Brief stops at Wall Drug and Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Barry re-visits the famous Wall Drug

After all our great hiking and cycling adventures in the Black Hills of South Dakota, it was time to start making our way to Nebraska.  Fortunately, there was plenty to see along the way.

Our first stop was Wall, South Dakota, the home of the famous Wall Drug Store.  Barry had been here with his family many years ago but was willing to stop again so I could check it out.  Wall Drug is a huge tourist attraction and according to Wikipedia draws two million visitors annually.  Fortunately, outside the peak season (this was September 26th), very few of those two million were in evidence.  We had no trouble finding a parking place nor walking around without bumping into people.  We didn't spend a lot of time there; just long enough to snap a few photos and buy a refrigerator magnet.  It was certainly touristy but still had its small-town charms.

Main Street in Wall, SD

Cute post office as blue as the sky

I liked these murals painted on buildings in the downtown area.

We even made some new friends!

Barry's new woman

Riding a jackalope

My handsome escort

Our next stop was Badlands National Park, and we were so fortunate to be able to visit before the government shutdown closed the gates.  Although we only had time to drive through and have a picnic lunch this time, we'd love to go back and hike someday.  It was gorgeous!  Photos don't do it justice, but you can get an idea of how dramatic it is, and perhaps soon it will be open once again.

Looks kinda boring here, but it got better!

Oh yes it did!

"Yellow Mounds" formations

Of course I was partial to this Overlook!

Burns Basin Overlook

It was very hard to concentrate on the road as we drove through this kind of scenery.  I was glad Barry was doing the driving!

We had a nice picnic at the visitor information center.  

Paisley may have been wondering if we'd somehow landed on the moon!

The last three images are each comprised of three photos that Barry "stitched" together using his photo-processing software.  They do a good job of illustrating some of the varied types of geologic formations in this park.

Stay tuned for Nebraska, coming up next!