Saturday, May 26, 2018
This morning we headed to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Essentially it was a museum reviewing the development of the nuclear bomb and the Cold War. Some of you will remember how we were instructed to “Duck and Cover” in order to survive a nuclear attack. That would have worked wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the control center. When we had called to make reservations before leaving on our trip reservations were being taken for 2019.
Badlands National Park literally rises out of the endless green prairie. The badlands were basically created from sediment from an ancient sea and jungle. Every time it rains more sediment is washed from the buttes creating canyons, towering spires and flat-topped tables. About 1” washes away annually and in 500,000 years it will be gone, so you better visit soon.
The road through the park that we were on today is 35 miles long, but it took us 5 hours to travel that distance. This is only a small section of the park. There were countless stops for hiking or overlooks along the way. We took several mini hikes and took a million photos as well. Mini hikes were all we could manage since temperatures reached 98 degrees.
Our day was made up of viewing some fantastic landscapes, spotting a few Bighorn Sheep, and trying to photograph lots of very uncooperative Prairie Dogs ( they like to lie down for their picture rather than stand up). Tomorrow we will travel another section of the Badlands Park on our way to Rapid City.
BY THE WAY WITH WENDY & DAN 
Your trip narrative is bringing back so many memories for me! From Wall’s drugstore to hiking in the Badlands. I was a bit terrified of getting lost in what seemed an endless maze there.
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