South Dakota and the Badlands

Getting an early start was important this morning. We had so much to see and a long drive ahead of us. Luckily, we knew we'd be changing time zones today and that would give us another hour. It still wasn't enough time! We never made it to Mount Rushmore today!

The day started with a trip to Sioux Falls.

 This is a beautiful area carved out by a glacier many moons ago. It changed the course of the river.  The city has been built around the Falls and it is right in the downtown area.

We were so glad we needed a place to sleep and this was the city we landed in. It was a beautiful morning. What a great way to start the day!

 There's not a lot to look at in South Dakota. Farm after farm and wide open spaces. They do a wonderful job attracting your attention to road signs and billboards.

From the time we crossed the border we started noticing signs for the "The World's Only Corn Palace".  Thinking that was pretty funny we ignored them for at least a hundred miles.

It was a really long drive and decided to take a break. We knew it would be "corny" but what a nice surprise.  This is a tribute to corn and the agricultural heritage of South Dakota.  Aside from this funny little corn outside it was so interesting! All of the murals on the building are made from corn. Ears of different colored corn are used along with husks and stalks, all parts of the corn are used.

 Each year the walls are stripped down and redesigned by an artist. The murals are completed and the season is celebrated with a festival at the end of harvest.  The murals are incredible. Inside and outside the building is covered with corn.  Unbelievable!  This has been happening since 1892!


Also along the highway, from the very first mile you're in the state, you see signs for Wall Drug. There has to be a billboard every mile. It's in the town of Wall. The town was built around this drug store. They offered travelers free ice water to get them to stop on the way across the state.

After seeing those billboards for 200 miles we were hooked.  The scenic drive through the Badlands comes back to the highway at Wall, South Dakota. We'll check that out, too!

First, the Badlands...after driving through hundreds of miles of corn fields this rock formation arises in the distance. It was a welcome view but we had no idea what was in store for us.

It's so hard to capture the beauty and grandeur of these rocks.  Thousands of years of erosion have created miles of the most interesting formations.

The drive through the park is about 20 miles and we had to stop at each turn out for a different view.

At one turn out there was a traffic jam. Everyone was watching big horn sheep. They were just off the road and there were several adults with offspring.  Of course, this was the time my camera decided to fail me!


I grabbed my cell phone and tried to get a shot.  No luck! This was the second time my camera has failed me.  I took the rest of today's pics by cell phone.

After the drive through the Badlands we arrived at Wall Drug. What began as a small drug store with a soda fountain has turned into a huge store. It is 76,000 square feet!  The Wall family continued to buy spaces adjoining the first Drug Store. It must have 10 different rooms with different items. More things than you could imagine. We bought some Mount Rushmore Animal Crackers for the Grandkids and went on our way.  We are still trying to make it to Mount Rushmore.




 It was 5:00 by the time we arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota. We won't have time today to get there. We are going to check out the downtown area and see what this city is all about. It is called the city of Presidents. On each street corner there is a life sized bronze sculpture of each of the US Presidents except for Obama. He will be honored after his term is over.




The President on the left is John Adams. I was thrilled to see his statue because we had just seen his Presidential Library while in Boston.

Jim found his buddy George H. W. Bush and we thought they looked like a fun pair!

This is a darling mountain city with a hopping downtown. We found an old fire station that has been turned into a Brewery and Grill. I had the most wonderful fish tacos. Jim had a bacon cheeseburger and we both enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.

By now we know my camera is not going to make the rest of the trip. We had to go find a store where I could get another camera to finish the trip.  We found a Sears and we're in business. I have my new camera charging so it will be ready for tomorrow.

We didn't make it to Mount Rushmore today but we had a ball. Stopping along the way to visit the Corn Palace and Wall Drug took several more hours but they were worth it! They made South Dakota a fun visit. The Badlands were a sight to behold and we still have tomorrow to visit Mount Rushmore. Keep your fingers crossed that the new camera will work!