Prairies, Badlands, and Black Hills

We started off yesterday in eastern South Dakota, and drove through the quiet beauty of the prairies. After we crossed the Missouri River, the terrain became much more hilly, and there were fewer and fewer trees - just beautiful rolling, grassy hills.

And then, off in the distance, we spied the Badlands. The Badlands, for those who haven't seen them, are a series of very highly eroded buttes that are very barren, dry and unhospitable, but with a spectacular beauty all their own. (It was also very hot in the Badlands, approaching 100 F (high 30's C). We also saw some beautiful wildflowers, and some prairie dogs.

At the end of Badlands National Park is Wall, South Dakota, home of Wall Drug. Don't let the name fool you; it's much more than a drug store. Essentially, if you want it, you can find it at Wall Drug. It's also the most advertised "drug store" in the world.

From Wall it was off to Rapid City, and the Black Hills. The Black Hills are a range of rocky mountains, and that's where Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse memorials are located. Mt. Rushmore is spectacular, but we actually enjoyed Crazy Horse more, because it is still in the process of being carved. But it's going to be a very long time before it's finished!

We were too tired at that point to travel as far as we had planned last night, so we stopped for the night in Newcastle, Wyoming. It was a full day, and we have another big one planned today. We're going to drive the Bear Tooth Highway, and get to Yellowstone!