SOUTH DAKOTA - Murdo, Wall Drug, & the Badlands

The Black Hills of South Dakota are beautiful.   It was fun to watch the scenery change from fields to the rolling hills as we crossed the Missouri River.  We observed many hay fields and cattle … and we entered another time zone!  

MURDO

Eighteen years ago when we traveled cross country, we stumbled across this local site as we traveled on I-90.   Mechanic Man HAD to see this again, of course, with the boys.

Our truck is a Dodge Ram!

 

ELVIS's MOTORCYCLE

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WALL DRUG

For miles upon miles, there are billboards advertising this establishment that began in 1931 with free ice water along the highway.  As with all tourist attractions, it has grown into a grand establishment that we just had to visit. 

Ice cream!

In addition, I was thrilled to see a branch of the bank in this town of Wall that I worked for in Washington state during my corporate, pre-children days!

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BADLANDS

Driving through Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, we soon entered another phenomenal natural wonder.  Created by wind and rain erosion, Badlands National Park (244,000 acres of land) is a phenomenal place to visit.   Full of basins and cliffs, the landscapes are vast and timeless!  Looking at miles and miles of no civilization, we stopped at several points to take photos.   We even saw our first prairie dog in the flowers as we drove through the park and some female Bighorn Sheep .

The Badlands as we traveled through ..........

Warning … I just couldn’t take enough pictures of this incredible scenery,  
but I will share only some of them.  :)

OH!  I forgot to mentioned that College Girl was "bad" at the Badlands ... pretending to slip on a high cliff in the "window" picture above that we are both in.  She nearly gave me a heart attack ... she thought it was funny, though.  (I'm the parent who won't let their children get too near an edge.)

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We noticed many switchbacks/layers in parts of the hills as we made it further into the state – some man-made due to the mining and some due to nature.  Surprisingly, our campground was on a third tier of the side of one of the hills.

  Wonderful sleep in the cool nights of the Black Hills!