Day 4 of pre-PCD road trip:
Rapid City, South Dakota, Badlands National Park, to York, Nebraska
Total Miles: 1743
At the end of last night, after Mt. Rushmore, I crashed in the "Tru by Hilton" hotel in Rapid City, South Dakota.
A little different feel, having a "Euro-modern" vibe to it. Still nice.
Hotel breakfast in the morning, and then I rejoined I-90 for the last time on this trip, headed east.
There were all these signs every mile or so, for "Wall Drug". Must have 100 or so signs, between both directions of the highway. I don't think I've ever seen so much advertising for one place, so I thought I had to check it out, and use it as a bathroom stop before entering Badlands National Park.
Wall Drug is in the city of... Wall, South Dakota. Cute little downtown, PACKED with tourists and tourist busses. Not surprised.
Wall Drug itself is what seems to be a string of stores that got bought and all connected together to be one big place, selling food, souveniers, Western gear, a barber shop, and much more.
Then saw this on the way out of town.
And there we go. Badlands is another place that I've seen pictures of my whole life, but never went there. Got that taken care of now!
Oh my gosh. Right off the bat, some stunning views as the north entrance brings you to the rim of these canyons. The formations throughout the park reminded me very much of formations in the Southwest USA. I'll be there in about 3 weeks, and compare the pictures of the southwest when I get there, with pictures of Badlands.
A dirt road offshoot to the west is worth a short drive to the end of the canyon types, before turning around and getting back to the main road. There is 1 main road, paved, that goes through the park, with scenic viewpoints all along. Quite an enjoyable drive.
Sorry (not sorry) for the picture overload here. There's just so many pretty views. The middle of the park has some beautiful rock and dirt colors. And I found it striking that, with the varied terrain and rock formations, there were consistent striations of the same color and type running at each elevation, showing how the earth had been carved away.
This area was particularly beautiful. Rocks and dirts blending reds, purples, blues, yellows, tans, and whites, mixed with some spare green vegetation here and there. A full pallet of colors.
Yikes! Okay.
I took this picture, not so much for the badlands formations, but rather the vast prairie beyond it. Very beautiful, very flat. In the settlers times, there would have been homesteads dotted amongst that view, spattered about here and there in little hand-built farmhouses.
Bighorn sheep
Had to get at least one pic with the old car. Only have a couple days left with it before delivering it to my daughter at college.
Found this formation fascinating. Almost like it had been CGI created by Pixar, to use in "Cars", as a car hood perched on a pedestal or something.
And then it was time to leave Badlands. The shortest route to my final destination tomorrow, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, uses all back roads, through Nebraska and Kansas. Lots of flat, flat, straight roads.
And... more, flat, flat, straight roads. The biggest variety of this part of the boring drive, was really whether the crops in the fields were grain, corn, or grass.
I found him!!!!
"Morning!.... $h!tter was full!"
Driving through several small towns along the way, I noticed a trend. Seems that a town had really made it in its growth, when it had obtained a Dollar General in it.
This town had TWO!!!!
I'm showing this, for anyone that has looked down from a plane flying over farms, and wondered what all the circular fields were about.
The fields use these automated boom water sprayers, to water the crops. Notice that one end is a water pipe, fixed in the ground. Then the booms rotate around the central pipe, riding on wheels. You can extend the boom several times, to get a longer arm, and eventual bigger crop circle.
Finally, at the end of the day, I picked up some miles on an interstate again, happy to be off the back roads. Stayed the night in York, Nebraska, not because I had any need to be there, but rather it was just a stopping place that had a hotel along my route to Tulsa, which I will resume tomorrow. Hampton Inn tonight.
Okay, tomorrow night will be rockin! Literally!