A Good Time in the Badlands

Day 5-Monday, June 17 - morning

We were up very early--still trying to adjust to a two hour time difference.  The good news is that the Internet connection is much better at 4am!

The population of Wall South Dakota is 818; but 20,000 people visit Wall Drug each day--enough said!   (We left with a few souvenirs!)



Wall has dubbed itself the "Window to the West", and is near the entrance to Bandlands National Park.   We were very impressed with the Park.  Supposedly the French fur traders who explored the West in the early 1800's called the area  mauvaises terres --"bad lands" and the name stuck.  It is an amazing contrast of rolling plains, giant sandcastles, spires, ridges and canyons. It is different than anything we have ever seen, and probably very difficult for the early settlers to travel.   We heard that even Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous archtect was intrigued with the area. 
We took the Scenic Loop through the park and stopped at the overlooks along the way. There are a lot of trails for hiking and exploring.  We even saw an ambitious bicyclist trying to maneuver the hills.  

There were some pretty wildflowers, and we saw our first wild animal--a prarie dog! 

Lucky that Spot wasn't with us--I think he would have gone after those lil' things.