Wall Drug and The Badlands

July 7^th

Pete writes: Our RV park in Wall, SD was definitely a “stop & sleep” site. Row after row of all sorts and sizes of campers and motor homes were packed in.  We were in a slot at the very front of the park (i.e. closest to the main office and the road and the railroad tracks.) We were about 300 yards from a huge grain elevator which was right on the tracks servicing the trains that carry grain, etc tow and from the farms. The grain elevator runs all night because it is cooler and there is less danger of combustion. 

Anyway, the good news is that we were only two short blocks from Wall Drug. This was on my “gotta go there” list from the beginning. I have spent most of my life hearing about it, talking to people who have been there, etc., and I wanted to see it for myself. Wall Drug Store is an experience. You can google them up and see how it started in the 1930’s but the same family has owned it every since and they have built a simple drugstore giving free ice water to motorists traveling west in the ‘30s to a full city block emporium which still gives free ice water to anyone and free coffee to veterans. There is virtually nothing  you can’t find at Wall Drug. Sure, it’s a tourist trap of the tallest order but many of the departments within sell quality merchandise. I never need to go back, but I can now say “I’ve been there.”

 To get to Rapid City from Wall you have to pass through The Badlands - about 25 miles of them. Formed over 58 million years ago, these magnificent and awe inspiring formations cover a 400+ square mile piece of the Dakota Territory. We got into the Badlands National Park 9 miles south of Wall. The “Badlands Loop” is a 23-mile two-lane road winding up, down, and around the beautiful striated rock. The trip takes over an hour and at the end there is a very nice restaurant and a Native American/Badlands History visitor center that has many good displays about the Badlands as well as a 20 minute movie about the area. We ate lunch and finished our journey through the park and then drove the 70 minutes to Rapid City, SD

The stop for us tonight is Mystery Mountain Resort, just north of the famous Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse National Monuments. Those are on tap for Sunday.

Licia writes:

Hi all!  We are now ending our 9^th day on the road and have stayed at 8 RV campgrounds.  We are definitely seeing this great country but I must admit it is not the most relaxing vacation to be setting up “Camp” and breaking it down almost every day.  It is nice to have our own home instead of hotels each night but there is a fair amount of work to RVing.  Pete has done all of the driving so far and has done a fantastic job of getting us to where we want to go.  He does all of the utilities hook-ups at each site.  I’m in charge of the housekeeping and all of the cooking and the nightly accounting of our finances. 

My little kitchen works great.  I have been using the stove- top burners and have baked in our oven.  One cabinet holds all of the dishes, cups and silverware.  Two cabinets hold the pots, pans, skillets, toaster etc.  To find what you need, you have to unpack the whole thing and then put everything back again.  I’ve had to wrap the items in dishtowels to cut down on the noise while driving.  The rack in the oven has to be in just the right position to not rattle the whole drive!   Luckily tonight we are staying for two nights at the same park and I’ve left out what I’ll need tomorrow.  It’s the small things in life that matter!

We definitely felt small looking at the Badlands today.  They just seem to rise up out of nowhere on the flat grassland.  I’m glad we got to see them but I agree with Pete that I don’t need to ever go back.