Day 17-June 15

It is time to move on once again.  Today we will make the short trip over to the Badlands National Park.  After perusing the map for the best route from Wind cave to the Badlands we discovered that we would have a decision to make.  Go the more north easterly route by way of a major highway or take a more direct route using some minor country roads.  As we will be returning by the major highway we decided to try the rural route.  Little did we realize that it would amount to about 80 miles of dirt roads.  I must add that the dirt roads in the west are definitely in much better shape than most of ours at home. We did see some areas of South Dakota that are missed by most visitors to the region.  Finally arriving in a small town called Interior we located a campground that promised full service, including Wi-Fi.  I had high hopes of getting some updating done to the blog but no such luck; the connection is too slow to do any good.  After getting set up we took off for our tour of the Badlands.  It is another amazing sight to see.  This unique geological area is stunning as it erupts from the grasslands with its towering peaks consisting of multicolored layers of stone.  We were lucky enough to see a group of big horn sheep that were grazing near one of the overlook areas.  We also saw 4 more turkeys to add to the growing number we have seen since leaving home.  Franklin probably wanted the turkey to be our national bird because they were so abundant. The loop through the Badlands connects through the town of Wall.  While we were there we took a short break to visit the famous Wall Drug.  The original store has now grown to cover most of the downtown area.  If you are looking for souvenirs of the area this is the place to stop.  If they don't have the Chinese haven't been told to make it. The loop back to Interior provided us with a different view of the formations because it was late evening and the shadows gave the impression of even more depth.  The Badlands are a very inhospitable geological wonder.  With all of the signs warning visitors to watch for rattlesnakes I was not inspired to take a hike into the back country even though it is allowed.