As a result, they drove with us as far as the eastern end of the Badlands National Park and then headed due east into Minnesota, where we are hoping to meet up with them again tomorrow evening.
We left the hotel at around 9.30am and drove south-east on Highway 40 towards the southern end of the Badlands National Park. It was a lovely drive along deserted roads and wide open countryside, in brilliant sunshine. What more could we ask for?
After about fifty miles, we turned off the highway on to gravel roads that led into the Badlands National Park. The Badlands are an area of eroded hills which are incredibly beautiful.
Our first view of the bleak Badlands.
The track continued on through an area alongside the Badlands and we rounded one bend to be confronted with a group of bison crossing the road. One was rubbing his head against a sign. It was funny to see that the sign read 'Beware of Bison'!!
We drove on into the main area of the park and one incredible view after another appeared at every turn of the road. Here are a selection of photos we took.
In one area, we came across these wonderful coloured rocks. The yellow, pink and red rocks, combined with the green of the vegetation, were quite stunning, especially against the stark grey rocky background.
We left the park after about two hours and drove a couple of miles to the Minuteman Missile Site, which is run by the National Park Service. As part of the SALT Treaty, one ICBM missile site was allowed to be preserved, so that it could be shown to the public. Various alterations were made to the site, so that it could not be used to launch a missile in the future. Unfortunately for us, we could not see the Launch Control Facility as the tours were fully booked, but we could go and see the missile silo, which was about ten miles from the Launch Facility.
The silo has a disarmed missile inside it, which you could see through a glass cover. It was all rather surreal to be standing looking down on a weapon that could cause so much death and destruction.
The sliding bombproof cover that would have been moved out of the way for a launch of the missile.
The glass cover over the silo.
The silo surrounded by a wire fence and gates.
By now, we were running rather late, as it was already past 2pm and we still had nearly 250 miles to go to reach our overnight stop in Mobridge, South Dakota. The drive was through rolling prairies with vast farms growing wheat. The roads were long and straight and again virtually empty of traffic.
At one point, we saw these cowboys herding their cattle. We really are in the Wild West!!
Near the end of the drive, the weather changed and the sky darkened. I liked this photo of the heavily clouded sky with the contrast of clear sky near the horizon.
The rain started to fall and the wind rose to a gale. The car was buffeted about as we drove head on into the wind and rain. It was quite a change from the 33 degrees and sunshine we had in the Badlands!
We reached our hotel, The Wrangler Inn, at 7.30pm, having crossed the Missouri River, where we moved from Mountain Time to Central Time and lost an hour! We are now six hours behind BST.
We checked into the hotel and unpacked our bags. We found this notice in our bathroom!!
If you find it difficult to read, just click on the photo and it will open in a new window.
Tomorrow, we drive about 40 miles due north of Mobridge along the Missouri River and into North Dakota. Let's hope the weather is kind to us and the rain moves away.
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