On Monday morning we left Rapid City, South Dakota and headed east on I-90. The day started out a little cloudy, but the tempearture was mild and it was a nice day for driving.
Our first stop was a Wall Drug in Wall, SD, an institution in this part of the country. Wall Drug is a giant store and restaurant that from the outside looks like a whole city block from 100 years ago. Inside, all the stores connect and every tourist need is for sale. The people are friendly and the atmosphere is nice. Lyndi was checking out some cowboy boots:
Next we left I-90 for a parallel route, SD-240, that goes through the Badlands National Park. At the first scenic pull-off, we were greeted by a small group of Big Horn Sheep who were enjoying the grass along the parking area edge:
The Badlands are an amazing place. The geology is that 35 million years ago this area was a sea bottom. Over millions of years sediment built up in layers. A lot of the sediment was eroded volcanic ash in origin and as dust, it was carried by streams and wind into the water of the sea. When the North American tectonic plate was forced up, the sea drained and erosion of the ancient seabed began. The result is the canyons and buttes that have revealed the layered, multicolored sediment.
When we left the first parking area, I had to share the road with some more wildlife:
