Wall Drug and Badlands

Yes, it’s another gorgeous day here in South Dakota. Oh these grasslands. The miles and miles, and miles of grasslands. Some are golden, some are still green from the extra rain here this year. These grasslands will lead us to Wall drug. Wall drug is now a well known stop but not always. The abbreviated story goes something like this…Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought a drug store on the edge of the South Dakota Badlands in a town named Wall. They felt that the town was a good town, with a population of 326, and it had a Catholic church, which was very important to them. But it was in the middle of “nowhere”. They decided they would give the business 5 years to see if it would make it and that dead line was fast approaching. The business was just barely holding on. One day Dorothy put their children down for a nap and wanted to take one too but the sounds of cars passing by on the nearby route 16A kept her awake. She had an idea. She knew the travelers visiting the new monument, Mt Rushmore, were hot and tired on their journey and would love to have a drink of water. Cold water. Ice cold water!  She thought they should put up signs modeling them after the Burma Shave Hwy signs announcing free ice water at their store. The signs were made and they began to post them. Even before all of the signs were in, customers started coming for free ice water and they have been coming ever since. And they still give away free ice water. Now, on a good summer day, 20,000 people visit Wall drug. The store has grown to include a restaurant,         a donut shop,           a candy store,   and toys for kids. This just mentions a few of the numerous sections. Pretty neat place to see with a really great history.

After wall drug it was only a blink of an eye and we were in the Badlands. Now I know why they call them the Badlands. I felt again like I was on another planet. I felt that way in Yellowstone watching the boiling, steaming pools of water and the spewing geysers. Here the grasslands stop abruptly and these unusual rock formations begin.      It almost looked like some of the grasslands ground dropped away, leaving these odd formations behind.  The grasslands clung to some of the plateaus and other areas were barren and dry.      We stayed in a campground in the park and had a wonderful sunset.  There was a program in the amphitheater on astronomy. The ranger showed us many stars and told us stories behind their names. We were then able to look through telescopes and saw Jupiter and four of its moons. A sight to behold! Pretty night here in the badlands!