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Heading east once again, we chose a route that took us through Badlands National Park:
It would have been fun to do some hiking here but a 1:30 pm appointment prevented it.
Our lunch stop was at the Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD. I was always under the impression that the town was named after the drug store because it is the town’s principal industry. Not so --- Wall, SD, came first, named after the Badlands which acted like a wall to north-south traffic. The drug store is sprawling, quaint, homey and amusing. If the goods for sale or the decorations don’t amuse you, then the animated singing cowboys, belting out “Home on the Range”, just might:
We left Wall in time to make our 1:30 appointment 20 miles east on I-90. Walking into the Headquarters of the Minuteman Missile National Historical Site, we began a visit to our most unusual historical site. The highlight of the tour is a trip to a decommissioned Minuteman II missile silo with the (inert) missile still in position. After viewing a video and hearing a talk on the cold war and the START Treaty by a NPS Ranger, about 8 of us caravanned by car to the missile site. It was just a few miles from Wall (from which we had just come) and only about 100 yards off I-90. A short dirt road led us to the gate:
The main object seen through the gate is a glass cover over the silo. It’s handy for keeping out dirt as well as any tourist who leans over too far. The blast cover has been moved back sufficiently to see the Minuteman missile below through the glass:
Rather a chilling site when you think of the harm this machine was once capable of inflicting. Then again, as TR once said, sometimes it’s wise to carry a big stick --- and this surely was one. We learned it is possible to tour the site underground as part of a small group but reservations are usually needed well in advance.
Tonight, our overnight lodging is in Pierre, SD, the capital of the state. Why Pierre? Well, why not? After all, we’ve never been here before.