Badlands & Devil's Tower

Okay, now it is getting exciting.  We had a wonderful day traveling across South Dakota and into Wyoming.  The grasslands are beautiful, but then you get that first glance of the Badlands. 

 

The Badlands were once part of a giant salt water sea.  Volcanic activity and upheavals helped to create the beautiful formations.  Sediments, rivers, volcanic ash, and erosion also played a part in their formation.  Badlands National Park is the first of many national parks on our trip.  Isn't it wonderful that the national parks were created to preserve the beauty of God's creation?

 



Yes we really were there

This looks like a body of water, but it is really all grass

 

Right outside of the Badlands is a place called Wall, WY.  For miles you see billboards advertising Wall Drug.  Iowa even has the billboards.  Now these aren't fancy billboards, they are the homemade variety.  Wall Drug was bought in 1931 by the Husteads.  They went for years without much business in a town of 326 people.  One day Mrs. Hustead tried to take a nap, but couldn't sleep because of the noise of the jalopies going past on Route 16A.  She thought about all of the travelers going past and knew they would be thirsty traveling across the hot prairie.  They decided to give free ice water away and made signs to put up along the road advertising the free ice water.  The first day they poured gallons of fresh water, and the rest is history.  Today they still serve free ice water and 5 cent coffee.



Having lunch at Wall Drug

We then traveled on to our campground in Sundance, WY.  The Sundance Kid did get his name from this town since this is the first place he did a prison stint.  The Sundance name is in honor of the sun dances the Native Americans did on Sundance Mountain.  The town is at the foot of the mountain.


Sundance Mountain

Having been through this area of the country a couple of time during the past few years, Phyllis has always wanted to Devil's Tower, but had not been able to until today.  Legend has it that 7 small Indian girls were playing when they began being chased by a bear.  They climbed on a rock and prayed to the rock to save them.  The rock began to grow, but the bear continued to claw and jump up the sides of the rock.  The rock continued to grow until the girls were pushed up into the sky. Devil's Tower was the first National Monument named.

Hiking at Devil's Tower

 





First Wildlife--love the prairie dog chatter