July 21,

You can’t keep adventurers down, even though Walter (aka one-eyed Willie "hey you guys") was wearing a eye patch and could only see out of one eye we still pushed on.  We found Jewel Cave National Monument.  The cave’s name was inspired by the crystals that line the cave walls.  It is the third longest cave in the world, with 220 miles of mapped and surveyed passages.  This cave is different than the Shoshone Ice Cave we explored in Idaho.  Jewel cave was primarily formed by slow dissolution of limestone by acidic groundwater. A process influenced by the geologic history of the Black Hills.  We took the scenic tour it, taking about an hour on pathways to include climbing or descending 734 stairs.

Next off and running we had three stops on our bucket list.  The Minuteman Missile National Historic site, Badlands National Park and the Wall Drug store.  With water bottles filled we headed out to the Missile site first where we landed in the middle of nowhere.  We landed in the middle of nowhere South Dakota, of course that was the whole idea that the missiles were stored in underground bunkers where there the population was very small. During the Cold War a large number of nuclear missiles were placed in the Great Plains.  Hidden in plain sight for 30 years, 1000 were kept on constant alert, only hundreds remain today.  The museum is co-located where a missile was stored but it has long been removed except for the chain link fence that surrounded the property.  The museum took you through the Cold War years how we got there and when it ended.  Does anyone remember Bert the turtle who had a short, animated film “Duck and Cover” some of us practiced this drill in elementary school. 

Just down the road was the Badlands National Park.  It would have been a great place to do some hiking but we figured it was best to take the Badland Loop Road and drive through the park, but we made sure that we pulled off for some awesome views and picture opportunities.  Another one of nature’s wonderful geological sites.  The Badlands National Park is a vast wilderness of jagged buttes, spires and pinnacles, mixed grass prairie and the world’s richest trove of fossils from the Oligocene epoch, estimated at 25-35 million years old. 

Hwy 240 aka the Badland Loop Road also took us to the town of Wall this is the home of the famous Wall Drug Store.  The store is a 76,000 square foot drug store , gift shop, restaurant and so much mor.  Wall Drug has grown from its humble beginnings in 1931 to a thriving oasis.  The story of Wall Drug was a success because one simple idea took root, offering road weary travelers free ice water. Soon travelers would make a point to stop (like we did) at Wall Drug to enjoy a refreshing break and they haven’t stopped since.  Just like in the stores early years you can also get a cup of coffee for 5 cents, just put your nickel in the money jar on the counter.  The place was hopping, we had a grand time soaking it all in.  Of course we bought Wall T-shirts too.