Monday - September 30, 2019
Well, we are in Rapid City, SD but this morning at breakfast I though we were in Fargo. The server cleared Kay's plate from the table and Kay thanked her. The reply was "Yah, you betcha" . I almost fell out of my chair...
After a lot of deliberation between going to Custer State Park to hike or Bad Lands National Park, the Bad Lands won out. We left around 7:15 for the 60 mile trip which took about 45 minutes. You do the math. It was cloudy and the temperature was about 50 with a steady wind of 20 mph with gust to 35 or so. A couple of times it almost knocked me off my feet, which is not good considering some of the places I was standing.
Despite the wind and temperature we had a great time. I will warn you now, I have probably posted more photos of the Bad Lands than you want to view. I'll not give much commentary, the pics speak for themselves.
We met this couple from Seattle. They had rented their home out for a year and were traveling to visit as many National Parks, Monuments, Forrest, etc. as they could. This is a Winnebago Travato. This looks like an RV I could travel in. It is small enough to maneuver around in, but large enough to suffice as a home.
But she did finally did reach her limit. After coming around this turn and seeing what was in front of her, she said she would wait for me there...
There are over 40 different native grasses in South Dekota. One square yard of grass can contain as much as 25 miles of roots! It take that much to get the needed moisture out of this dry soil.
Just a short video.
A trip to Rapid City would not be complete without a trip to the small town of Wall, near Bad Lands N.P. I have heard of Wall Drugs for 30 years so I just had to see it. In the early 40's the pharmacist's wife thought it would be good for business to give free ice water to tourist who were going to visit Mount Rushmore. Today they sill give the free ice water and have over a million visitors each year. Their business has expanded into several blocks and they sell everything from a 5 cent cup of coffee to $30,000.00 pieces of art.
The original pharmacy which is now enclosed in the "mall".
We had a very enjoyable "last" day of our travels. Early tomorrow, weather permitting, we start the 6 hour drive to Denver where we spend the night and fly home on Wednesday. I say weather permitting because a light snow is predicted for late tonight.