Had too much tea yesterday and did not sleep well. So I got up a little late. After an oatmeal breakfast I got the computer out and researched small towns for me to visit today. I decided to go visit the town of Interior South Dakota. I set out around 9:30 and to my surprise google maps sent me to I90 and then off an exit earlier than I expected. The exit lead me to a gravel farm road. The road was very well taken care of and the speed limit was 50MPH. So I trusted Google and followed the directions. The drive was great and I got to see quite a bit of cattle land. I also saw several herds of long horn steer. I also noticed I was heading into the Badlands through the cattle ranches. There was no signs indicating I was on the wrong road or anything, so I continued on. I then saw a sign indicating I was entering the Badlands National Park and several warnings not to take any rocks or fossils, but there was no gate to pass through. Then I approached the intersection of the Badlands Loop road. Google maps indicated I follow the loop road for a few miles. So I did. To my surprise the town was accessible through the national park without paying an entrance fee. Interesting. Below are my pictures from the town. The town has a lot of history and a lot of pride. The town still had a middle school, with around 50 students. I stopped at the general store and talked to a lady working there. She was the boss of the store, the post office head (which was in the store), a home owner in Interior, and also a ranchers wife, with a large ranch not too far down the road. Talk about jack of all trades. She was pleasant and filled me in on the town.
After visiting Interior and taking a few pictures, I headed into the Badlands for some hiking and climbing. The one thing the Badlands has is plenty of places to hike and to climb. The views are incredible and the place has a lot of history and science digs. The Badlands is still producing a lot of fossils for examination. I failed to mention that after 104 degrees yesterday, today was a pleasant 85 degrees with a nice cool 30MPH breeze. Did I ever mention that the wind is always blowing? :) So the day was great for hiking and climbing. There was a lot of tourists in the park today and they were also enjoying the great weather.
I went on what I hoped was a 3 mile hike, but around mile 1 I felt my body tell me to get back to the parking area and the bathrooms. Lets just say I made it back to the restrooms in time but it was close. I prayed on the way back that one I could make it and two that the bathroom was empty. I got to the trailhead area and made a beeline for the bathroom. They were single use ones and I managed to beat a family that was also making a beeline for the same bathroom. I could hear the mother tell her daughter to just hold it and think of something else, as the bathroom was in use. I felt for the little girl but not bad enough to give up my place. :) Thank you Lord for small answered prayers. :) I know TMI, but sometime while hiking you have to overcome some trials. After the small hike I drove down the raod and climbed a lot of rocks to get some good ledge videos and some great Badlands pictures. I hope you enjoy them all. Tomorrow I go back to work on late shift, then Monday I switch to day shift. 20 more days of selling moccasins and then I will be a free man. :) Today I had a lunch/dinner of the last steak I bought from Wall Processing. A nice sirloin. It was very good indeed. I will definitely get one or two more steaks from them before I leave, but I will have to start to plan to get all my food eaten before I leave. I will be able to take some dry foods, but not anything refrigerated. So I will definitely have to plan meals in a week or so to ensure I don't have to leave much behind. Take care and stay well. Pray for the country and your neighbors.
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| My hiking trail |
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