Wall Drug, The Badlands And Us

Excuse our messing typing as we are bouncing down the highway as we write our blog today.

Tuesday night, the folks visited Wall Drug.  The last time they visited was in 1993.  They both thought it seemed different.  Mama remembered it being on the interstate, but she was way off on that.  We could actually see it from our campground.  Wall Drug opened in 1931 but business didn't start booming until 1936.  In 1936 they put up billboards offering free ice water to customers.  You see, there is really not much to stop at on your way to the Badlands or Mount Rushmore.  Today, it is much the same.  It is just miles and miles of fields.  The town of Wall remains very small. They have a grocery store, well, that is what they call it.  Mama shopped there twice and said the selection was very small and the prices were high.  The closest town is Rapid City and it is at least 50 miles away.  No McDonalds or Walmart here.  BOL!  The only fast food is a Dairy Queen.

Oops!  We forgot to show this guy to you.  He was at a rest area.  We never saw his body.

Wall Drug signs are all along the highway once you pass through Rapid City.

Inside Wall Drug.

Historic photos inside Wall Drug.

A chapel inside Wall Drug

As you can see, Wall Drug is much more than just a drug store.  It is full of souvenirs, pictures, animals, a cafe and some odd things.  Yes, there is a small drug store.

Wednesday, the folks visited the Badlands.  They had Sioux Indian Tacos for lunch and they visited the visitors center where a movie was played. 

Prairie dogs

Goats!

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Buddy got really dirty when they went down the dirt road to see the prairie dogs.

The folks also visited a missile silo.  They said it was interesting.

The campground we stayed at had a HUGE dog park.  It was bigger than our old yard.  It was fun!  The campground was pretty plain, but it was great for us and it was priced lower than normal.

South Dakota still doesn't have what we need.  Moving on.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Getting Really Tired On This Trip

Still On The Road In Montana

Boy howdy, Montana sure is big!  We spent another day traveling through and we didn't get out of it until this morning.  We had more mountains to drive through.  We still think driving through the mountains in Oregon was the hardest, but we don't like any mountain driving.

Another runaway ramp.  It was the only one that we saw this time.  It was the last mountain pass that we went through.

Last night we stayed at a campground that was near the battleground where Custer was killed.  He died in the Battle of Little Big Horn.  Dad said it would be a waste to be so close and not be able to see the battlefield.  Mama looked up the information and found out that it was open until 7:30 p.m. and we were lucky that the admission was free yesterday.  As soon as we got to the campground, Dad unhooked the Jeep and Mama took us on a walk.  We then went inside for a nap and they left.
They arrived at the visitors center just in time to see the last showing of the video on the Battle of Little Big Horn. It is shown in a room with windows all around and you can see the battlefield. There are grave stones all over the battlefield. All the bodies have since been removed and the white men were placed in one large grave with a monument containing all of their names. The Indians removed those they lost and buried them elsewhere. The grave stones show where each man died and it has their name, if known.

This is Last Stand Hill. This is where Custer died.  The marker with the black on it is his.  That is where he died.

This is where all the soldiers are now buried.  The officers were buried elsewhere. Custer is buried at West Point.

Another view of Last Stand Hill.

The brown markers show where Sioux Indians died during the battle.

Yes, we are in rattlesnake country.  Yikes!

This is part of the Indian memorial.

 Mama was glad they were able to see this historic site even though it was really sad.

Our campground was pretty, but not very good for us. Tons of gravel.  They have grass at the sites, but you have to walk over gravel to get anywhere.

You can rent this if you want.

 See where the flag is?  That is part of the battlefield.  You can walk there from our campground.  We tried to do it last night, but Scout turned into a mule about 3/4th of the way up.  Mama and I really wanted to walk up the entire hill, so we left Scout at home this morning and hiked up the hill.

Getting closer

We made it.  We waved to Dad, but he ignored us.

The view from the top.

Headed back down.

Well, as pretty as this place is, it is not right for us. They do give all the guest and ice cream sandwich when they check in, but it is not enough. The nearest town is 14 miles away. We don't know if they have a Walmart and the rattlesnake thing is a real deal breaker for us. It is time to move on. Hmmmm....I guess we will try South Dakota. Mama says there is a place called The Badlands. That sounds interesting.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Climbed A "Mountain" Before 7 a.m.

Some Places Are Harder To Leave Than Others

This morning we said good-bye to Puyallup, WA and Mama fought back the tears.  We have really enjoyed our stay at the fairgrounds. We enjoyed the Model A cars and even the Good Guys were fun.  We met so many nice people.  One couple baked us an apple cake with apples they picked in the "orchard".  The nicest person was the campground host Miss Nancy.  She has been the host there for the past seven years and she will be leaving very soon and not returning next year.  Mama enjoyed talking with her each day. They shared a love of looking for the beaver that lived at the park and last Saturday, they discovered a family of five raccoons swimming in the water at the fairgrounds.  Mama left Miss Nancy one of our business cards this morning.  We hope she checks in on us from time to time.  Enjoy your life in Yuma, Miss Nancy and thank you for letting us stay the summer! 

The sunrise this morning.

Miss Nancy, look who we saw this morning.

Preparing to leave.

 

This was our view.  The field is where we found blackberries, pears, apples, plums and nuts.  We spent many hours looking into the water from the bridge.

Mama sure did make a lot of blackberry cobblers while in Puyallup. We helped her pick the blackberries and then enjoyed the delicious smell of the cobblers while they baked. I got blackberry juice on me one time.  BOL!

I think the thing that we enjoyed the most was the weather.  Mama wore her hoodie each morning and night because it was cool.  We had one 97 degree day, but most days were in the 70's.  We, of course, had the heatwave when our AC broke.  It was just our luck.  BOL!  There was no humidity and it only rained three times in the two months we were there. 

The worst part of staying in Seattle was the lack of RV parks that would take us.  We had a lot of decisions to make last week.  We were supposed to go to Sonoma, CA, but that was canceled. (Did you hear they had an earthquake this morning?) Dad is being sent to Florida for 11 days, so we thought about staying on in Seattle.  We couldn't find a place to stay and since the fair is coming to town, we had to leave.  So, we are on the road.   Where are headed?  Well, tonight we are in Montana.  Should we stay here?  It is a nice park.

...but there are bear.

Oh, it's not real.  That is good.

Scout thinks the weather is great here!  It is going to get down to the 40's tonight though.

They have a jail?

The jail looks scary.

It is a pretty place. There are lots of trails in the woods to explore.  This is not the woods. We walked on one of the trails, but didn't take photos.  Mama was nervous we might see a real bear.

We have a nice site.

Dad says there is not a Walmart nearby. That is bad.  We don't remember seeing an airport either and Dad needs to fly to Florida, so we must move on. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is On A Trip That Could Change Direction At Any Time