Badlands bound

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This morning we set forth going north on scenic Route 75, the Lewis & Clark Trail. On the way we stopped near Decatur, NB, population 618, at a scenic overlook over the Missouri River. We travelled through the Omaha & Winnebago Indian Reservations. At Sioux Falls we entered South Dakota and travelled west on Rt. 90 with a speed limit of 80. Just east of Mitchell, SD a field of corn was being picked! We saw a lot of cattle feedlots & cow/calf herds. In Mitchell, SD we stopped at the Corn Palace. It is redecorated each year with over 600,000 ears of corn--pictures below--made into various murals designed by a local artist. Some unique sandwiches (pulled pork between 2 mac & cheese waffles, for one) from The Bread & Batter were our picnic lunch. We then got serious about getting across South Dakota to the Badlands. We had 214 miles to go of our 500+ for the day.

At our gasoline stop in Kadoka, SD we discovered a distillery nearby & decided to check it out. Bill & Tim did some tasting, made a purchase, then we had a tour & explanation of their entire process. It was pretty interesting. Just a few minutes down the road we reached the entrance to Badlands National Park. Nice that Bill found his National Park Pass (we bought in Alaska in 2012) and admission was free for everyone in our vehicle. We will get some good out of that pass on this trip! Got some great photos at the Big Badlands Overlook and learned the park is 244,000 acres and the name comes from early French who called it very bad land to travel. Started seeing some of the wildlife--a bighorn sheep along the road, 3 deer & twin fawns near an overlook, and several bison in the distance.

After checking into our cabins at Cedar Pass Lodge we enjoyed Happy Hour on our porch. Ate dinner at the lodge dining room. Tim, Bill, & I tried the Sioux Indian Taco, served on fry bread. Very good, but none of us could finish it, not even Bill, it was so much. After dinner we headed to Panorama Point Overlook to view the gorgeous sunset at 7:49, mountain time.

Hope you enjoy some of my pictures.

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