I left Rapid City this morning and headed east on SD 44 southeast toward Badlands National Park. From Route 44 you could actually see the Badlands on the northern horizon:
I actually entered the Park at the Eastern end, near Interior, SD and headed back West along the Loop Road through the Park. The scenery was interesting and I did enjoy the little side trip. This first picture was taken just outside the Visitor Center on the eastern end of the Park and it'll give you some idea of what the sandstone formations looked like throughout the Park:
The Loop Road was about 22 miles long, and there were a number of formations along the route that looked somewhat similar to the one above. A couple of the ones I thought were most interesting were:
The shot above was taken a couple miles west of the Visitor's Center.
The shot above was a canyon about 5 miles further into the park.
The shot above was another 6-8 miles into the Park.
This last shot was a large canyon about 4 miles inside the Park from the western end.
After leaving the Park, I headed up SD 240 to Wall, SD and the famous Wall Drug Store. Wow. Anything a tourist could want and plenty of nice, friendly people to help them find it! I had a 5-cent cup of coffee and a $2 donut and hit the road east. I travelled on I-90 all the way through southern South Dakota and about 40 miles into Minnesota for the night. Southern South Dakota looks a lot like Kansas, only a bit greener. See previous narratives on Kansas for the appropriate pictures!
I'm continuing on I-90 east to Madison, Wisconsin for tomorrow night. If luck holds, I'll be stopping at the National SPAM museum in Austin, MN. I promise I'll take lots of pictures!
Miles today: 463. Total: 6,057.
