WALL DRUG, PRAIRIE DOG VILLAGE, THE BADLANDS, NIGHT SKY PROGRAM
Day 2 with Benu, Andrew, and Olga was awesome!
Stop 1 - Wall Drug
You can't drive to the Badlands without stopping at Wall Drug, especially after seeing their billboards all along the way! And it is just as kitschy as I remember it.
Wall Drug was established in 1931 by the Hustead family, which still owns it. Business was slow in the town of just 231 people until Hustead's wife thought to advertise free ice water to parched travelers heading to the newly opened Mount Rushmore. Today, some 2 million tourists frequent the attraction annually in a town of just 814 people.
We stopped for lunch at Wall Drug's Western Art Gallery Restaurant and took advantage of the free ice water and $0.05 coffee.
Here is the original drug store:
Be sure to venture out behind the Drug Store for the corny photo opportunities.
Stop 2 - Prairie Dog Town
I am confident we would not have gone out of our way to stop here had it not been right there on the side of the road on our way to the Badlands. Mostly because, when presented with the option while planning out our day, Benu said, "Absolutely not."
But then, when it was just right there, he reluctantly agreed because "Why not?"
So we stopped and the little prairie dogs turned out to be pretty darn cute.
And this pic of the four of us turned out to be pretty darn cute as well. Even with a giant prairie dog behind us. What's not to love about THAT?
Stop 3 - The Badlands
Finally! We made it to the main attraction of the day ... The Badlands! Located in southwest South Dakota, this national park preserves an ancient seat floor and contains one of the world's richest fossil beds. The land is made of sedimentary rock, which crumbles to pieces in your fingers.
The Badlands Loop Road (Hwy 240) winds through the park with numerous stops along the way for sweeping vistas.
One thing that amazed me is that, as you drive along this road, to one side you have flat prairie ground as far as the eye can see. And then immediately to the other side, the world drops off into valleys of bad land. I think about the poor settlers heading west in their horse-drawn wagons, plodding toward the horizon, and then bam! This.
Can you imagine that poor pioneer husband, listening to his wife for the next three days, saying, "I told you we should have turned left back there, but noooo, you never listen to me." Haha
And here is the crew: Andrew, Olga, Benu, and me.
Me and Andrew :)
The most impressive thing about The Badlands is that you never know what you'll see. Proof below that you need to keep your eyes open for fossils and wild animals, and especially for the rarely seen Storm Trooper holding Baby Yoda. Can't make this stuff up.
Stop 4 - The Badlands Night Sky Program
Even though this kept me up WAY past my bedtime, the Badlands Night Sky Program turned out to be one of my favorite events of the trip! Kudos to Brianne for suggesting this as one of the best things to do in The Badlands, and to Olga for insisting we check it out!
Every night during the summer, the National Park Service hosts a Night Sky Program at the Cedar Pass Amphitheater. The program started at 9:45 pm, so we had some time to kill.
We had a quick meal at the Cedar Pass lodge where we tried the Sioux Indian Tacos ... delicious! It is large fluffy fry bread smothered in traditional taco toppings. The bread alone was sinfully good.
From there, we climbed around the hills next to the outdoor amphitheater where the Night Sky Program would be held. Here is a pic of Olga, Andrew, and Benu (and me ... the shadow below them, haha). And let it be known, that hill is steeper than it looks! Remember, the ground crumbles, so it's slippery going both up and down. Andrew didn't even try to pick his way down, and instead opted to basically ski straight down the slope. Olga deemed it a very unsafe activity for everyone.
Here are Benu and Andrew at the top!
About then, the sun started to set. Check out the magnificent sunset that night.
Finally, it is time for the Night Sky Program to begin! Here is the outdoor amphitheater where the program is hosted.
Andrew getting a sneak peak at one of the telescopes we get to look through later that evening.
Ready for the program to begin!
One of the park rangers gave a talk about dog ancestry and the fact that a bunch of fossils supporting the canine family tree were found in the Badlands. I wish I could give you better detail than that, but I really could not care less about fossils. The good news is that the Park Ranger who gave the talk was a fantastic speaker, made it interesting (in the moment), and was incredibly funny. So, whether you're into fossils or not, it is still worth checking out. Also, the Park Rangers speak on different topics of their choosing each night so who knows what you'll get!
After the Park Ranger's program, an astronomy volunteer talked about the stars. And, although the bright full moon that night was beautiful, its light drowned out all but the brightest stars, so we weren't able to see the Milky Way or experience our eyes adjusting to star light (like I've experienced many times at Mom and Dad's farm on the opposite side of the state).
But the astronomy volunteer still made his presentation interesting by pointing out certain stars and planets and constellations. Equally as impressive as his knowledge of the stars was the laser pointer he used during his talk. He used the red laser to point at certain stars in the sky. That is one powerful laser!
After his talk, we were all able to look into his telescopes at both the moon and Mars. I had never done that before, so I thought it was especially cool.
On our way back to the car, a woman walking ahead of us spotted a rattlesnake on the sidewalk - yikes! I had never seen one in the wild before, so of course, I was thrilled, especially since I wasn't walking ahead of that woman and stepping on it myself. The video below shows the little serpent. The man talking is the Park Ranger who presented earlier that evening.
We got back to our hotel super late that night, but well worth it. This was an awesome day!
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