The Badlands

It rained all night last night. Rained hard, not like the usual gentle rains in western Washington. And it rained hard this morning. We set out about 9:00 am to drive east to the Badlands National Park. It poured most of the way there; we almost gave up and turned around more than once. But we persevered, and our perseverance paid off.

When we first arrived at Badlands, there was a gentle mist which made our first pictures a bit wet, but as time went by the rain cleared (for the most part). There was even some sun in spots. And we got to see the beautiful geologic formations in all their glory. The Badlands are a must-see for anyone traveling this direction.

After our trip through the Badlands scenic drive we visited the city of Wall, SD, and had lunch at Wall Drug, which is famous for being the world’s largest drug store. They have hundreds of highway signs for miles around the area. It is actually a series of stores connected together over a full block with everything you could imagine for sale – drugs, yes, plus western clothes, artwork, jewelry, a cafe, you name it. We made a quick tour through about half the complex and felt we had “done” Wall Drug.