Sadly, our time in the Black Hills had come to an end. We all LOVED it here! Our next major destination would be South Haven, Michigan but we were a long distance from there. Our trip plans broke this leg up into three one night stop overs. Today we would drive 142 miles east to the Belvidere KOA in Midland, South Dakota. Fortunately we planed the route right through Badlands National Park. It was the only time during our road trip that we would explore a National Park while towing the RV.
Our first stop of the day would include breakfast so we got an even earlier start. Adam and I woke up first and prepared for the move. At the last possible moment we got the girls out of bed. Once we were all dressed and finished using the water Adam broke down camp. It was a nice day so the girls sat outside with us while we hitched. We were on the road at 8:20 am.
After a 64 mile drive we arrived at Wall Drug, a 76,000 square foot drug store- complete with several gift shops and eateries, located right in the heart of Wall, South Dakota that has been around since 1931.
Since we were all ready for breakfast we made a beeline to the cafeteria. We placed our order and found a seat. Adam and I went up to get coffee and placed our nickel in the coffee money box. There was an honor box to put your nickel in for each cup you took.
After finishing our meal we meandered around this huge emporium. The girls really enjoyed the statues and such scattered around the corridors.
They thought the animatronic dinosaur at the end of one of the halls was really cool.
As we were exploring we found a door that led out to the Wall Drug Backyard that housed several attractions for them to check out. There was an enormous jackalope they had to climb stairs to sit upon.
There was an old fashioned horse drawn covered wagon they played inside and pretended to drive.
They each took a turn “riding” on a life-size horse replica.
There was a re-creation of Mt. Rushmore and they tried to stand so it looked like their faces were part of it.
They played inside the wooden wagon.
We all watched the giant monkey play the piano.
There was a huge section in the backyard that was a splashpad.
Since we still had our whole day ahead of us we would not let the girls partake. They were disappointed but with so many other things to do they quickly forgot. The ice water well was also located in this section. This well was extremely significant to Wall Drug since offering free ice water truly made their business into a smashing success. For the first few years the Hustead Family would watch as all the locals went past without stopping. As they were approaching five years in business Mrs. Hustead came up with a cute little poem. They made several signs, each with a line of the poem and spaced them out along the roadway. The poem (and last sign) ended with inviting the travelers to Wall Drug for free ice water. Before Mr. Hustead returned from putting the signs up it was already working. And their success that stemmed from offering free ice water has continued to blossom and is still going strong today.
Since we wanted to have plenty of time for the rest of our day’s activities we decided to head back to the truck and get back on the road.
After a very short drive we came to the entrance of Badlands National Park.
Right past the sign was a prairie dog town. Adam thought there would be another one further into the Park so we begrudgingly continued without stopping. The terrain here was absolutely fascinating. As we drove it continued to change, both in formation and coloring.
There were several parking lots and pullouts and we stopped whenever we could with our rig (when the RV is hitched to the truck it is over 50’ long so it is not the easiest to park).
The land formed a continuous flow of peaks and valleys. The earth looked as though an artist painted it- there were bands of red, cream stripes amidst the multitude of tan layers, pale green hills formed beneath the gray striped rock peaks.
Thankfully we wore our hiking shoes and when we could we climbed up some of the hills to get a better view of the unique land surrounding us.
There was very little vegetation so it was a welcome surprise to see two small sunflowers growing in the middle of a valley.
I kept thinking of when the dinosaurs were alive and roaming because of the archaic feel to our current surroundings. There were some sections that looked similar to how I imagine land on other planets. At one point the road curved and the ground around the bend formed a multitude of giant yellow mounds each with a tan crown on top and a maroon necklace.
Amazingly, there were more small sunflowers scattered about this area. We were able to get out and walk around here.
Adam and the girls climbed up one of the mounds.
All of us were mesmerized by the appearance of the ground on the side of the hill. It was comprised of bumpy white hardened dirt with cracks permeating throughout.
After our exploration of the Yellow Mounds we continued our drive with our eyes affixed on the changing soil. One of the times we parked we went down a hill because we thought we saw prairie dog mounds scattered in the meadow. As we excitedly walked with anticipation we quickly realized this was an abandoned town and there wasn’t even one prairie dog to see.
As we got back to the RV we were able to watch a beautiful little bird who seemed to have come out of nowhere.
Below is a slideshow of the incredible lands we were so fortunate to witness as we drove through Badlands National Park.
As we came upon the east side of the Park we stopped to checkout the Ben Reifel Visitor Center.
By this point it was 2:30 in the afternoon and we were more than ready for lunch. We noticed the Cedar Pass Lodge which had a restaurant was just a short walk. As we approached the entrance we were disheartened to see the large cluster of people crowding the doorway. We put our name on the list and walked around the very large gift shop while we waited. When it was finally our turn we had a nice quick lunch. As soon as we finished we headed back to the Visitor Center.
The girls got their junior ranger books. We walked through the exhibits and checked out the special kids exploration room. There were archaeologists at work and we were able to watch as they were in the process of brushing off fossils found within the Park.
We relaxed and watched the 20 minute movie. Then we found a bench and sat there to complete the junior ranger books. When the girls finished they went to the ranger to get their work checked, receive their badge and get sworn in. As the next day was the eclipse the ranger was telling us all about the activities planned for tomorrow morning. I was so wishing we could come back. Unfortunately our campground was much further east and it would not be possible.
We headed back to the truck to finish our drive arriving at the Belvidere East KOA around 6PM. We had no intention to unhitch since we would be leaving first thing in the morning. Unfortunately the first site they gave us was not level and we would have had to unhitch to properly level. Adam worked with the office staff to find a better site. The second site was good and as Adam setup camp I took the girls over to the playground. We spent the rest of the night relaxing and enjoying our new campground.
