2017 Road Trip - South West South Dakota: Badlands/Minuteman Missile/Wall Drug/Emergency Dental (Days 3-4)
After leaving the Ingalls we trekked across the wide-open expanse that is central South Dakota. We hugged some backroads part of the way across the state. Just south of Fort Thompson, we ran back into the Missouri River which we had already crossed several times on the trip. Up here in the Dakotas the Missouri was more of a powdery blue than a brown that we are used to closer to home.
After hitting the interstate it was a pretty easy jog over to the Badlands. Back to the expanse that is South Dakota, one of my favorite things is the 80 mph speed limit on the interstates and the 75 mph on the back roads. I have been worried the entire time about getting pulled over, but 80 mph is about the max speed I am comfortable with in the van with the cargo box on top.
Before dipping down into the Badlands we stopped at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, which was the would be launch site for nuclear weapons if needed in the Cold War. The girls picked up their first of several Jr. Ranger badges of the trip and we walked through the museum that walks visitors through how the US and USSR were arming themselves for Global Thermo-Nuclear War. My favorite thing in the museum was a photo of a Russian and a Park Ranger shaking hands. During the height of the cold war, he was sitting in his Red Chair, when his systems indicated that we had launched 4-5 warheads at his homeland. He felt certain that with nothing to prompt the strike that his computers were wrong, and so he stood down, averting a certain disaster. Minuteman Missile is just outside of the entry to the Badlands and certainly worth stopping by if you are out this way.
After Minuteman Missile we crossed the interstate over to the Martian landscape that is Badlands National Park, which is unlike anything that we have ever seen. The Badlands are comprised of layers upon layers of prehistoric earth that have been eroded away by time. Spires and Mounds seem to rise from the ground, but in actuality, the peaks used to be the earth’s floor. As we arrived we stopped at a few lookouts before heading to the visitor center. The big thing happening at the time were 15-20mph winds. I asked the rangers if it was always so windy, and that is when we found out that heavy thunderstorms with the possibility of tornados were passing through. They were advising all tent campers, that they should find a hotel in town. Thankfully for our Badlands stop Julia pushed me to rent a cabin as opposed to sleeping in a campground. As the massive storms rolled through at 2AM, I was so thankful that I listened to my wife back in January when I was booking everything. The wind gusts from the storms surely would have flattened the tent.
The next morning we awoke to a warm and sunny day. The girls were sworn in as Badlands Jr. Rangers and so we headed out for a hike. We hiked the .7mile (one way) Saddle Pass trail that hikes straight up to a grassy pass that was once used by Homesteaders. Although it was a rock scramble over boulders at times, everyone hiked all the way up to this peak where we could take in loads of scenery. On the way back down, I picked up this interesting looking rock, and the more I examined it on the way down, the more it looked like a fossilized tooth. After everyone took their peek we all seemed to agree that is what it was, and my little Jr. Rangers told me we had to take it in to a Park Ranger, which we agreed we would do on the way out of the park (more on that in just a bit). The scenic drive out of the park was filled with Oooo’s and Ahhhs, as we marveled at the beautiful landscape all around us. Closer to the Entrance/Exit of the park, we began to get some of our first glimpses of wildlife: prairie dogs and a herd of big horn sheep. On the way out of the park, we stopped by the ranger office to turn in our “Find”. Turns out the last thing you ever want to do is pick up a fossil, and the ranger scolded me for removing it, not having an exact location, and not being super enthusiastic about driving back to the location and returning it. . . . Major National Park Foul. I completed the appropriate paperwork and with a chip in my ego we drove on to Wall, SD.
UPDATE: Email from the National Park in response to the fossil form I completed:
"Dear Bryan Dunn,
The fossil you found is a part of the finger bone from some kind of ancient mammal. Unfortunately, there isn't enough diagnostic features on the bone to tell me to which mammal these belong. The fossil you found is likely to be around 33.8-30.4 million years old.
Thank you again for your interest in the fossil at Badlands National Park.I do have to remind you that fossils and rocks are protected within National Park boundaries. In fact, it is illegal to collect any fossil resources inside any National Park. So, please remember to refrain from disturbing fossil in any National Park, this way everyone can enjoy them."
So no trip to South Dakota is complete without a trip to Wall Drug which no matter where you enter the state they advertise. It is the South Dakota version of Rock City for anyone who has traveled south. So we decided after seeing a few hundred billboards while meandering around the state to stop on by. Wall Drug is maybe a little of what you would expect. They have just about everything you would find in Gatlinburg or Branson packed within a few city blocks. The also have loads of different things you can pose and take a photo with, outlaws, bison, jackalopes, pretty much anything you can think of that brings a western flair. It was all fun and games until Anna crawled up onto a covered wagon, she wanted to get a photo op by herself. . . . just as she began objecting to her sisters running up and onto the covered wagon, she fell off the seat face first into a railing around the edge of the wagon. It was bad. . . it was bloody, we couldn’t quite tell if she had simply busted her lip/gum or if she cracked one of her teeth. After we got her calmed down as best as we could, and talked to a few folks who operated the place, we found that our best bet for emergency dentistry was going to be in Rapid City. We jumped in the car taking full advantage of the 80mph speed limit and began calling dentists and dental insurance carriers. By the time we came rolling into town we had found a dentist that would see a 3yr old, and simply told us to get there as soon as we could. The folks there could not have been nicer. They honestly kept the place open for us, outside of the staff we were the only ones there. They moved us quickly through X-Rays, and a quick exam. Turns out it was just a busted gum, clean cut in the skin and no stiches required. The first tooth fairy visit would have to wait.
With the day’s excitement behind us, it was time to get gas, groceries, and to Custer State Park, for our Mt. Rushmore visit.
Happy Trails!!