Day 47 (Tuesday, August 10th) Badlands National Park

Today we left the Mount Rushmore area and hopefully most of the noisy motorcycles attending Sturgis. We made a stop in Wall, South Dakota at a well known tourist attraction called Wall Drug which was opened in the 1930's. This is a place that has grown from a small community drug store that advertised "free ice water" into a major attraction for anyone traveling through the area. In addition to the original pharmacy, there's typical souvenir stuff, an old-fashioned soda fountain, a home-made doughnut shop, and a restaurant with very good food. John got a buffalo burger and declared it quite tasty. They also have an amazing collection of western-themed art covering all the walls of the restaurant. In the "back yard" of the stores they have a 7 ft. tall jackalope, a bucking bronco, a bison, a splash area where blobs of water are shot out of several spots on the floor, and a gigantic tyrannosaurus rex that rises up through smoke to roar every 12 minutes. It was a really tacky, but amazingly entertaining place. After posing for pictures with the jackalope and eating lunch, we headed back out onto the highway and drove to Badlands National Park.

Badlands was more impressive than we had ever thought it would be. We had an incredible day to tour Badlands NP. It was sunny with light fleecy clouds and the temperatures were in the mid-80s. BAdland's NP is a little bit similar to the grand canyon but it was created by erosion from rain as opposed to a river. As you enter it, you're riding high on the plain and looking down into the incredibly colored erosion. As you drive through the park you get more and more surrounded by the alien scenery and then about halfway through the park, the roadway goes from the top of the formations right to the bottom. Now, you're looking up at the formations as you drive amidst them. We couldn't help but stop at most of the overlooks and lay-bys to gawk at the view and take pictures. It was very strange to see the rock faces right next to lush fields and when you were surrounded by the features it was like we'd imagine Mars to be. Pictures are just too small to convey the amazing scenery and the feeling it gives you to look at it. It was just so incredibly beautiful in it's alieness.

We were sorry when we reached the end of the drive, but the park is not a large one. If we'd had more time, we'd have loved to try a couple of the hiking trails that they have for visitors. Oh well, maybe next time.