The progressive delay in starting times continues apace, as today I didn't even wake up until past 10 - guess the asthma took a lot out of me. Luckily, by morning I was breathing quite nicely once more. Since we had already taken care of Rushmore yesterday, we were well ahead of schedule anyway, so no problem. We decided that since we had a lot of additional time, we might as well aim for Mitchell, SD rather than Pierre - about 150 mi further out, and directly on I-90, rather than 30mi off on a spur.
Big Ol' Pile of Them Bones
After an excellent breakfast, we headed out around 1pm to another local location I hadn't heard of - The Mammoth Site, in Hot Springs, about 50 mi south of Rapid City. About 35 years ago, mammoth bones were unearthed here during the construction of a housing development. The land was promptly sold to a local nonprofit agency which has established the site as a major paleontological discovery. The site is a 26,000 year old sinkhole which has encased bones of many large mammals, including Columbian and woolly mammoths, camel-like animals, and giant bears.
During the tour, you'll wander around the inner perimeter of a building, looking in at rock and bones. At first, I thought we were looking at plaster recreations of the sinkhole site; it wasn't until I saw someone actually chiseling away with tools that I realized that the building had been put up all around the sinkhole - what we were looking at was the actual skeletons partially uncovered from the rock:
A bit out of the way, but definitely a cool side trip to have made. We finished up around 2:45 and took off for Badlands National Park.
Where the heck is Wall Drug?
As you drive east on I-90, starting at the SD state border and becoming more and more frequent are strange billboards: "Kids love it! Wall Drug", "Free ice water! Wall Drug", "5c coffee, Wall Drug", "Check out the Wall Drug Backyard", and so on. Naturally, when we finally got to the town of Wall, near the Badlands, we had to exit and visit Wall Drug. Started in 1931, the Wall Drug Store has grown into a massive conglomeration of shops and cafes full of random trinkets, decorated with photos and memorabilia from the Old West period of South Dakota's history. It's a sight (and a site) much better seen than described in words; definitely worth checking out. It's a tourist trap for sure, but it's a pretty fun tourist trap!
Flowers on the moon
Heading south from Wall on SD-240, we entered Badlands National Park. I had been warned in advance that the weather here was likely to be brutally hot, but it turned out to be partially cloudy, about 70 degrees, and absolutely beautiful. Badlands is a mix of prairie grasses and eroded rock formations producing a moonscape seemingly more appropriate to Arizona than the Midwest, and has some truly stunning vistas. SD-240 forms a loop that cuts through the northern part of the park. While there are a few other roads running through the park, they're unpaved. That, combined with our limited time, kept us on the loop road. Even so, the scenery was awesome (and the weather certainly didn't hurt):
Closing out the day
From the end of Badlands, we had about 200 miles to go to Mitchell. As the sun set and we crossed the Mountain-Central time zone boundary, we realized that it was getting pretty late, so we cut the trip 70 miles short and stopped for the night in Oacoma, SD, on the banks of the Missouri River. I expect some nice pictures in the morning, but for now it's too dark.
Tomorrow: Oacoma, SD to La Crosse, WI
Psh, gravel = rally time
ReplyDeleteAre you seriously wearing sandals while driving your RX-8?
ReplyDeleteAlso: Mammoth bones! Sweet.