May 13 - Wall Drug Store & Badlands National Park
Two days in Rapid City and it's time to leave.
I wondered why I felt a little cool when I woke
up this morning – 1C, with the wind -8C.
That's 34F and 18F for our southern friends.
Hey, on the good side, it wasn't snowing like
a couple of days ago!
We broke camp by 9 am and head out on I90
for the famous drug store in Wall, SD. Every
quarter to half mile or so there was another sign advertising something about the drug store! By the time we got to the interstate exit, we were ready to just drive on by – all those signs were a might overkill. I mean, if the place is that famous, do they really need to soooooo many signs?!
But the history of the drug store is interesting – read about it here.
Five cent coffee, we couldn't pass that up. With all due respect to the store, the coffee was nothing to write home about. But for a nickel, what the hay. Afterwards, we had a wander 'round the maze of departments, found the exit, and went back to Alfie. Been there, done that.
Next stop, tour director? Oh yes, Badlands National Park, just down the highway from Wall.
Badlands National Park – what a treat!! Jen read somewhere that the best times to visit the park is early in the day, late in the day, or on a cloudy day – too much sunshine washes out the colours. Well we had a cloudy day with a lot of wind. Here are some of the pictures we took on the drive through the park and a video. I apologize for the video as the wind totally obliterated my excellent description (yes, I know..I can hear some of you cheering!)
The Badlands National Park is a place you just have to visit.
We lost another hour today as we drove into Pierre, capital of South Dakota. We're in the Central time zone now. We came to Pierre (local pronounciation: "Pier") mainly to get off the interstate and to see some of rural SD. Well, in doing so, we damn near got blown off the road a number of times. The wind gusts coming out of the west were something else. But we made it in one piece.
We dropped by the Tourist Info Centre in town to inquire about an RV park for the night – the temperature is supposed to drop to -1C tonight. A couple of RV park options, one way out of town. When I mentioned to the staff that I would prefer something closer in, they suggested the municipal Griffen Park. So off we went. We have a nice spot right on the Missouri River with power. So hot water and heat for tonight for $16.
