store was positioned within sight of the highway, and in the early part of the 20th century, Americans really started driving west. The couple though, if only a few of these cars would stop and buy a cup of coffee... So they put up a sign offering "free ice water" simply to attract customers. And 100 years later, they have plenty :-)
Okay, so the drug store part (where Kim is here, buying chapstick), is pretty normal sized.
And perhaps dolled up to look a little old fashion.
But this place sprawls on and on and on for something like 6 city blocks. It's an amusement park, playground, coffee shop, restaurant (where we had an excellent breakfast), animatronic singers, dozens of plywood cutouts, boot shop, clothing store, museum, arcade, and tons more that I'm clearly forgetting.
After breakfast and a little play time at Wall Drug, We headed to Badlands National Park, in South Dakota. We were blessed with a perfect day of blue skies and scattered clouds. Someone near us at one of the roadside stops remarked, "It looks like a Windows screensaver." She meant "desktop background." I didn't correct her.
The Badlands are thousands upon thousands of acres of wind swept and water eroded canyons, formed in the rolling grassy prairies of South Dakota.
Below, look to the right of the Jeep. Green, green grass. Look at the next picture... This is the left side of the Jeep, taken from the same spot. Impassable canyons!
The prairie dog population numbers in the millions (yes, millions) inside of the park. They're sort of organized into "towns". Cute little critters, unless they're on your land, as I understand...
Camille slept through almost all of the Badlands, with a good, long, mid afternoon nap. Somehow, she loves sleeping when the Jeep is bouncing around unpaved roads. We had a kind stranger take this picture for us.
We drove nearly 100 miles of rock and dirt roads, some 4x4, through some of the least frequently accessed corners of the park.
The layers upon layers of sediment show a rich and varied history for this incredible landscape
After the Badlands, we drove through Sturgis, SD, home of the largest motorcycle rally in the world. We were going to stop for lunch, but Camille was still sleeping, so we kept moving, over to Lead, SD. Lead was a really pretty town, nestled into the Black Hills.
After Lead, we finally settled in Deadwood, SD for a late lunch and a bit of a break from driving.
While this bar wasn't open, it looked pretty awesome! I shot this picture with my tiny phone lens through the keyhole! This bar claims to be the spot where Wild Bill Hickok was shot.
Remarkably, these are bottles, cemented into a really interesting pavement.
Leaving Deadwood, we headed west into Wyoming, toward Devil's Tower.
We would get our first few glimpses of Devil's Tower right at sunset, and it is truly a sight to behold! Entranced with its beauty, we would spend the following morning hiking around the tower.
But for this day, we're pretty much exhausted. We holed up in this adorable A-frame cabin in Hulett, WY.
It had the perfect nook for Camille's pack-and-play.
Bath time got interesting when an actual tub wasn't available. So we used the next best thing and for a baby who wasn't to fond of baths anyway this worked great.
Added bonus, she actually enjoyed her sink bath!
Another great day...and the adventure is really just starting!
:-Dustin
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