Rapid City to Oacama, SD

September 29, 2009

Now we are moving again. Next town is Rapid City, SD. Downtown there is a statue of a US president on many of the corners. The goal is to have statues of the past 40 presidents on a street corner.

We followed Interstate 90 to Wall next. Jim and Theresa Cearley recommended this place. There were billboards along the way offering 5 cent coffee, free ice on another one, etc. It was a one block long complex with many small stores specializing in anything you can think of and a huge restaurant. I bought a pair of ear rings made by Sioux Indians with porcupine quills. The sales woman said that all the stores were owned by the same family - third generation. It started as a small pharmacy in 1936. Realizing that travelers on the hot and dusty prairie would be thirsty, they put up signs offering free ice water. Tourist have been stopping ever since.

Jalil did not like the looks of the food in the restaurant so we went across the street. They offered a pork loin sandwich and I ordered one. It was deep fried!!!! on a bun. No pork flavor. Now I ask first, if it is deep fried, before ordering.

The next special place was Badlands National Park - a very strange dry moon like landscape emerging from the flat, flat prairie. We stopped at the first overlook site and walked out the trail to look over the edge down into the canyon. There were a few signs warning about rattle snakes. We did not stop at any more overlooks. We just drove through.

On the other side of Badlands we stopped at Prairie Homestead. This was the original home of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Brown who homesteaded these 160 acres in 1909! It is preserved as though a homestead family was living there today. Mr. Brown used cottonwood logs for the beams (still there). He plowed buffalo grass sod for the upper walls of the home. The floor was cracked dirt. It was warm in the winter and cool in the summer. These people were called sodbusters.

Their daughter said that her parents loved the place, the country and all the people. We brought her to California to rest but she wished to be back there. She always missed the homestead and her friends.

There were a lot of prairie dogs peeking out of their hole in the ground. They are a pest to farmers but cute to look at. These were special as they were white. It is supposed to be the only white prairie dog town in the world.t

We continued east - a flat, DRY landscape - no trees - with a very straight road. The wind was so strong that it shook the Flex! We now lost another hour - Central Time.

I had planned to go to the Pine Ridge Reservation to see the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre but by that time we were getting tired so we continued to the Missouri River - Oacama on the west side of the river - where we stayed at Al's Oasis. Pam talked to us until we reached the motel. It is so nice to hear from friends and family members.There we had a swim and a whirlpool- felt good.