Saturday, July 2, 2011
Wall and the Badlands
Thursday we headed to Wall, SD to see the huge drug store creatively named Wall Drug : ) The city is named after a huge wall of stone in the badlands. The city happens to be at the edge of the Wall so there you go. I loved all the signs leading to the exit from 30 miles out- free donuts, free coffee and donuts for honeymooners (coffee was a nickel for everyone else), free ice water, It was touristy, of course, but it was fun to hang out for awhile and see everything and learn about it. In 1931, a couple bought the drugstore that was located just off the freeway. Their family thought they were crazy, but they felt it was the right place for them and they’d give it five years. They’d been there four and a half when the wife came down from her nap. Her husband asked if it was too hot for her to sleep. She said no, it was all the jalopies on the freeway, but while she was laying there and idea came to her- offer free ice water to travelers. Her husband started painting signs the next day in Burma Shave fashion. He put them up and by the time he returned travelers were already there! Free ice water brought them much success. Now they have 20,000 travelers on a summer day. Crazy! They have added other fun things like a giant jackalope, T-Rex, bucking bronco, etc for photo ops. Their grandsons now run the place.
Next stop was the Badlands. It resembled the Grand Canyon and the Arches national parks since it’s a lot of rocks, but these rocks seemed more jagged and ready to crumble. They are eroding at the rate of an inch per year so in fifty to a hundred thousand years they will be gone. It’s interesting to think about how the earth changes. Where will the dirt go? Will it stay there or float on somewhere else? There were some mounds that had yellow and pink layers that were interesting. The dark clouds started to roll in and we got to see a lightning show.
Next stop was the Badlands. It resembled the Grand Canyon and the Arches national parks since it’s a lot of rocks, but these rocks seemed more jagged and ready to crumble. They are eroding at the rate of an inch per year so in fifty to a hundred thousand years they will be gone. It’s interesting to think about how the earth changes. Where will the dirt go? Will it stay there or float on somewhere else? There were some mounds that had yellow and pink layers that were interesting. The dark clouds started to roll in and we got to see a lightning show.
Day off
We took a day off Wednesday. It wasn’t a planned day off, it just took me longer to upload the blog and pictures- some internet connections at the parks are better than others! And the temp was 100 so we weren’t excited to get out and do something either. So we just ran errands and enjoyed watching tv, playing video games and working on pictures. Can you guess which members did what?
There are other families that have toured the states or are currently doing so. It seems all of them have sponsors and a web page. Rick and I talked about doing that, but the way life happened we didn’t have as much time preparing for the trip as we’d originally thought. And I’m glad we didn’t do it now. I worried about making a daily blog entry- would I have something to say every day? What if something happened and we ended up not completing the trip? I wanted to be able to enjoy the trip and not have that added pressure. I’m happy it turned out the way it did. I did plan on updating the blog each day, but having two computers and five family members, late nights, early mornings, and poor internet connections have lead to posting every few days.
The next thing that’s on my mind is how we are going to incorporate school into our schedule. I’m not stressing about it because I know it will work out, but it’s in the back of my mind. We’ll need an internet connection and we’ll need time. Hmmmm. We’ll just have to adjust somewhere. It will be a learning experience for all of us.
There are other families that have toured the states or are currently doing so. It seems all of them have sponsors and a web page. Rick and I talked about doing that, but the way life happened we didn’t have as much time preparing for the trip as we’d originally thought. And I’m glad we didn’t do it now. I worried about making a daily blog entry- would I have something to say every day? What if something happened and we ended up not completing the trip? I wanted to be able to enjoy the trip and not have that added pressure. I’m happy it turned out the way it did. I did plan on updating the blog each day, but having two computers and five family members, late nights, early mornings, and poor internet connections have lead to posting every few days.
The next thing that’s on my mind is how we are going to incorporate school into our schedule. I’m not stressing about it because I know it will work out, but it’s in the back of my mind. We’ll need an internet connection and we’ll need time. Hmmmm. We’ll just have to adjust somewhere. It will be a learning experience for all of us.
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