Retail therapy in the Badlands!!


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Published: August 9th 2008
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Badlands


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 Video Playlist:

1: Praire Dogs in the Badlands 28 secs
Wall Drug Wall Drug Wall Drug

With their great selection of western items and so much more...




Today we headed to the Badlands.

But first we called into the world famous "Wall Drug".

It had to be done!

After reading so much about the place and seeing the numerous sign posts for it along the way.
We weren't disappointed.

Skim got to indulge in a bit of retail therapy for a change.
And I got to sit with a couple of long drinks, before taking some fun photos....


(Ted Hustead was a Nebraska native who moved to Wall and opened a tiny drug store in 1931. Five years later, it was still a tiny drug store. Dorothy, Ted's wife, thought that the travelers driving past their store must be thirsty, and suggested that Ted put up a sign outside of town advertising free ice water at Wall Drug. Ted thought it was a silly idea, but he was desperate and put up the sign. By the time he got back, thirsty tourists were already lining up for their free ice water. And they've been stopping there ever since.)



Badlands National Park



Another little gem of a place.
Well we say little, but it's
   FREE ADMISSION    FREE ADMISSION FREE ADMISSION

Free Ice Water to thirsty travelers. From their beginning in 1931 to today.
244,000 acres of the most incredible scenery.

Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of sixty-four thousand acres of designated official wilderness. Sage Creek Wilderness is the site of the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in North America. The Stronghold Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and includes the sites of 1890's Ghost Dances.

Grasslands support more than just grasses. Within them are many kinds of wildflowers, desert plants, and occasional trees that provide food and habitat for a unique assembly of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Researchers counted 134 different vertebrate species associated with a community of prairie dogs and also discovered an "invisible prairie" consisting of countless microscopic soil organisms equal to the total weight of all the vegetation.

Over 11,000 years of human history pales to the eons old paleontological resources. "Badlands" contains the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 23 to 35 million years old. The evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros and pig can be studied in the Badlands formations


( Conservation writer Freeman Tilden described the region as "peaks and valleys of delicately banded
Wall.Wall.Wall.

Another one horse town.
colors - colors that shift in the sunshine... and a thousand tints that color charts do not show. In the early morning and evening, when shadows are cast upon the infinite peaks or on a bright moonlit night when the whole region seems a part of another world, the Badlands will be an experience not easily forgotten,)


And we agree, "an experience not easily forgotten"...







Additional photos below
Photos: 29, Displayed: 23


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It would look better if,It would look better if,
It would look better if,

they could do away with the cars and tie horses up outside....
Skim the pioneer....Skim the pioneer....
Skim the pioneer....

Lots of photo opportunities here too...
Rabbits with horns...Rabbits with horns...
Rabbits with horns...

Yeah! Everything's bigger and better in America...
Ride him cowgirl...Ride him cowgirl...
Ride him cowgirl...

"Where's your hat"?
Meet Bill...Meet Bill...
Meet Bill...

Not Buffalo Bill, but Bill the Buffalo...
Anyone for a game of cards...Anyone for a game of cards...
Anyone for a game of cards...

But be warned, they're wearing guns...
Loads of awards etc...Loads of awards etc...
Loads of awards etc...

But they take some reading. You could be there for hours...
Spurs...Spurs...
Spurs...

It's no wonder the bronco's buck! I would if someone stuck those things in my rump....
Established as a National Monument in 1939...Established as a National Monument in 1939...
Established as a National Monument in 1939...

Redesignated Badlands National Park in 1978..
The Badlands climate is variable and unpredictable ..The Badlands climate is variable and unpredictable ..
The Badlands climate is variable and unpredictable ..

With temperatures ranging from -40 F to 116 F.
The unique badlands...The unique badlands...
The unique badlands...

Formations interlaced with one of the largest mixed-grass prairie ecosystems in the United States...
Together on Mars...Together on Mars...
Together on Mars...

Well that's what it looks like...
The term "badlands" represents a consensus in North America...The term "badlands" represents a consensus in North America...
The term "badlands" represents a consensus in North America...

The Lakota knew the place as "mako sica". Early French trappers called the area "les mauvaises terres a traverser". Both mean "Bad lands
Take a side trip down Sage Creek Rim Road ..Take a side trip down Sage Creek Rim Road ..
Take a side trip down Sage Creek Rim Road ..

To Robert’s Prairie Dog Town to see wildlife and experience spectacular views of the park...


9th August 2008

Badlands
That looks a interesting place, That looks a fine figure of a man your with Skim work it out for yourself which one i meant!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey!!!!!! who won at cards then?????????

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