On to Gillette with stops at Badlands NP and Wall Drug

Saturday Aug 23 we continued our trip toward Gillette on I-90 going all the way across the rest of South Dakota with a stop along the way to visit Badlands National Park by taking the drive through the park on the loop off from I-90.  The Badlands are a geologic wonder and we have been there three times and this time was somewhat different as it had just finished raining and the rain brings out the colors of the various layers of rock and was spectacular.

 

 

The highway loop through Badlands National Park when starting at the eastern end as we did exits the park toward the northwestern corner of the park and then leads back to I-90 and the town of Wall, SD.  Now anyone who has traveled this part of the country knows, Wall is the home of the world famous Wall Drug Store.  Wall drug is a unique store that has taken on an aura of grandeur.  It was purchased in 1931 as a small town drug store in a town of 326 people.  After struggling for years, in 1936 the proprietor in trying to draw business in started offering free ice water to travelers by placing Burma Shave style signs along the major highways.  It was a big hit with travelers and he started adding departments and it has now become “America’s Favorite Roadside Attraction” as a 76,000 square foot wonderland of free attractions! 

It is a complex of “mini stores”, a large restaurant, still serving Free ice Water and 5 Cent Cup of Coffee that draws around 20,000 people a day!  We stopped and had lunch, and yes free ice water and Dick bought a couple of pocket knives while Pat found a new beautiful wooden cribbage board in the form of a box with western scene and buffalo on it.  

 If you are ever nearby you should stop and experience it!

      

From Wall we drove on west on I-90 through part of the Black Hills which surprised us as being quite green for this time of year due to the unusually high rainfall this year.  We then entered into Wyoming and drove on to Gillette and the Discovery Owner Association Inc. (DOAI) rally site at the CAMPLEX at Gillette http://www.cam-plex.com/ .  The CAMPLEX is a fabulous multi event facility where they hold events ranging from famous entertainers, Western style rodeos, large business conferences, and it can accommodate over a thousand large RV’s with full hook ups of water electric and sewer.  Our DOAI Rally will be held in one of their larger facilities.  More on that later.