5 July ‘06
On the 3rd we left Hot Springs and headed off to see Wall, South Dakota and from there we would run down into the Badlands. The weather had cooled enough so that we thought we might have a chance to see the Badlands without “sweltering”. We did find that the wind was blowing pretty good, and it just happened to be blowing in our face all the way. It is amazing just how many more times the coach shifts into lower gears when you have that wind pushing against the front end. When we arrived in Wall, after setting up, we walked up to see just what the home of “Wall Drugs” is all about. First of all, the town of Wall would be nothing but a dust bowl if it weren’t for Ted Hustead and his wife needing to do more marketing to make it a go for their drug store. Dorothy came up with the idea to place signs out on the highway (which is now I-90) promoting a “Free Glass Of Ice Water”. This turned out to be more than anyone could ever have imagined…fact is, the rush started to their “drug store” even before Ted got back from installing the signs. It could take you a full day to see the whole complex of stores that surround the drug portion if you were inclined to let it. We did spend about 2 hours looking around and having our lunch. Then it was back to the coach for a little rest, dinner, and then about 7 we left for a sunset tour of “The Badlands”. After traveling about 8 miles down highway 240 and seeing nothing but flat farm lands all around us, we were all of a sudden stunned as the land dropped away from us and exposed those Badlands before us. Amazing site, amazing colors… some of the hills were mounds of light green going to soft red, some of the high peaks were streaks of red, pink, light brown and purple. These streaks were so straight that it was like looking through some type of special filter that would only let you see the horizontal…it was freaky but yet absolutely beautiful. Our drive back home was on the same road, but now it was dark and with a half moon above us. The speed limit was 45, but we found out that we safely could only do about 30-35 max because of the animals that seemed to come out of no-where…deer, wild goats, and coyote. This morning we awoke to the day that we will start heading back to the Pacific Northwest. There is no hurry, but we want to take our time. Right now, we have landed in the “Legendary” Sturgis, South Dakota. We stopped here to see what brings the motorcycle crowd each year. This is the 66th year, and they have started to arrive already. Sturgis is expecting about 70,000 bikers here by the end of the month. The sounds around here are deep and throaty. Tonight, Louise wants to head off to Deadwood tonight and do a little gambling, so wish her (and me) luck…
On the 3rd we left Hot Springs and headed off to see Wall, South Dakota and from there we would run down into the Badlands. The weather had cooled enough so that we thought we might have a chance to see the Badlands without “sweltering”. We did find that the wind was blowing pretty good, and it just happened to be blowing in our face all the way. It is amazing just how many more times the coach shifts into lower gears when you have that wind pushing against the front end. When we arrived in Wall, after setting up, we walked up to see just what the home of “Wall Drugs” is all about. First of all, the town of Wall would be nothing but a dust bowl if it weren’t for Ted Hustead and his wife needing to do more marketing to make it a go for their drug store. Dorothy came up with the idea to place signs out on the highway (which is now I-90) promoting a “Free Glass Of Ice Water”. This turned out to be more than anyone could ever have imagined…fact is, the rush started to their “drug store” even before Ted got back from installing the signs. It could take you a full day to see the whole complex of stores that surround the drug portion if you were inclined to let it. We did spend about 2 hours looking around and having our lunch. Then it was back to the coach for a little rest, dinner, and then about 7 we left for a sunset tour of “The Badlands”. After traveling about 8 miles down highway 240 and seeing nothing but flat farm lands all around us, we were all of a sudden stunned as the land dropped away from us and exposed those Badlands before us. Amazing site, amazing colors… some of the hills were mounds of light green going to soft red, some of the high peaks were streaks of red, pink, light brown and purple. These streaks were so straight that it was like looking through some type of special filter that would only let you see the horizontal…it was freaky but yet absolutely beautiful. Our drive back home was on the same road, but now it was dark and with a half moon above us. The speed limit was 45, but we found out that we safely could only do about 30-35 max because of the animals that seemed to come out of no-where…deer, wild goats, and coyote. This morning we awoke to the day that we will start heading back to the Pacific Northwest. There is no hurry, but we want to take our time. Right now, we have landed in the “Legendary” Sturgis, South Dakota. We stopped here to see what brings the motorcycle crowd each year. This is the 66th year, and they have started to arrive already. Sturgis is expecting about 70,000 bikers here by the end of the month. The sounds around here are deep and throaty. Tonight, Louise wants to head off to Deadwood tonight and do a little gambling, so wish her (and me) luck…