June 27
June 28
June 29
June 30-July 2
Sunday, June 25
We left home about 8:45. We made our usual rest area stop just outside of Cheyenne, WY, before continuing north.
We were soon on roads we hadn't traveled before. Lunch was in Torrington, WY, at Arby's.
We arrived in Wall, SD, a little before 5 and checked into our hotel before walking over to the main street in town for dinner at the Badlands Bar & Grill. It was okay, but nothing to write home about.
Then we walked across the street to Wall Drug. What a hoot! They advertise nickel coffee and free water on billboards all over the state! The original drug store has expanded into a full block square with lots of interconnected buildings. Some have things to look at, like old photos, while most of them are tourist shops.
Then we walked back to the hotel for the night. I fell asleep while Harry Potter (the last one) was playing on the tv...
Monday, June 26
After breakfast at hotel, we took off to the Badlands, arriving at the national park entrance about 8:30.
We stopped at most of the overlooks to walk around and shoot photos.
Our first overlook was called Big Badlands Overlook. The photo on the left shows some of the steep sides to the sandstone walls here.
The photo on the right shows the view across the tops of the badlands formations to our road for the morning - mostly staying on the upper plateau looking down on the rough valleys that give the Badlands their name.
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We walked down The Door Trail a ways. We joined a ranger walk in progress there. It was very informative.
The photo on the left shows the sharp formations that towered above us. This trail threaded through a lower section of the Badlands.
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Finally arrived at the Visitor's Center, where they had a nice paleontology lab.
Lunch was at Interior, SD, at the Wagon Wheel Bar & Grill. It was very small townish... Blink and you'd miss the whole thing!
We were back into park by 11:45. By 2, we had finished the loop and were pooped.
One of the afternoon overlooks was called Panorama Point Overlook. Both of these photos are from that overlook.
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The mineral composition of the Yellow Mounds area is slightly different from most of the park. In the right light, these formations look like ice cream sundaes...
So, it was back to the hotel, where we dumped our stuff and walked back over to Wall Drug's soda fountain for ice cream. Yum!!!
Then back to the room to download photos and nap...
Dinner was at the Red Rock Restaurant – burrito for C, taco salad for me. They were out of homemade pies.......
I fell asleep early and slept 10 hours!!!